This morning as I read the Sunday Papers I was struck more by individual quotes or thoughts rather than whole articles, so I thought I’d change up a bit for this edition and go with these Quick Hits:
- Here’s an economic fact that floored me (from Ben Stein): “…in 2004, the top 130,500 taxpayers — roughly the wealthiest 0.1 percent of earners in this great nation, with added family members that brought their numbers to 300,000 — had more income than the 120 million Americans at the bottom”. Wow.
- Patrick J. McGovern, chairman of the International Data Group, hand delivered the company’s annual bonuses to 1,600 employees. Why does he do it? According to the piece, Mr. McGovern says he gets as much out of the meetings as his employees. “I ask them for new ideas and suggestions for us to continue to grow and improve,” he said. Bravo!
- Identity theft prevention tip of the week (courtesy of Sid Kirchheimer): Don’t use your mother’s maiden name to identify yourself to credit card companies. Maiden names are listed on birth certificates, which identity thieves can easily get from public records and use to “prove” that they are you. “If someone insists on that maiden name, just make one up,” Mr. Kirchheimer said. Thanks Sid – good one!
- Reach for the Dictionary quote of the week: “American speech is inflected with the patois of multiculturalism and its expressive imprecision” – Andrew Solomon. I’ll save you the look-up – “patois” is essentially regional or rural jargon, so I would translate this as “American English is all over the place, with a lot of made-up words thrown in for good measure“.
- A business “ta-da” moment that should have been really obvious well before now, from Damon Darlin, in “Complaining Correctly Can Pay Off”: “There is a new philosophy taking hold (at Call Centers). The focus is on leaving customers satisfied because happy customers tend to buy more products or recommend a company’s product or service to others.” Better late than never!
That’s it for this edition of the Sunday Papers – have a great week everyone!
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, how about that wealth gap getting wider and wider between those “that have” and those that “have not”!
Hey Steve – I know, I was really floored by that statistic. I didn’t mention this on the post, but that 120 Million was “only” 30 million 25 years ago. Double wow. All the best.