September 24th, 2009
I was asked tonight by a friend the simple, “How’s it going?” I’m generally in a positive mood and responded: “Times are still tough, but I remain optimistic about the future of publishing.” It’s later now and I got to thinking: There are still more deaths than births in the publishing business. And that can…
May 4th, 2009
I’m not a trained economist, although I’ve worked as a businessman for some 30 years, and have closely followed economic issues for many years. I think it’s obvious to everyone that works in publishing that the economic situation worldwide (and particularly in the U.S.) has become the “double whammy” that’s causing huge distress for publishers…
October 9th, 2008
I read the news today, oh boy! A little less gloomy than earlier in the week, but another barrage of depressing madness. I found an article from a couple of days ago in The New York Times by Vikas Bajaj titled “Forget Logic; Fear Appears to Have Edge.” It begins: “The technical term for it…
May 25th, 2008
I am not an economist (thank God), but have always been fascinated and perplexed by sudden changes in the economy and their secondary effects. I’ve just updated my article on “Current Economics and the Future of Publishing,†using my admittedly limited knowledge to make some modest observations on how the current economic crisis in the…
September 15th, 2007
The Canadian dollar, after many years trading as low as 62 cents on the American dollar, has now reached a point of near-parity: closing just above 97 cents yesterday. In an article in the Globe and Mail, BMO Nesbitt Burns deputy chief economist Douglas Porter said “The latest run in the Loonie has been fuelled…