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Young joins CenterState CEO after representing three governors in four years

Written on September 25, 2011 – 7:07 pm | by Stephanie Brodribb

Young joins CenterState CEO after representing three governors in four years Syracuse, NY — Four and half years after becoming the governors representative in Central New York, Dan Young has left state government to become a vice president at CenterState CEO.
Young, son of former Syracuse Mayor Thomas Young, started as vice president of engagement and community affairs last week, he said in an interview Tuesday.
A 1994 graduate of State University at Albany, Young worked in economic development at the Metropolitan Development Association from 2004 to 2007. The MDA merged with the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce in 2010 to form CenterState CEO.
Young said his new position will have him working with chamber members to connect them with chamber services and other resources that can help them grow their business. Read more…

Tags: Four Years, Representing Three Governors, Three Governors, Years

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Google+’s Real-Name Policy: Identity vs. Anonymity

Written on September 25, 2011 – 12:04 am | by Ashley Johnson

In July, Google unveiled a Facebook-like social network called Google+. Unlike prior attempts by the company to become sociable, it got rave reviews. One policy, however, has made some people downright furious: Google forbids the use of pseudonyms, telling members that their identities must be the same as in the real world.

The requirement has helped keep the quality of the discourse on Google+ high. It’s also permitted Google to begin tying users’ true names to their interests as reflected in their use of Google services, providing it with a treasure trove of consumer data potentially worth billions. But it runs contrary to long-standing traditions in the online domain, where many people use names that are fictional sometimes obviously so, and sometimes not. To this day, virtual-world monikers are sometimes called ‘handles,’ a quaint reference to 1970s CB radio culture.

Google says that if you’re on Google+, you must use ‘the name you commonly go by in the real world,’ a rule that sounds simple but leaves plenty of room for interpretation, faulty assumptions, and general confusion.

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Tags: Policy, Policy Identity

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Megamall flourishing in a weak economy

Written on September 23, 2011 – 4:58 pm | by Stephanie Brodribb

America may be struggling, but the Mall of America is doing just fine.

Actually, better than just fine. Despite a weak economy, high unemployment and waning consumer confidence, the mall is thriving, thanks to its Nickelodeon theme park and the purchasing power of upper-income shoppers flocking to stores like Nordstrom and Michael Kors.

Sales at Mall of America retailers through August are up 9.4 percent compared to the same point in 2010. Traffic is up 5 percent. By contrast, comparable retail properties posted an average 3.3 percent sales gain in the same period, according to data from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

“It’s a premiere property,” said Mark Schoening, senior vice president of national retail for Ryan Companies in Minneapolis. “And malls with good locations and good anchor [stores] are still doing well.”

Even in 2008 and 2009, in the teeth of the recession, the Bloomington mall eked out sales increases of 2 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.

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Tags: Economy, Weak Economy

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Investors Say Anglo American Should Increase Stake in De Beers-Report

Written on September 21, 2011 – 9:42 pm | by Ashley Johnson

LONDON — Shareholders of Anglo American PLC are urging management to increase the company’s stake in De Beers SA, the world’s biggest producer of rough diamonds, The Observer newspaper reports Sunday.

Investors said taking over the 40% stake owned by the Oppenheimer family would make the privately owned De Beers more transparent, the paper reports, adding that De Beers has a complex corporate structure that makes it difficult to value.

Adding a 40% stake to the 45% share Anglo already has in De Beers would allow Anglo to get full credit for its “undervalued” De Beers holdings, the report says.

The Oppenheimers, who have run the company since 1927, are said to be considering selling their stake in De Beers, the newspaper says. But James Teager, a De Beers director who is close to the Oppenheimers, said the family was “happy at the moment” with its stake, the paper adds.

The Botswana government is another minority shareholder of the company, writes the newspaper.

Sept.

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Tags: Anglo American, Stake

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Analysis: Economic leaders fear policy paralysis (Reuters)

Written on August 28, 2011 – 5:11 am | by Stephanie Brodribb

If politicians ignore their pleas — including a blunt call from International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde to “act now” — the slowdown in world growth and debt turmoil in Europe could morph into a deeper crisis, top monetary officials and economists warned at an annual retreat here.

“I hope they listen,” said Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer.

Alarm over political deadlock was as obvious a backdrop to the annual meeting of policymakers in the wilds of Wyoming as the thunderstorms that rolled over the nearby Grand Teton peaks and dumped rain on the Jackson Lake Lodge.

“The governance right now is not going through a very brilliant moment, I have to say, neither in Europe nor in the United States,” Angel Gurria, who heads the multi-nation Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, told Reuters.

“The signals that are coming out of the short-term discussions is, ‘We can’t even agree on about the time of the day, even if there’s a big clock telling us what the time of the day is.’”

In the United States, the political impasse has thwarted moves to tame massive budget deficits which brought the nation to the edge of a debt default and cost the United States its coveted AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor’s.

In Europe, leaders are fighting over who should pay for the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone, which has a unified regime for monetary policy but whose member nations run their own budget policies.

PHONE CALLS, SPEECHES

Lagarde, whose appearance on Saturday was a late addition and reflected her sense of urgency, delivered a hard-hitting pitch against braking spending too fast as nations struggle to rein in long-term budget deficits.

She was far from alone.

The Fed has slashed U.S.

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