USA Inc: We Are in So Much Trouble
A friend forwarded me the link to a document that deserves wide attention.
USA Inc.is a non-partisan report that looks at the U.S. federal government (and its financials) as if it were a business. Mary Meeker, partner at KPCB and former financial analyst at Morgan Stanley, created and compiled the report with the goal of informing the discussion about our financial situation and outlook. USA Inc. examines the country’s income statement and balance sheet, aiming to interpret the underlying data and facts, and illustrate patterns and trends in easy-to-understand ways. The report also analyzes the drivers of federal revenue and the history of expense growth, and discusses basic scenarios for how revenue and expense growth might change to help America move toward positive cash flow.
I don't think any of the particulars will come as a surprise to anyone here. But this is certainly a format that concentrates the mind.
Update: Rob Long actually beat me to this item.
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May '10
Re: USA Inc: We Are in So Much Trouble
Yeah, I saw that when it came out.
It says everything we already knew, just with smarter-looking pie charts. Like classics from literature, everyone will appreciate it but no one will have read it.
The fixes are all reground Obamian sub rosa socialist platitudes. Here is my fav, under "Summary", a slide titled The Challenge Before Us on page 242, three unbulleted (thank goodness) sentences:
Policymakers, businesses and citizens need to share responsibility for past failures and develop a plan for future successes.
Past generations of Americans have responded to major challenges with collective sacrifice and hard work.
Will ours also rise to the occasion?
What I find most useful and educational is the section on liberty as public policy, and how that, unlike top down management in an actual business, drives economic growth in this nation. Oh, my mistake -- there is no section like that.
This report also is the perfect demonstration of information formatting for decision making via Powerpoint being pure, unadulterated intellectual dog vomit.
Re: USA Inc: We Are in So Much Trouble
Yes, I was going to note that they offered no reason for optimism whatsoever beyond "Americans have done tough things in the past," but I got too depressed to finish the sentence. I disagree with you about the valuelessness of this format, though. I'm hugely averse to Powerpoint, but I think it's surprisingly effective here.
Oct '10
Re: USA Inc: We Are in So Much Trouble
Defining the problem helps. Agreeing there is a problem and formulating a solution acceptable to all of the interests involved is where the devil lies.
This brings to mind one of my favorite Einstein quotes: "The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."
May '10
Re: USA Inc: We Are in So Much Trouble
While you were occupied with family issues:
USA Inc. is a Company in Trouble: Rob Long
Edited on Mar 4, 2011 at 8:47amJan '11
Re: USA Inc: We Are in So Much Trouble
I think Rob L posted this a little bit back, and it led to interesting discussions of scaling of figures etc.
It is an interesting concept - the US as a "business" - and whether one should be bullish or bearish. Quite often, when a troubled organization faces these challenges, it overturns the leadership, and selects a visionary who will bring significant change and optimism, and by optimism I mean a sense of hope (one could say); someone who will make very difficult decisions that will inflict short and long term pain to some to turn the company around. (The former (H/C) are of no use without the latter.). Hmmmmmmmm.
Re: USA Inc: We Are in So Much Trouble
Trace Urdan: While you were occupied with family issues:
USA Inc. is a Company in Trouble: Rob Long · Mar 4 at 8:36am
Edited on Mar 04 at 08:47 am
Whoops, you're quite right--I missed that while I was occupied with my family.
Sorry about that, folks. What do you think, should I take this post down, or is it worth a second round of discussion? It looks a bit silly to keep it up, but I don't want to take your comments down--they're interesting.
Jan '11
Re: USA Inc: We Are in So Much Trouble
CB #6 - from my management days - if a message is important, it's worth hearing three times. :-D Maybe I'll post it in a member feed in a few weeks.
But in any case, sometimes with important things like these, it's not bad to repost, because it's interesting to see how conversations can take different twists and turns.
May '10
Re: USA Inc: We Are in So Much Trouble
Let it ride. I just posted the other to add richness to the discussion.
Am I the only one that knows/remembers Mary Meeker as the Internet king-maker during the go-go dot-com days? The woman ought to (now) know a bubble when she sees one.