Sunday, February 22, 2009

What Are We In For?


In researching how economists and business owners responded to the depression,and the recession of 1990-92, I've been reading two books. The first, by Stuart Chase, is titled The Nemesis of American Business, Macmillan, 1931. Chase was the man who coined the phrase, "A New Deal." This book is a collection of his essays from a variety of business magazines of the day. While a bit naive and self serving, Chase's insights into the problems of his day are worth a re-read. The second book I am devouring is by Murray Raphel and his son, Neil. It was published during the last major economic storm of the early 1990's. It is titled Tough Selling for Tough Times, Raphel Publishing, 1992.


What is most fascinating is that Chase took a positive view of what had to be done to fix the problem, both economically and socially and the Raphels took a positive attitude in order to entice their readers that they had nothing to fear but fear itself (sorry for that, it seemed so apt). Neal Raphael and his team have updated the original to cover some of the challenges that did not exist in 1992. I recommend all my readers to take a look at this practical guide for thriving in today's economy, Business Success in Tough Times, Raphel Publishing, 2009.


Regards,


Doug