Business Today
Business today is very interesting! There are a lot of things happening, the U.S. economy is very shaky ground as of late with the credit crisis and also with the market being opened up to other countries through globalization.
America has been for so long a world power and the source of influence for trade, market, finance, and production. The international trading currency has been for a long time the US dollar and the base of financial business worldwide. As of recent with the greed of many americans and the attitude many have of "needing it now" we have dived into what is being called the credit crisis. Banks were loaning to people that were not qualified and the terms were such that your signiture on paper was good enough, regardless of essential qualifications. When the people did not have the mondy to pay the loans they simply stopped and it so happened that a large quantity of the loans defaulted at the same time and banks lost all their money.
Lehman Brothers, Merill and Lynch, and A.I.G. were of those hit hard by this credit crisis. Lehman Brothers who have been around for 150 years surviving the great depression and are at the center of all financial dealings and are huge went bankrupt. Merill and Lynch was bought by Bank of America for pennies on the dollar and A.I.G. was about to declare bankrupcy also. If A.I.G. had declared bankrupcy it could have very well been the plunge into another depression that could have been much worse than that of 1929. The US government taking into account what it would mean if A.I.G. went bankrupt bailed them out by loaning them some 7 billion dollars. The Stock Market through all of this has gone absolutely crazy dropping some 500 points and with the government bail out of A.I.G. shot back up 400 points.
Now the question is what do we do? Technology at this point is in a revolution that is just beginning and we must diversify from what was yesterday and use what has been developed to help further our connection and influence. Through the internet more individuals can communicate and network than ever before. Information is able to be passed from one to another quicker with more involvement from outside sources; though with the flow of information and business there are certain things we must take into account for example tariffs and taxes, international shipping costs, warehousing, distribution and so forth. We must be innovative and aware of what is out there and how we can have a positive influence on the business world today.