Current Column: Chicago Tribune — June 9, 2010
Thank you, readers
This is the final Business section column by Greg Burns, who will now write editorials as a member of the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board:
Leon “Chip” Greenblatt III became a cult hero among traders years ago when he stood up to the Chicago Stock Exchange in a battle over his unorthodox strategy of selling more shares than existed in a bankrupt steel company.
Not long after, Mayor Richard Daley branded him a “slum lord” after a downtown high-rise he owned threatened to rain down pieces of its terra-cotta facade on vehicles and pedestrians.
Last year, he received a six-figure bill for civil contempt stemming from his bankruptcy case involving a landfill venture that converted foul-smelling garbage into energy in the form of methane.
Now, the so-called bad boy of Chicago arbitrage may have gone too far.
Greenblatt has provoked the wrath of Richard Posner, the heavyweight judge from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, who had sided with him in his stock-speculation gambit in the late 1990s.
At the time, Posner ruled that Greenblatt and his partners had found a legitimate moneymaking angle, despite their likely status as “reckless gamblers, sharpies, wise guys, exploiters of loopholes, even violators of the letter and spirit of the rules.”
Greenblatt’s latest effort to seize an advantage, however, fell flat with the judge. In a May 19 opinion, Posner blasted it as “phony,” “bogus,” “frivolous” and “a palpable misuse of bankruptcy,” with “no purpose other than to beat taxes.”
Read complete columnCurrent Article: Chicago Tribune — February 15, 2010
10 things you need to know about Social Security
It is among the most popular and important social programs in America, yet many Americans have only a vague idea about how it works. What nearly every American knows is that it’s in trouble.
“This program affects hundreds of millions of Americans,” said Jason Fichtner, chief economist at the Social Security Administration. “They’re paying for a system that they expect to be there for them.”
Is Social Security going under? How could it be fixed? Should everybody worry?
This report addresses Social Security, explaining what you need to know and how the system may change in years to come. The good news: Social Security can afford to pay benefits for decades. The bad news: After that, without reform, it’s up for grabs.
How Social Security works
Practically every American has a friend or relative on Social Security. More than 52 million of the nation’s 309 million citizens received benefits from it last year. That’s one in every six.
The 75-year-old program is partly retirement plan and partly insurance. About two-thirds of annual payouts go to retirees. The other third goes to disabled Americans who cannot work and to the children or spouses of people who are disabled or die prematurely. The agency employs more than 65,000 workers to keep the checks coming.
Read complete articleMy Bio
Greg Burns is a senior correspondent specializing in business and economics at the Chicago Tribune. His column runs Mondays and Fridays. He previously served as the Tribune’s associate managing editor for business, responsible for financial news coverage, plus feature sections on real estate, jobs, transportation and personal finance. Before joining the Tribune, Burns wrote for Business Week magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University.
Read Greg’s complete CV.Past Work
Chicago Tribune Column — Jun. 3rd, 2010
Hydrogen fuel cells give way to electric vehicles
With oil belching out of control into the Gulf of Mexico, the moment could hardly be better for introducing a new wave of electric cars.
Right on cue, the much-anticipated Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf are scheduled to make their production-run debuts at dealerships across the country this fall. It’s a milestone in the jostling for green-minded consumers between electric models and hybrid-electrics that rely more heavily on gas, such as the Toyota Prius.
And then there’s hydrogen.
No, really, there is.
It’s easy to forget that hydrogen-fuel-cell cars have been around for decades in one experimental form or another. General Motors Co. has a nice one — a roomy Equinox with a rear exhaust port for its only emission: water vapor.
Turn the key and it purrs to life. Push the accelerator, and it takes off, just like a “real” car. It can hit 105 mph on the GM test track without breaking a sweat. Then it attaches to a pump at a hydrogen fueling station on the site, and it’s ready to go in about the same time as filling a gas tank.
Yet hydrogen stands to be the big loser as the Volt, Leaf and similar electrics take the stage.
It’s impractical to believe that America will build more than one new fueling infrastructure all at once. Battery-recharging stations will come first.
Out of favor in the White House, hydrogen will have to wait, maybe forever.
“You have to pick a technology,” said David Whiston, auto equity analyst at Morningstar Inc. “Electric is what you will see in the next decade.”
At GM, Mark Vann is keeping the faith. An engineer who spearheads fuel-cell projects, Vann points out that most major automakers still maintain hydrogen programs. GM has logged 1.4 million miles on its fleet of 120 hydrogen-powered vehicles.
“We obviously have a lot invested,” he said.
The pros and cons of these technologies are debated all the time, but it comes down to pleasing the car shopper, who naturally wants all the convenience of traditional gas engines at a good price.
Hydrogen fuel cells cost a ridiculous amount of money, and the filling stations cost even more. But the price is coming down as engineers figure out how to use less platinum and fewer parts. Compared with the state-of-the-art electrics, hydrogen goes longer distances, scales up into bigger vehicles and recharges in no time, Vann said. Germany and Japan see big potential for fuel cells, he said. California and Hawaii like them too.
Without broader political support, however, it may not matter.
Read complete articleChicago Tribune Column — May. 31st, 2010
Domino's "we stink" strategy pays off
In the test kitchen at the corporate headquarters for Domino’s Pizza Inc., a chef dressed in a starched white coat was going through the familiar motions: Sauce on crust, cheese on sauce, pepperoni on cheese, then bake.
But this pizza’s different, as it has been in Domino’s stores across the U.S. since late December. The 9,000-unit chain took a big chance, not only reformulating its signature product for the American market but also disparaging its long-standing recipe in a straight-talk marketing campaign.
The old crust? “Cardboard,” the company admitted in its ads. The old sauce? “Ketchup.” The staff? Weary of customers trashing the food.
The risk paid off. Despite rumblings in the marketing world about another New Coke-style flop in the making, sales at domestic stores open more than a year soared 14.3 percent in the first full quarter after the new recipe debuted. Domino’s marketing push helped lift the pizza market as a whole, and the halo effect appears to be continuing into the summer.
As of last week, the test-kitchen cooks in Ann Arbor were working on new recipes for Domino’s stores in some of its 60-plus foreign markets.
Will other brands adopt the “We Stink” marketing theme? Probably not, but some companies facing widespread customer cynicism about their products or services should think about it, said Mac Brand, a consultant in Chicago for Bellwether Food Group Inc.
“The one that comes to my mind is the airlines,” he said. “You can’t do candor all the time, but once or twice, it works.”
BP, are you listening?
Domino’s owes at least some of its success to timing. Its campaign dovetailed with a national mood of discontent over Wall Street bailouts and layoff-prone employers. Americans were ready to hear a big company express a little humility.
“Times are tough. Most of us are disappointed with the actions of business and other institutions,” said marketing guru Willard “Bill” Bishop, of Barrington. Domino’s, he said, conveyed the message, “We’re one group that knows that.”
The company also tapped into a countrywide craving for intense flavors, in everything from chewing gum to tortilla chips. The mint is getting mintier these days; the spice spicier.
Domino’s added garlic to the crust and red pepper to the sauce. It ditched a previous cheese topping that came in little chunks for a stretchier shredded mozzarella with a touch of provolone.
The recipe came together over two years, said spokesman Chris Brandon: “We tried a little bit of everything.”
In the test kitchen, staffers were still at it last week.
Read complete article