Roubini blog about the economy. The economist does not see a double dip coming. Angels Flee From Tech Start-Ups. Turning a Corner? - Interactive Graphic. Downsizing America. Here is a new fact of life: America’s economy is getting a little smaller. This “shrinkage” is likely to be a secular — as opposed to a cyclical — sets of changes. Out goes the conspicuous consumption of the 1990s and 2000s . . . Lean and green is in; Grotesque and self-indulgent are out. Downsize that McMansion! This is much more than a philosophical view — its what all of the economic data over the past year has been practically screaming.
In terms of actual data, here is what the new, leaner American economy looks like: • Asset Deflation: Equity portfolios are on average down about 40%; Dividends are being slashed, stock repurchases canceled. What is the sum total of all this? 24/7 Wall St.: False Hopes For Internet Profits (IACI)(GOOG)(TWX)(NYT)(DIS) Barry Diller, who has been in the media industry as long as almost any man alive, said the online display advertising at his company, IACI (IACI), might be down as much as 50% this month. Disney (DIS) reported that its interactive business lost money in the final quarter of last year.
The head of advertising sales at Time Warner’s (TWX) AOL internet unit was replaced, probably a reasonable sign that revenue is under-performing there. At The New York Times (NYT) where income from NYT.com has to do well because the newspaper is losing sales so fast, online revenue fell at a faster pace than print revenue did in December. The prevailing theory about internet display advertising and e-commerce is that they would replace TV, newspapers, and magazines as the most efficient way to reach consumers. Online advertising could target people based on their interests and habits. This recession was online advertising’s big test.
Douglas A. TREND TRACKER: Is TV Dead? Media Technology Breakthroughs In 2008. Wired reports: The economy may be tanking, but innovation is alive and well.When it came to products, incremental improvements were the name of the game this year. Phones got faster (iPhone 3G anyone?) , notebooks turned into netbooks and pocket cameras went from recording standard-definition video to HD. Not all of the technological developments on Wired's top 10 list are related to the media, but those that are will be having an enormous impact over the next couple of years. One example is the flexible display: This year, the research moved from the realm of science fiction to plausible reality. With help from the U.S. Another major development is the creation of the previously purely theoretical memristor: The discovery will make it possible to develop computer systems that remember what's stored in memory when they are turned off. And of course there's also the explosion in mobile operating system platforms:
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