It’s been nearly 2 years since our economy self-imploded. So how far have we come since then?
As far as our industry goes, it would appear that things are headed in the right direction. After a horrible 2009, hiring seems to be picking up across the board and clients seem a tiny bit less terrified than they were a year ago.
But when you look at the national numbers, they seem to paint a different picture. Unemployment is high, home values are still way down, banks aren’t lending money and consumers aren’t …

True to the caliber of international folks that make up this consortium, I’m writing this column from a hotel room 26 floors up over Beijing. It’s my first time here and the first time I’ve come across a city that, in my view, resembles parts of America so closely.
Walk into Beijing airport and you’re immediately struck by the scale. It’s just incredible. There’s a lot of America I’ve not yet seen, but in what I have, there’s nothing on this scale. It’s vast.
Then there’s the security. By the time you’ve …

You go into Best Buy of some store like that. You look at a TV or major appliance. A sales associate comes over and explains all the benefits of the item in a friendly and convincing way. You like the item. But, you don’t buy it. You leave the store. That night you think about it and decide to buy it. The next day, you go in and look at it again. Another sales associate comes buy and asks if you need any help and you just say, “Yeah, I’d …