William J. Holstein

About this blog:

I believe that the most important thing Americans have to do is secure their economic well-being in an increasingly challenging, complex world. All the arguments about culture (school prayer, the flag, etc.) are fine for other Americans to have—and they are a healthy sign of democracy. But they are beside the point.

What I have written about all these years is the process of creating wealth, not for any one individual, but for the United States as a whole. Ever since I was a young correspondent witnessing the emergence of China, just after the country opened in 1979, I've held the opinion that we have to get more serious about increasing the wealth of the U.S.

That means focusing not only on how our corporations are run (governance), but also on innovation and productivity/competitiveness. Despite the predicament in which we find ourselves today (and I think we face a tough five-year economic restructuring, not a mild recession), I retain faith in the resiliency of the U.S. economy and the enterprise of American people. If Americans have the right facts, and focus on the task at hand, we can once again get serious about creating wealth, not just playing funny money games.

So come with me on this journey as I explore the complicated issues involved in maintaining the economic health of the U.S

Toyoda’s Testimony--Oh, What a Feeling … of Getting Even
Feb. 22--Akio Toyoda will testify before Congress Wednesday and I think it is only fair and fitting that he receive the same kind of treatment that the CEOs of American auto companies received. We all recall how congressmen and senators from the transplant ...
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My Take On Toyota’s Problems for BNET
Feb. 10--BNET has just published my account of what went wrong at Toyota: How Toyota Manufactured its Own Fall From Grace Once considered nearly infallible in the auto industry, Toyota shows how quickly a well-managed company can go off the rails. Here's the ...
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Toyota: More Cracks
Jan. 27, 2010--As I have been writing for months in this blog, and as I wrote in Why GM Matters, Toyota Motor is facing huge management challenges. And the decision to suspend the sale of eight models in the United States is the most powerful evidence to date. I've ...
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Backshoring: My Most Recent Article in Strategy + Business
Jan. 27-- The Case for Backshoring Which manufacturing operations should return to the United States? by William J. Holstein For years, the NCR Corporation simply followed the pack. Like many other large U.S. manufacturing companies, in the past couple of ...
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Japan Watch--Just Bring the Troops Out
Jan. 22--We're reading story after story about the presence of 50,000 American troops in Japan, most of them on the tiny island of Okinawa. The new Japanese government isn't sure how to handle the presence of American military bases in Okinawa, which irritate the ...
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Conan O’Brien--Where’s the Outrage?
Jan 21 -- We discover that NBC is paying $32.5 million to late night host Conan O'Brien to go away. Including some of his funny boys, NBC is paying out $40 million. I'm surprised we are not hearing howls of outrage about how much money that is. If it were a Chief ...
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The Real Question: Did Goldman Sachs Mug the United States?
Jan. 14--I watched the testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and feel there is a line of inquiry that is not being explored. So here it is: We know that Goldman created securities backed by subprime mortgages that, in turn, AIG guaranteed. Then ...
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What Recovery?
Jan. 9--The newspapers are filled with articles about "the recovery," whether it will be u-shaped or v-shaped or w-shaped, or whatever letter of the alphabet that you like. There is a consistent emphasis on the theme that the U.S. economy is "recovering" and we ...
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Best Quote Of The Day
January 9--It's an odd story in today's New York Times, but it provides an awfully funny quote. The article is about a wealthy hedge fund manager named James S. Chanos, who is betting heavily against China's economy. He thinks it is a bubble, just like Enron. He ...
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My 2010 Predictions--Economy and Geopolitics
Jan. 3, 2010--Everybody else is doing it so why not join in the action? First my economic predictions: Economic growth: I do not foresee a V-shaped recovery, or a return to the prevailing status quo. So I project an anemic 1.5 percent annual growth rate. Jobs: I ...
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What GE’s Sale of NBC Might Suggest For The Media
Dec. 22--I posted this today on the Overseas Press Club website, http://www.opcofamerica.org. As we contemplate the end of one decade and the beginning of another, all of us in the media are wondering what went so wrong, meaning the devastation that has hit many ...
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What Florida Suggests About The Future of The U.S. Economy
Dec. 15--I've been on a short working vacation in Florida and offer my readers these reflections. I was in the Ocala area, Orlando and then St. Augustine. Florida seems to represent the type of economy that Americans have been building in the past 15 or 20 years. ...
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Why Chasing Cheap Labor Can Be A Bad Idea
Dec. 15, 2009--Here is another Bizmore interview. David Johnson, vice president of global operations for ConMed in upstate New York, describes why it is a mistake for some small companies to chase cheap labor abroad. It’s better if they improve their core ...
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How Small Companies Play the International Game
Dec. 14--I'm starting a series of interviews with top executives of small and medium sized companies for Bizmore.com. I'll post them selectively here when I think they are particularly relevant. Here is one with Eastman Machine CEO Robert Stevenson. ...
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Toyota: The Cracks Are Beginning To Show
Nov. 22--A recent article in Business Week and a conversation with Jeremy Anwyl, president of Edmunds.com, are beginning to paint a portrait of a Toyota Motor that is at risk of losing its way. I wrote a chapter about Toyota in my book, "Why GM Matters," ...
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