Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Antitrust Enforcement by the FTC and DOJ is becoming too intrusive. Whatever happended to free markets?

After reading the policy analysis by The Cato Institute on antitrust enforcement, I was surprised that there was more regulation by the Obama administration than the Bush or Clinton administration. I was not surprised that there was more intrusive regulation occurring causing industry changes in the Obama administration. Very scary! The analysis overall was very interesting and thought provoking. The old theory from Adam Smith to let the invisible hand (i.e. free market, less government intervention) lead markets is vanishing.

Monday, October 7, 2013

USPS = Fail!

The US Postal Service (USPS) is a mess. Although they are constantly failing, no one in the government seems to notice. The recently failed an IG audit. They are behind in paying their debt. They cannot keep to their role of postal delivery. Why is the USPS still open? Don't forget, our taxes go towards paying this agency to stay open! The latest audit reflects the USPS failure of its acquisition process. They state that their employees were unaware of its purchasing policy when the IG determined that 38% of its $1.3B spending was sole sourced. Unacceptable to most but not to USPS. It is especially odd when USPS complains about the need for additional funds when they cannot seem to manage what funds they are obligated. What is the role of the USPS? "The core function of the Postal Service is the safe, reliable, affordable delivery of mail and packages to every address in the country and its territories." Really?

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Will this split work for SAIC and Leidos?

SAIC was a private, employee owned company. It was so different and dynamic from its competition. People rarely knew SAIC or what the company did if they were not in the industry. As a stockholder and entrepreneurial employee you were drawn into the company and became very passionate about the work, the people, and the customers. Then SAIC's Founder/CEO retired...then the company went public...three CEO's with different visions passed through after rearranging staff/management/ideals. SAIC is nothing like it once was. The passion is gone. The employees are unsure of their future. Maybe the split into two companies is a good thing, I guess we will find out.