Swimming naked: Rethinking risk management after the crisis

Warren Buffet said: "When the economic tide goes out, you find out who is swimming naked." The financial upheaval of the last two years has revealed a number of inadequately clad investors.

Junk bonds, subprime and the pepper crises: Investor behavior follows pattern

In his classic book on economic history, Charles Kindleberger argued that asset bubbles follow a predictable pattern. A new opportunity or technology sparks investor euphoria. Asset prices quickly rise to an unsustainable level. Then suddenly, people stop buying, and panic ensues.

The view from the bottom: Phoenix real estate market

What does the trough of a real estate slump look like? Phoenix metro area property owners will have time to take a close look at this unpleasant and hazardous landscape as the real estate market slides to the bottom over the next several months — and settles in for a slow, volatile recovery.

The cost of capital: Goldman Sachs' extreme makeover

In September 2008, the financial storms that had battered global markets since spring began to threaten the legendary investment bank Goldman Sachs. The 139-year-old financial titan had seen its stock plummet nearly 50 percent in a matter of weeks.

Your career, our economy: Stakes are high when finance professionals let ethics slide

Bernie Madoff. AIG. Allen Stanford. When Marianne Jennings talks to her undergraduate students about business ethics these days, those are the subjects they want to talk about.

Expedited shipping, done environmentally

A case study on the green redesign of the U.S. Postal Service's expedited shipping products shows the importance of supplier collaboration in meeting sustainability requirements and keeping cost increases at bay.

ASU-RSI: Beginning of the end of price plunge?

Sales data from March indicate that a trend change in housing prices might be underway in the beleaguered Phoenix metro market.

The new frugality: Will it last or languish?

Parsimony is a little like dancing, according to marketing Professor John Lastovicka. It's something anyone can learn, but some have more talent for it than others. What's more, the truly penny-wise take pleasure in their penny pinching.

Successful small team leadership: Manage the group, not the individuals

Differentiated leadership — a management style in which leaders treat individual staff members differently based on such factors as their skills, perceived value or personalities — is a widely accepted approach to management.

Trade, China and the world economic order, part four

The way businesses and policymakers approach economic integration is quite different. Businesses tend to be pragmatic — focusing on finding immediate solutions.