Blog

  • Profitable Again?

    The container shipping industry is finally awash in money, as rates on some routes have doubled in the past few months. For some people, this confirms the wisdom of the…

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  • How the Supreme Court Made Jeff Bezos’s Fortune

    The arcane legal principle of stare decisis — literally, to stand by things decided — is in the spotlight as the Senate considers the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to…

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  • The Big Day

    A book has a lengthy time-line. Drafting a proposal, chewing it over with an agent, refining it, submitting it to publishers, and haggling over a contract can take several months.…

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  • After the Age of Stuff

    The last few decades, during which long value chains have reshaped the world economy, have been notable for one characteristic above all: a rapidly improving material standard of living.  In…

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  • The Next Retail Revolution

    Brooks Brothers. Lord & Taylor. J.Crew. Ann Taylor. Sur la Table. Lucky Brand. J.C. Penney. Neiman Marcus. GNC. A long list of retail names has ended up in bankruptcy court…

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  • My Adventures in Self-Publishing

    When my book The Great A&P was published back in 2011, a major commercial publisher handled the copy editing, the design, the printing, and the distribution. My main jobs were…

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