Obama: What Business Thinks

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July 31, 2009
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NEWS  THIS WEEK'S TOP STORY Obama: What Business Thinks Executives say the president has been willing to listen, but they wonder whether he is heeding their advice

Editor's Memo What do businessmen really think about President Barack Obama? In the Insider Top Story this week, BusinessWeek's Washington bureau chief, Jane Sasseen, writes about how, six months into his term, the President is inspiring fear, anger, and hope among CEOs. BusinessWeek also landed an extensive interview with Obama, who talks about his business policies and says that "to return to some semblance of balance is hardly radical." Software giant Microsoft seems to have gotten its wish at last. Thanks to a long-awaited deal with Yahoo!, Microsoft may now become the clear No. 2 in the most lucrative Internet market of them all: search. BusinessWeek's Technology channel has complete coverage of the agreement, including an article by Spencer Ante about the antitrust hurdles looming for Microsoft. —Zoe Galland

FROM THIS WEEK'S ISSUE OF BUSINESSWEEK COVER STORY Obama Tells BW He's Not Antibusiness In a wide-ranging interview, the President says "to return to some semblance of balance is hardly radical" PHARMACEUTICALS Resveratrol: The Hard Sell on Anti-Aging Online ads for resveratrol are using fake endorsements from experts and celebrities to promote the unproven anti-aging product NEW BUSINESS Apple's iPod: The Next Generation Apple executives say they have a game plan to revive iPod's sagging sales. What might a new device look like?   FROM BW.COM'S TECHNOLOGY CHANNEL NEW BUSINESS Microsoft-Yahoo: A Rival for Google? The deal, if approved by antitrust regulators, could give the Internet search giant a viable competitor. Advertisers are optimistic INTERNET Microsoft-Yahoo: Antitrust Hurdles Loom The weak Web search-ad companies want to team up against No. 1 Google, but regulatory tradition and practice have long blocked such deals POLICY & GOVERNMENT Skilled Immigrants on Why They're Leaving the U.S. A long wait for a green card, coupled with the soft U.S. economy, is prompting an exodus of some of the best and brightest   FROM BW.COM'S SMALLBIZ CHANNEL The Profits and Perils of Supplying to Wal-Mart The world's biggest retailer works with thousands of small suppliers on a regular basis. But landing a contract comes with downsides worth considering before applying The SBA's Karen Mills on Thawing Credit How the Administrator says her agency is helping get banks to lend to small business again LEADERSHIP Helping an Employee in a Personal Financial Crisis As more Americans face distress, small businesses are trying to find solutions, including loans, that benefit workers and companies alike   FROM BW.COM'S ASIA & EUROPE CHANNELS SPORTS BUSINESS ESPN's Global Soccer Ambitions In a sign that soccer will be vital to its future global growth, ESPN is launching a channel to show English Premier League games to British fans ASIA Japan Wants to Build Medical Tourism Market The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry will oversee a small-scale project expected to start in September at 10 of the nation's largest hospitals EUROPE Airlines Face Traveler Crash Fears A flurry of deadly plane crashes recently has passengers questioning airline safety. But statistics show that flight is safer than ever   FROM BW.COM'S LIFESTYLE CHANNEL REAL ESTATE NEWS Homebuilders Think Small To attract buyers, homebuilders are slashing costs and square footage. KB Home is offering a new house in Tucson for $89,999 BUSINESS OF SPORTS WNBA: Not Just a Punch Line Anymore As it heads into its All-Star break, the WNBA celebrates its 13th season on the heels of higher ratings and attendance, and bigger endorsement deals HEALTHDAY Almost 10 Percent of U.S. Medical Costs Tied to Obesity Only return to healthy behaviors will bring expenditures down, experts say   FROM BW.COM'S INNOVATION & DESIGN CHANNEL INTERNATIONAL DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARDS IDEA 2009: Designing a Better World Many of this year's International Design Excellence Award winners created products that could have a global impact INNOVATION Recession: The Mother of Innovation? How businesses can turn the troubled economy to their advantage INNOVATION Honda's New CEO Is Also Chief Innovator In an effort to stem its global slide, Honda introduces veteran engineer and R&D head Takanobu Ito to lead the automobile company   FROM BW.COM'S INVESTING CHANNEL NEWS ANALYSIS Bankruptcies: The Next Wave Credit markets have already improved and the economy may be on the road to recovery, but that won't prevent a new run of corporate bankruptcies in the next year SPECIAL REPORT: THE NEW FINANCIAL LITERACY Financial Literacy: Reaching the College Crowd As experts debate the usefulness of teaching financial know-how to debt-strapped students, some undergraduates are doing it themselves INVESTING M&A's Long Road Back Recent news from IBM, Amazon, and others suggests deals are being made, but conditions are still far from normal in the world of mergers and acquisitions  BW MALL   SPONSORED LINKS Dowload Free CRM White Paper from SAP  Read this white paper, get the basics on CRM, and avoid the "CRM paradox” Talent Management for the 21st Century  Register to download this Harvard Business Review article. Master HR Compentencies Online w/ Villanova U.  Earn a HR Master Certificate & Gain the Skills to Execute Effective Employee Relations - Enroll Now! Save $451 on Auto Insurance  Esurance features reliable coverage with 24/7 claims & customer service. Aflac for Your Small Business  Get a More Robust Benefits Package at No Direct Cost for Your Small Biz. Buy a link now! This newsletter is a FREE service provided by BusinessWeek.com. To sign up for other newsletters, cancel delivery, change delivery options or change your e-mail address, please go to our Newsletter Preferences page. If you need other assistance, please contact Customer Service or contact: Wanda Cooper BusinessWeek Customer Rights Communications Data Services 1995 G Avenue Red Oak, IA 51566 Phone: 1-800-635-1200 View our corporate privacy policy here. To learn more about how BusinessWeek.com applies this policy, you can contact our Marketing Department. Copyright 2008, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. 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FEATURED SLIDE SHOWS > > CEOs Rate Obama's Performance The Best Designs of 2009   Advertisement   Reader Poll: Special Issue Trouble at the office? In surveys, blogs, polls, and social media, BusinessWeek collaborated with readers to identify problems at work. Together we found answers.     IN YOUR FACE: APPLE'S NEW TUNE Reader Henry Harris Writes: "If you want music, the pocket-sized iPod makes sense, but why lug around a tablet? If you get the urge to watch a movie, surely most don't want to spend two hours watching a tablet." Sponsored by Tres Generaciones Tequila Tell Us: Is the iPod Passé? >   Featured Blog The foreclosure crisis has entered a new phase. It's spreading beyond the wreckage of the housing bubble to metro areas in Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas, Illinois, and South Carolina where unemployment is rising, according to RealtyTrac's Midyear 2009 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report released on June 30. Prashant Gopal—Hot Property Other BusinessWeek Blogs The Auto Beat Globespotting Blogspotting Brand New Day Byte of the Apple Deal Flow Economics Unbound Election 2008 Eye on Asia Fine On Media First Jobs Games, Inc. Getting In Green Business Hot Property Investing Insights Management IQ The New Entrepreneur NEXT: Innovation Tools & Trends NussbaumOnDesign The Oil & the Glory Recession in America The Tech Beat Technology at Work What's Your Story Idea? Working Parents READ MORE > ADVERTISEMENT Generate Serious Income in Turbulent Markets In today's market, there's more to trading covered calls than just buying a stock and selling a call. With a complimentary 3 month subscription to Bernie Schaeffer's "Covered Call Plus", you'll learn how to maximize income without limiting your upside while still reducing downside exposure.   FEATURED VIDEO The President at Six Months Executives give their take on the job being done by President Obama after his first six months in office   Advertisement   FEATURED COLUMN Health Care in Crisis: Patients Are Pushovers Patients must lose their blind faith in doctors and demand more information about the procedures being performed on them, urges Ed Wallace