Tax cuts can help economy - Brown

Gordon Brown wants to maintain the initiative on the economy

Gordon Brown has fuelled talk of possible tax cuts by saying they could help to support consumer spending.

In a speech in London, Mr Brown referred to planned tax cuts in the US and Germany, saying countries must "work together" to tackle the downturn.

Earlier, the PM said he was looking "at everything" that could help the economy and would announce details within days.

David Cameron says the Tories will announce "tax changes to encourage businesses to take on workers".

Tax cuts can help economy - Brown

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'Fart gas' link to blood pressure

Hydrogen sulphide is behind the smell of rotten eggs

The gas best known for being used in many stink bombs may also control blood pressure, say US researchers.

Small amounts of hydrogen sulphide - a toxic gas generated by bacteria living in the human gut - are responsible for the foul odour of flatulence.

But it seems the gas is also produced by an enzyme in blood vessels where it relaxes them and lowers blood pressure.

The findings in mice may lead to new treatments for high blood pressure, the Science journal reported.

'Fart gas' link to blood pressure

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Entrepreneurship: Determinants and Policy in a European-U.S. Comparison

The purpose of this book is to provide such an analytical compass for directing how public policy can shape and promote entrepreneurship. We do this in two ways. The first is to provide a framework for policymakers and scholars to understand what determines entrepreneurship. The second is to apply this framework to a series of cases, or country studies. In particular, this book seeks to answer three questions about entrepreneurship: What has happened over time? Why did it happen? And, what has been the role of government policy?

The cornerstone of the book is the proposed Eclectic Theory of Entrepreneurship. The goal of the Eclectic Theory is to provide a unified framework for understanding and analyzing the determinants of entrepreneurship. The Eclectic Theory of entrepreneurship integrates the different strands from relevant fields into a unifying, coherent framework. At the heart of the Eclectic Theory is the integration of factors shaping the demand for entrepreneurship on the one hand, with those influencing the supply of entrepreneurs on the other hand. The key to understanding the role of public policy is through identifying those channels shifting either the demand for or the supply of entrepreneurship by policy instruments.

The findings in this book show that, by utilizing the framework provided by the Eclectic Theory of Entrepreneurship, it is within the grasp of policymakers to identify the determinants of entrepreneurship in a particular country setting at a particular point in time. This will be essential in formulating new public policies to promote entrepreneurship and, ultimately, economic growth, job creation and international competitiveness.

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The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley

Hailed as the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford of Silicon Valley, Robert Noyce was a brilliant inventor, a leading entrepreneur, and a daring risk taker who piloted his own jets and skied mountains accessible only by helicopter. Now, in The Man Behind the Microchip, Leslie Berlin captures not only this colorful individual but also the vibrant interplay of technology, business, money, politics, and culture that defines Silicon Valley. Here is the life of a giant of the high-tech industry, the co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel who co-invented the integrated circuit, the electronic heart of every modern computer, automobile, cellular telephone, advanced weapon, and video game.

With access to never-before-seen documents, Berlin paints a fascinating portrait of Noyce: he was an ambitious and intensely competitive multimillionaire who exuded a "just folks" sort of charm, a Midwestern preacher's son who rejected organized religion but would counsel his employees to "go off and do something wonderful," a man who never looked back and sometimes paid a price for it. In addition, this vivid narrative sheds light on Noyce's friends and associates, including some of the best-known managers, venture capitalists, and creative minds in Silicon Valley. Berlin draws upon interviews with dozens of key players in modern American business--including Andy Grove, Steve Jobs, Gordon Moore, and Warren Buffett; their recollections of Noyce give readers a privileged, first-hand look inside the dynamic world of high-tech entrepreneurship.

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A modern American success story, The Man Behind the Microchip illuminates the triumphs and setbacks of one of the most important inventors and entrepreneurs of our time.

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Entrepreneurship and Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy

Entrepreneurship has long been seen as a major vehicle for economic development and growth and it has attracted researchers from a variety of disciplines with very diverse analytical approaches. The vast amount of research that has been conducted so far has raised certain pertinent questions which remain unanswered; questions such as: which model to apply in practical policy work? are other models equally viable? What are the implications of the different models? and how can and should they be used to guide the formulation and implementation of entrepreneurship policies?

Entrepreneurship and Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy highlights the role of individual economic agents with endowments of new knowledge or new combinations of old knowledge as entrepreneurs, and thus identifies them as dynamic factors in the knowledge economy. The book also examines the role of clusters and agglomerations for these entrepreneurs in the knowledge economy.

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The Student Success Manifesto

Discover how to: (1) Make massive amounts of money and enjoy doing it (2) Find or make your dream job (3) Make yourself irresistible for prestigious scholarships & awards (4) Get into your first choice school and make the most out of it (5) Meet and learn from mega role models (6) Start NOW without paying dues.

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The Entrepreneur's Guide to Hiring and Building the Team (The Entrepreneur's Guide)

There are few absolutes in business, but here is one: Thriving businesses employ a superior team. No matter how great the idea, how strong the entrepreneur's finances, how excellent the location, or how magnetic the advertising, the success or failure of the business rides on the quality of the workforce. And here's another absolute: Long-term financial success depends on keeping effective employees from jumping ship. In this book, business veteran Ken Tanner guides entrepreneurs through the three critical components of staffing a business--recruiting, teambuilding, and retention. As he shows time and again through advice, anecdote, and example, solving these challenges is like adding rocket fuel to the entrepreneurial business.

Yet new business owners tend to take a lax view of personnel issues. They hire the first person who walks through the door or interview using a canned sheet of questions snagged from the Internet. "Teambuilding" consists of showing the new employee where to sit and who to go to for answers. And retention? What's that? The Entrepreneur's Guide to Hiring and Building the Team begins by helping entrepreneurs understand why staffing is so important. Then it guides them through the entire process of recruiting to attract top-notch talent to the budding organization. But that's only the start, Tanner maintains. It's critical to get these talented people to work together to drive the business, and it's equally critical to keep each employee challenged, motivated, and satisfied--the keys to retention. Tanner shows how to: *Identify holes in the workforce before hiring.
*Cast a wide net to find the best potential hires.
*Interview well to uncover stellar candidates.
*Create a purpose for the team.
*Understand human dynamics and handle conflicts.
*Lead the team.
*Understand employee needs to better motivate them.
*Push the right buttons to retain employees for the long term.

The ultimate success of the business depends on doing these things well, something every entrepreneur will grasp after reading this book.
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In the Name of Entrepreneurship? The Logic and Effects of Special Regulatory Treatment for Small Business

What are the differential effects of regulation and policy on small businesses? What is the impact of special regulatory treatment for small businesses? This book sheds light on these issues through analysis of the regulatory and public policy environment with regard to small businesses, including focused studies in four key areas: health insurance, workplace safety, corporate governance, and business organization.

There has been ongoing concern that some regulations, rules, and government policies place a disproportionate burden on small businesses and entrepreneurs. For this reason, small businesses often receive special regulatory treatment, such as exemptions from legislation or extended deadlines for compliance. However, the desire to support small businesses can come into conflict with the interest in addressing the concerns that led to the regulation or policy in the first place. Moreover, it is often unclear whether special regulatory treatment for small businesses is having the intended effect.

This book sheds light on these issues through analysis of the regulatory and public policy environment with regard to small businesses, including focused studies in four key areas: health insurance, workplace safety, corporate governance, and business organization. The authors offer support for the idea that the regulatory environment has a different effect on the behavior of small businesses than it has on that of large ones. However, they also demonstrate that policies designed specifically to help small businesses do not always have the intended effect.

The lack of a consistent definition of small business confounds our understanding of these issues. The book suggests possible directions for future policy that achieves a better balance between the interest in restricting firm behavior through regulation and the desire to encourage small businesses and entrepreneurs.

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