Much of President Obama’s second inaugural address focused on money.
And, as expected, there were a number of people opining about his economic goals.
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“In the rich oratory of an inaugural address, President Obama sketched out a vision Monday for addressing the problems that have been afflicting the American economy — not just since the financial crisis and recession but for long before,” wrote Zachary Goldfarb of The Washington Post. “And amid calls to impose discipline on the federal budget, he defended the value of a costly social safety net, describing it as a critical support for Americans willing to “to take the risks that make this country great.”
Helaine Olen, contributor to Forbes’ online Web site, wrote that Obama spoke out for the many people whose financial world is turned upside down by no fault of their own. “I’m not sure Barack Obama intended to do that. But he did and I want to thank him for it.”
“We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us at any time may face a job loss or a sudden illness or a home swept away in a terrible storm,” Obama said.
“Don’t get me wrong. Of course, we should all strive to lead the most financially responsible lives we can. But no one – to the best I can determine – is arguing that we should lead lives of reckless monetary abandon, spending like the proverbial drunken sailor on shore leave,” Olen wrote. “However, bad things do happen to even the best savers and investors.”
Olen is of author of “Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry,” which is this month’s Color of Money Book Club selection. Read the review.
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Multitasking Costly Mistakes
In an interview with Julie Morgenstern, a productivity expert and bestselling author of “Time Management from the Inside Out,” Forbes.com contributor Jessica Kleiman asked, is multitasking productive in the workplace?
Morgenstern doesn’t think so.
“It has been scientifically demonstrated that the brain cannot effectively or efficiently switch between tasks, so you lose time,” Morgenstern said. “It takes four times longer to recognize new things, so you’re not saving time; multitasking actually costs time. You also lose time because you often make mistakes. If you’re multitasking and you send an email and accidentally ‘reply all’ and the person you were talking about is on the email, it’s a big mistake.”
Morgenstern says our memory issues are among the symptoms of the multitasking epidemic.
So, how can you get a break from having to do five things at once? Here’s what Morgenstern tells Forbes:
-- Take a break from electronics. Spend only one to three hours at a time engaged by electronic means so “you can engage in a deeper and different way on problems, studying, writing, thinking, talking, etc.”
-- Shut down your e-mail and all screens the first and last hour of the day.
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