Word: paces
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Internet is weaving itself into the fabric of the economy at a breathtaking pace; on that point the economists were in full agreement. But they stopped short of calling it a revolutionary force, on the order, say, of the development of electricity as a power source for industry in the early 20th century. They did note that the Internet, like electricity, is insinuating itself in ways that make the future unthinkable without it. Says Barry Newman, director of technology, corporate and investment banking at Banc of America Securities: "You're going to see the Internet become a core portion...
Obviously, the already marked speedup in the pace at which business operates will continue. Says Tapan Munroe, an economics professor at the University of San Francisco, who has his own consulting firm: "We're talking about product life cycles of two to three years or even less. We're talking about industry life cycles of less than a decade." Newman notes that this hectic pace poses "a massive challenge for people with existing successful businesses," whose "natural tendency is to focus on what has made the business successful." They are vulnerable to competition from "upstarts" who "have the advantage...
Paradoxically, perhaps, at least some board members think the accelerated pace of business can lead to more leisure for workers--in about 15 years, says Varian. The reasoning: more work can be done in less time. Romer is unsure about leisure, but predicts another, generally beneficial aspect of the speedup. Faster economic growth will lead to higher wages, he says, and as a result, "the cost of people's time will be going up. That's a trend you can count on into the far future...
...make downturns milder and less frequent, partly by tamping down the wild inventory swings that have intensified past slumps. Computers make it much easier to match orders and deliveries of goods to sales. On the other hand, Sinai senses an enhanced source of instability--the frenzied pace of stock and real estate trading, speeded up by the Internet and intensified by the enthusiasm of investors for Internet stocks, some of which may take many years to justify their current prices, if they ever do. The result may be a "bubble" of inflated prices for some Internet and IT companies, ending...
...made the big pension switch--moving millions of employees from the traditional system, which rewards longevity and piles up cash in a worker's last years of service, to more flexible, so-called cash-balance plans. The new model lets workers build up their nest eggs at a steadier pace and take the balance from job to job. It is more consistent with today's career cycle. But when IBM announced its conversion in May, thousands of middle-aged IBM workers, hardly known for their activism, began screaming that the switch promoted age discrimination...