Advertising and all it entails is a study in alchemy worth far more if unlocked than turning lead into gold if it can be repeated and applied successfully over and over again. You can only turn so much lead into gold until the gold would actually begin losing its value. (if it’s no longer rare its worth about as much as lead is it not?) However, if one could turn every advertising campaign into a world phenom pushing sales into the stratosphere no matter what the product or service, one might say that’s a process worth far more than the Sorcerer’s stone. Yet, what can turn a potentially golden opportunity into a lead balloon is advertising that not only misses the mark, it has the ability to sink a campaign faster than a stone thrown into the water. Hence, I give you today’s example – XM Sirius Radio™. (more…)
Slope of Hope Blog Posts
Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.
The Great Deformation
This is going to be a review of David Stockman’s 768-page tome The Great Deformation, and 
although I never thought it was possible, it makes me angry to write this book review.
I’m not angry because I don’t like the book. On the contrary, this is the best economics book I’ve ever read. Indeed, it may be the best and most influential book I’ve ever read in my life. I only wish I had read it the moment it was published in April 2013. I only finished reading it today, and for the entire time I’ve been plowing through it, I’ve been trying to think of what I would say in this review.
Why am I angry, then, to write this? Bluntly stated, because nothing I can say will make what I want a reality. And what I want is for every literate person in the United States to read this book, cover to cover. I want them to read it. I want them to understand it. I want them to agitate for the changes that it recommends. (more…)
