We typically don't give much thought to inflation, but over long periods, it can wreak havoc with the purchasing power of our dollars. Over many years, inflation has averaged about 3 percent annually, though there have been times when it has been very high and very low. In 2015, for example, it averaged close to 0 percent, while it was 6 percent in 1982, 9 percent in 1975, and more than 13 percent in 1980. Even at 3 percent, it can really shrink the purchasing power of your future dollars, as something that costs $100 now may cost about $243 in 30 years.

Singapore can be celebrated for more than its role in the hit film Crazy Rich Asians — its passport is now the most powerful in the world.

Its ranking was determined by Passport Index, an online tool that collects data from 193 United Nations member countries and six territories to compile an ever-changing list of the world’s most powerful passports. The Index is sponsored by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital, and its annual list of the most valuable passports is decided by the amount of countries to which a passport grants entry without a visa.

Part 1 considered Dr. Kelvin Stott’s characterization of the innovation crisis in the pharmaceutical industry (here, here) and found his technology-based solution wanting. Improved productivity will require a new business model, one with transformative potential.

Image: An employee inspects a handful of cardiovascular treatment tablets inside Merck KGaA's pharmaceutical laboratories. Photographer: Martin Leissl/Bloomberg

If you’re an entrepreneur, you likely have a role model you carry around in your head as you go about building your business. Maybe it’s Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos or everybody’s seeming favorite, Steve Jobs. Here’s a better suggestion: Sam Walton. Unsexy, to be sure, and not terribly contemporary. But as arguably the most successful entrepreneur of all time, he has more to teach about the basics of entrepreneurship than many of the more dashing entrepreneurs who’ve come after him.

Image: Customers arrange a shopping cart in front of an advertisement featuring the photograph of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton at the company's Sam's Club store in Shenzhen, China. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Every day we get new reminders of just how tough the war for talent can be. It isn’t enough to attract the greatest employees — you have to retain them. That’s become a bigger challenge with “job hopping” on the rise. One survey found that 64% of workers, and 75% of those under the age of 34, believe frequently switching jobs will benefit their careers.

Why, then, would I actively encourage even my best employees to pursue outside job offers? The answer is simple, if counterintuitive: It helps the business succeed.

The U.S. high technology industry looks like it may be too concentrated. One sign of this is the lack of geographic diversity in the venture capital industry, which is highly concentrated in a few technology hubs, mostly on the coasts:

Five universities yesterday said they would establish a biotech business incubator at the Shilin-Beitou Technology Park in New Taipei City.

The incubator would the biggest of its kind in northern Taiwan and provide the park, which is still under development, with skilled workers, they said.

Image: http://www.taipeitimes.com

Mark Rantala recently wrote an op-ed for Crain’s Cleveland Business that talks about Cleveland’s need for talent:

"As executive director of the Lake County Ohio Port and Economic Development Authority, I have experienced firsthand the challenges of a shrinking workforce. At the Port Authority, we have done a deep dive into the data at the county level. In 10 years, Lake County will experience a shortage of between 4,000 and 8,000 people to ll all the existing jobs in the county.

Image: http://www.newgeography.com

The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Florence – with winds of up to 140 mph – is expected to be “extremely dangerous” when it hits the East Coast early Friday. But, it’s the water, not the wind, that has the potential to make the storm so deadly, experts say.

A storm as big as Hurricane Florence will hit with a “one-two punch” deluge of water, Erik Salna, the associate director of the International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University, says.

Image: http://time.com

Nine years after launching, the state-funded venture capital program, TNInvestco, has helped create nearly 1,850 jobs as of 2017, a number showing little change from the previous year.

Investments groups selected by the state in 2009 and 2010 have allocated about $131 million to 187 companies, according to the program's annual report. The program, funded through tax credits for insurers, cost the state $200 million, and Tennessee has spent about $108,000 per job created.

Image: https://www.tennessean.com

We did not intend to hurt anyone. Our goal had been to help our neighbors in the Houston area get out of danger. Yet in 2015 the phone started ringing, and Internet messages started piling up, saying we were making safety worse. “You are doing a disservice,” said one public official from a district on Houston’s northern edge. A meteorologist chastised us: “How come you are telling people they are at low risk for flooding when there is flooding all around them?”

Over the past handful of days, three of the biggest names in private equity have led investments worth a combined $170 million that don't look very much like private equity at all. Instead, KKR, Warburg Pincus and TPG Capital are continuing to make more and more forays into the world of venture capital.

KKR announced on Monday that it has led a $57 million Series B investment in Clarify Health Solutions, a developer of tech designed to guide healthcare for physicians, health systems and patients. The startup raised $5 million at a $22.8 million valuation a little less than two years ago.

Image: https://pitchbook.com

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com/

In 1545, Jacopo da Pontormo scored a major commission from Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici to paint the main chapel of Florence’s church of San Lorenzo. A contemporary of masters like Michelangelo, Pontormo was a distinguished but aging artist who was eager to secure his legacy.

Pontormo knew he needed to make these frescoes the crowning achievement of his career, so he sealed off the entire chapel. He built walls, erected partitions, and hung blinds so that nobody could steal his ideas or sneak an early peek. Trusting no one, he chased away local youth and kept human contact to a minimum. He spent eleven years holed up, painting Christ on Judgement Day, Noah’s ark, and Creation itself.

Researchers working on gene therapy for brain cancer, a diagnostic for dementia;, and a tool for post-stroke rehabilitation were among those selected as finalists for the Science Center's QED program.

Image: https://www.bizjournals.com

CALISTOGA — This dinner party stretched beyond the walls of any restaurant – all the way to the edges of downtown.

Down the middle of Lincoln Avenue, white linens, grapevine centerpieces and wildflower-dotted napkins extended nearly as far as the eye could see – from the Embrace Calistoga bed-and-breakfast all the way north to within steps of the Cal Mart. Along 1,000 feet of tables through the heart of Calistoga, nearly 800 guests would sit down to an open-air banquet furnished by a dozen local restaurants and numerous Napa Valley wineries.

Image: Some 800 guests dined at a 1,000-foot-long banquet table set up on Lincoln Avenue for the sixth annual Calistoga Harvest Table on Sunday. Tim Carl Photography

“Not. At. All.” This is my answer every time someone asks me whether I miss working in the corporate world. I left last October, and am now sure that it was the right decision for me. I thrust myself into the quirky world of entrepreneurship, creating the When Women Win podcast, with the goal of impacting the lives of millions of women all over the world.

WELLESLEY, Mass., Sept. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report has ranked Babson College the No. 1 undergraduate school for entrepreneurship for the 22nd consecutive time, leading an impressive cohort of prestigious peers that includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Indiana University Bloomington, and University of California Berkeley, among others.

A version of this article appeared in the Autumn 2017 issue of strategy+business.

Whether we praise its genius or dispute its validity, it’s hard to deny the influence of Clayton Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation. In explaining the kinds of technological breakthroughs that enable upstarts to challenge industry incumbents, the Harvard Business School professor’s theory changed the way many organizations develop new products and services.

Image: Photograph courtesy of IMD

Hurricane Florence has done something strange. 

The Category 4 storm — which is expected to make landfall somewhere in the Southeastern U.S. on early Friday morning as a major hurricane — has broken with a 170-year long history of Atlantic hurricanes to now target the United States. 

Since 1851, there have been 33 named-storms that churned within 100 miles of Florence's position in the middle of the Atlantic. None of them, according to a tweet from hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach, ever made landfall in the U.S. 

Image: Hurricane Florence in the Atlantic on Monday morning (September 10).IMAGE: WINDY.COM