I spent Wednesday morning listening to world-renowned economist Alan Beaulieu talk about the state of our economy.

He provided numerous charts and graphs of various indicators showing actual performance; based on that, he provided some forecasts. Not only was he entertaining, but apparently he is more than 96 percent accurate.

The good news is, he felt we are at the bottom of the economic cycle now, and should expect to see slow growth over the coming years. He demonstrated how certain sectors, like technology, have been somewhat resilient to the economy's problems and how other sectors have been particularly hard hit.

One thing that caught my interest was his discussion of several wildcard factors. He spoke about nativity rates and the value of adding people into a country's economy, whether by birth or by immigration. Apparently this one factor is as important as many of the things we more commonly think about, like inflation, monetary policy or tax rates. He said the entire housing crisis might have been averted if we simply went to the list of people waiting to enter the country legally and accelerated the entry process for anyone willing to purchase a home!
He also kept mentioning technology development as if it also were a wildcard; sort of a magic bullet. He didn't use any numbers or specifics. Rather, he kept making sweeping statements like, "Unless some new technology is developed that ... ."

I was gratified because I believe technology innovation is a significant driver of our economy. First, as a sector it represents goods and services that go directly to our gross domestic product, and exports that go to our balance of trade. Second, the application and deployment of technology significantly increases worker productivity.
It is this second factor that I believe should be looked at more closely. Anyone in their 40s remembers a time before the word processor and spreadsheet. For me, those tools sprang to life when I was in college. Before that time, every executive had a secretary; typists and stenographers were common; business communications occurred via mail, teletype and a new invention called telefax; and people spent a lot of time making phone calls.

Today, we are at least twice as productive; we don't need a secretary, and the quality of our results is better. What is the macroeconomic value of a doubling of worker productivity at half the cost?

I've always felt the primary contributor to the economic boom of the 1990s was Microsoft and its competitors. By making computers accessible to the common person and empowering them with tools like word processors, spreadsheets and e-mail, they significantly increased productivity, quality and organizational efficiency. This, in turn, drove prosperity and growth.

Today, many people say cloud computing is the biggest thing since the advent of the World Wide Web. I see firsthand every day how cloud-based tools are empowering people, increasing productivity and increasing efficiency -- all at reduced costs and in a material way.

Is cloud computing the wildcard economic driver that will usher in another boom time? I'm no economist, but I think it will certainly help.

Treff LaPlante is president and CEO of Carlisle-based WorkXpress.

Early last month, we heard about Google launching a store to sell online business software that integrates its Web services in a challenge to Microsoft.

At the time, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google eventually would sell its partners' software through the site, take a cut for itself and share some revenue with the developers.

On Tuesday, Google announced an online store to sell the online services of other business software makers. The move is an effort to fill gaps in its own products and services, Google said.

Google Apps Marketplace lets Google Apps customers "easily discover, deploy and manage cloud applications that integrate with Google Apps," Google said.

More than 50 companies are selling applications, including Intuit Online Payroll, Manymoon, Professional Services Connect (PS Connect) and JIRA Studio.

Would your business use Google Apps Marketplace?

Andréa Maria Cecil is managing editor at the Central Penn Business Journal. She is a 31-year-old native New Orleanian who is interested in how gadgets and technology can make business more efficient.

Ever seen a résumé like this?



That's right: Ed Hamilton, an unemployed copywriter in London, posted his résumé on Google Maps.

Now there's some creativity. Love it.

Central Pa. companies: Would you accept a Google Maps résumé? Why or why not?

Andréa Maria Cecil is managing editor at the Central Penn Business Journal. She is a 31-year-old native New Orleanian who is interested in how gadgets and technology can make business more efficient.

https://www.box.net/shared/yz0r742tol

Although its growth still is outpacing the growth of retail sales, e-commerce is slowing, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Massachusetts-based Research firm Forrester Research predicts U.S. e-commerce will grow 11 percent this year compared with 20 percent just a few years ago, the newspaper reported.

Retailers now are focusing on using the Internet and mobile technology to influence sales at stores.

Forty-two percent of all of last year's retail purchases -- worth about $917 billion -- were influenced by the Web, according to Forrester. By 2014 that figure is likely to jump to 53 percent, the Journal reported, and the line between online and offline commerce will become even more gray.

"If somebody buys from a mobile device in your store, is that a Web sale or a store sale?" Sucharita Mulpuru, Forrester's e-commerce analyst, told the Journal. Retailers "need to think of some new ways that they can take into account the Web's influence."

Thoughts?

Andréa Maria Cecil is managing editor at the Central Penn Business Journal. She is a 31-year-old native New Orleanian who is interested in how gadgets and technology can make business more efficient.