Anachronisms: The Financial Crisis Edition
It's being reported today that Ken Lewis, the CEO of Bank of America, which has received a metric assload of federal bailout money, took a private jet from BoA headquarters in Charlotte to a meeting with the New York attorney-general. The plane is a state of the art Gulfstream V that is one of BoA's nine (count them, nine) corporate jets. The planes have a price tag in the millions and cost over $5,000 an hour to operate.
Corporate jets have been in the news a lot lately. Corporate CEO's see them as tools to improve efficiency and the public, the press, and the government, all see the planes as wasteful excess during a tough economic climate. But the real question we should probably be asking ourselves hasn't yet been asked by most media outlets: In an age of Second Life, Skype, and state-of-the-art teleconferencing, why are we still traveling hundreds of miles for business meetings at all?
Corporate jets have been in the news a lot lately. Corporate CEO's see them as tools to improve efficiency and the public, the press, and the government, all see the planes as wasteful excess during a tough economic climate. But the real question we should probably be asking ourselves hasn't yet been asked by most media outlets: In an age of Second Life, Skype, and state-of-the-art teleconferencing, why are we still traveling hundreds of miles for business meetings at all?