Weekly blog round up

• Gary Becker, The International Market for Talent-Becker, The Becker-Posner blog
  “Although outsourcing has certainly accelerated as well as reflected the international hunt for talent, outsourcing is not the only factor that has invigorated the talent market. Migration of skilled workers also is part of the competition across nations for talent.”
• Penelope Trunk, How to start a quality conversation with someone you don’t know, Brazen Careerist
  “You don’t need to be extroverted to be a great conversationalist; you need to care about other people. You need to trust that you will find other people interesting because you are a curious, engaged person.”
• Joshua Gans, Growth at a distance, CoreEcon
  Does the tyranny of distance still exist? If so, could Australia be doing anything differently to ameliorate its effect?
• Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire, Ten years on: How Asia shrugged off its economic crisis, Economist.com
  “The financial crisis can be described as having been a “perfect storm”: a confluence of various conditions that not only created financial and economic turbulence but also greatly magnified its impact.”
• Pamela Slim, Presentation tips for budding entrepreneurs, Escape from Cubicle Nation
  This is a good all-round post on giving presentations, from fundamentals such as planning and having the right attitude, to practical matters such as not having too many PowerPoint slides.
• Thomas Eisenmann, Geoffrey Parker, and Marshall Van Alstyne, Platform Envelopment, HBS Working Knowledge
  Looks at this issue in depth using the Apple iPhone, Windows Media Player and Blockbuster video as some of the examples.
• Gina Trapani, The art of the doable to-do list, lifehacker
  "Break it down. The best way to make yourself avoid a task like the plague is to make it a vague monstrosity."