French Caldwell

US to take majority GM stake.

Doesn’t it feel weird for the U.S. federal government to take over an automobile manufacturer?  The assumption here is that bankruptcy of GM is a greater economic systemic risk than the economy can handle right now.  There is not a lot of trust in the economy right now.

I catalog macro-systemic risks into six critical uncertainties that you can make your own assumptions about, and decide how they affect risk management in your enterprise:

1 — Trust in the connected economy — it’s like a a stool with three legs — finance, confidence (investor, consumer), ethics — all three are damaged

2 — Pace of globalization — slowing a lot

3 — Fourth generation warfare — highly assymetrical (like rowboats of pirates vs an international naval task force) — who’s winning?

4 — Environmental sustainability — no matter what you believe on climate change, it’s still a critical uncertainty on the business impact

5 — Social e-governance — how does society organize with advent of social networks

6 — The Impact of Regulating Cyberspace — considering all the above

I’ll be talking about these critical uncertainties and their impacts tomorrow at the Gartner Risk Management and Compliance Summit.