http://lafayetteassociates.com/blog A Blog about Strategy for Middle Market Companies Wed, 15 Nov 2006 05:27:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en There is an old war story that pops up in business-school classroom discussions regularly that goes something like this: In the early days of World War I, combat planes would go out on missions in the morning and most would come back later in the day. Of those that made ... http://lafayetteassociates.com/blog/2006/11/08/lagging-indicators-%e2%80%93-no-way-to-lead/ As marketers from a number of agriculture-related industries have been aware for several years, not all baby-boomers are moving their empty nests to the beach, golf community or urban downtown. A noticeable number are embracing the “ruralpolitan” lifestyle and moving to the country. According to Farm Industry News, ruralpolitans are ... http://lafayetteassociates.com/blog/2006/10/29/down-on-the-farm-%e2%80%93-ruralpolitan-baby-boomers-may-be-a-long-term-bust/ Given that the population is not growing fast (see our October 18 post), historically speaking, the very high levels of immigration we have seen over the past 10 years would represent a significant change in the composition of our population. Putting a few data points on some obvious issues – Hispanics ... http://lafayetteassociates.com/blog/2006/10/25/5/ According to the US Census Bureau, on October 17, 2006 the US population reached the landmark level of 300 million. As monumental as that moment was, it represented a missed opportunity to point out a number of important yet complex trends playing out within the US population in favor of ... http://lafayetteassociates.com/blog/2006/10/18/300-million-another-tick-of-the-us-population-clock/