The good folks at Kiplinger are primarily in the business of forecasting — both in the near and long term. A few current facts, of course, are mixed in.

Here are a few of their recent postings regarding technology. I would categorize them as ones that make you stop and say, Wow!:

•  Electronics now make up 40% of the cost of automobile materials, up from 15% in 2005. The average car is run by 40 microprocessors and 40 million lines of digital code

• New cars and trucks cost less in real terms than in 1995. Prices for housing, food, energy, etc. have increased by more than 50% over a similar time period

• Look for much faster smart phones by 2014 when wireless technology will let phones receive and send data at least five times as fast as today’s models

• Computer speeds will leap too as electronic processors will be replaced by chips that  use light waves. The chips will be able to crunch data far faster than the current sending and receiving of slower electrons. 

On the last item, Kiplinger predicts commercialization around the year 2020. But don’t worry; there will be plenty more technology advancements between now and then.

In general, according to a Governing magazine columnist, America’s infrastructure is lacking in overall quality compared to some other developed countries. Budgeting is cited as one reason, with maintenance funds falling victim to budget shortfalls.

A German graduate student once told me he was amazed at the poor roads, sidewalks and other features in Cambridge, Mass., where we were both living and studying at the time.

“It looks like a third-world country here,” he said. “Apparently, no one cares.”

I don’t think that is the case, but I do think we have become accustomed to a lower-quality public environment, one that would not be tolerated in France, Germany or Japan. It was already ironic that Cambridge, a rich, liberal city that lavishes praises on the public sector, put up with it. Regardless, the chronic maintenance cutbacks in this country result in shoddy-looking and poor-performing infrastructure systems, more accidents and a negative impact on economic capacity.

One explanation may be our budgeting process. States and cities generally pay for maintenance from annual operating budgets. You can’t borrow money to repair a pothole. That leaves the pots of money set aside as tempting targets.

“Maintenance budgets are one of the first places mayors and governors look for money to fill budget shortfalls,” says William Reinhardt, editor of Public Works Financing. “That’s because the effects of underfunding maintenance are not immediately obvious.”

In contrast, states and cities borrow money to build new roads, bridges and train lines. It can be tempting to use the money that would have gone for maintenance to pay the interest costs on bonds sold to build new stuff. Political pressures come to bear as well. Developers and real estate interests often clamor for new highways and other infrastructure, and fund politicians who support them. While citizens whine about potholes, they rarely vote on that basis.

Whatever the reason, peculiar budgeting practices occur. A transit manager at a major American city told me a revealing story during a tour:

“See those lights,” said the official, pointing to some bulbs within some rusting metal frames hanging over the platform. “It would only cost about $1,000 a year to maintain those well. We can’t get that. So instead, we will wait until they rust out and fail completely. Then we will replace them, at a cost of perhaps $100,000.” This is poor governance and poor economics, to say the least.

The legislative battle over right-to-work ended late this morning; if the noise of chanting protesters outside my office window is any indication, however, the issue will linger for some time. And that’s OK — if those disagreeing act in a responsible manner. That’s the way our free society is supposed to work.

How long will the lingering last? The obvious answer is at least November and the next election. One of the Senate Democrats speaking against the bill this morning said that this will awaken his party’s supporters. And that’s OK — that’s the way the system is supposed to work.

No one has proclaimed right-to-work will be the silver bullet that will immediately bring thousands of jobs to our state. (But one Indiana company indicated it is now staying and a Michigan business has invited previously ruled out Indiana to compete for its relocation). It is another important tool, accompanying the other contributors to our state’s strong business climate, one that will put Indiana in the running for many more jobs and economic opportunities. And our state’s batting average is pretty good when it has a chance to be in the game.

The evidence is there for those willing to listen — unions will not go away, safety will not slip, health care and pensions won’t be threatened. Will wages dramatically increase or decline? Probably not.

Right-to-work is here. It’s time to move on at the Statehouse to other important issues; it’s time throughout the state to let individuals have the choice of whether or not they wish to pay union dues as a condition of getting or keeping their job; it’s time for more companies to consider — and choose — our state for their relocations and expansions and the jobs they will bring.

Chamber media statement

Legislative Report summary

Put "green" and "government" in the same sentence and the story is usually about funding fights in our nation’s capital. In this case, Washington, D.C. has been recognized as having the most LEED-certified green buildings per capita. More than 100 are used by the federal government. Colorado is the top state. Governing reports: 

The District of Columbia and Colorado have the most LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita in the United States, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

D.C. easily led the nation with 31.5-square-feet of LEED-certified space per capita as of 2011, according to the report. The council highlighted the renovation of the U.S. Treasury Building, which became the oldest LEED-certified building in the country, as an example of the city’s work toward becoming a more sustainable community. More than 100 D.C. buildings used by the federal government are LEED-certified, according to a complete list of LEED projects in the United States provided by the USGBC, along with dozens of local government, private and non-profit buildings.

The city’s green-building efforts began in 2006, when the city council passed a bill requiring that all publicly-owned commercial projects be LEED-certified, according to a USGBC database of policies in all 50 states. D.C. also initiated an incentive program in 2009 for private and residential buildings to pursue LEED certification.

"This is a great accomplishment for the D.C. metropolitan region and a testament to the drive, commitment and leadership of all those who live, work and play in our community," Mike Babcock, board chair of the National Capital Region Chapter of USGBC, said in a statement. "We also realize there is still more to do and hope to effectively guide the effort by engaging, educating and encouraging the dialogue around the value of sustainability."

Colorado ranked as the top state with 2.74 square-feet of LEED space per resident. Former Gov. Bill Owens issued an executive order in 2005 requiring that all state buildings be LEED-certified, according to the USGBC. Former Gov. Bill Ritter signed legislation in 2007 that required any project receiving 25 percent or more of its funding from the state to be designed and built to high-performance green-building standards, such as LEED. Numerous municipalities, including Denver, have adopted their own green-building statutes.

Illinois (2.69 sq. ft. per capita), Virginia (2.42), Washington (2.18) and Maryland (2.07) rounded out the top five. Delaware (0.03), West Virginia (0.14) and Mississippi (0.21) sat at the bottom.

"Our local green building chapters from around the country have been instrumental in accelerating the adoption of green building policies and initiatives that drive construction locally," Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the USGBC, said in a statement. "These states should be recognized for working to reinvent their local building landscapes with buildings that enliven and bolster the health of our environment, communities and local economies."

For those interested in the world of wagering, the Super Bowl is famous for its exotic opportunities — length of the national anthem, color of the Gatorade to be poured on the winning coach, etc. If you’re mainly interested in who wins the game, look no farther than unemployment statistics, according to an analysis by outplacement firm RiseSmart.

The team whose metropolitan area boasts the lower unemployment rate during the previous calendar year has won 17 of the past 20 Super Bowls – a remarkable 85 percent success rate.  Based on this correlation, the New England Patriots should claim the NFL championship over the New York Giants.  Through November, the 2011 unemployment rate for the Boston metropolitan area was 6.8 percent, compared to 8.5 percent for the New York metropolitan area.

On January 26, 1992, the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI; that year, the Washington, D.C. metro area’s unemployment rate of 4.6 percent was substantially lower than Buffalo’s 7.2 percent. So began the string in which 17 out of 20 times, the Super Bowl winning city had a lower unemployment rate than that of the losing hometown. The predictor has been correct in the past three championship games, including Super Bowl XLV, in which Green Bay (7.7 percent 2010 unemployment) defeated Pittsburgh (8.0 percent).

Other facts of note:

• On the seven previous occasions that both teams’ metro areas have had unemployment greater than 5.5 percent – as is the case this year — the team from the metro area with the lower jobless rate has won in every instance.

• During the five previous occasions when at least one team represented a metro area with 7+ percent unemployment – as is the case this year, with the New York Giants – the team with higher unemployment lost in every instance. 

• The Giants’ upset victory over New England in Super Bowl XLII, when the Patriots entered the game undefeated, represents one of the three times in the past two decades when the unemployment rate predictor failed to predict the outcome of the game.

“Correlation does not imply causation, of course. And there are exceptions to every rule,” says Sanjay Sathe, founder and CEO of RiseSmart. “But one should never underestimate the power of having a job.”

What’s going on in the venture capital world and where does Indiana rank compared to other states? We’ll let the experts provide the analysis (below). As far as Indiana’s status, the 14 deals in 2011 (ranking 26th among the states) were similar to previous years; the nearly $178 million invested (20th ranking), however, exceeded recent trends. In other words, we had bigger deals in 2011.

The State Science &Technology Institute offers the following on a national level:

U.S. venture capital activity continued to rebound in 2011, with total investment dollars reaching levels similar to venture capital activity before the late-2008 drop, according to the latest data from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Moneytree survey. Venture capitalists invested $28.4 billion last year in the U.S., up 30.3 percent over 2010. The NVCA/PWC announcement ranks 2011 the third highest year for investment in the past decade. Venture deals, however, grew by only 12.1 percent, stemming from higher valuations and continued support for portfolio companies.

Early stage investment activity grew substantially last year, while seed stage investment declined. VCs invested $8.3 billion in 1,414 early stage companies, an increase of 47 percent in terms of dollars and a 16 percent increase in deals over the previous year. Early stage investments represented about 29 percent of all venture dollars and 38 percent of deals, a modest increase over 2010. Seed stage investments, however, declined by 48 percent in terms of dollars to $919 million. Seed stage deals remained steady at 396. These numbers indicate that even though the overall trend in 2011 suggest a preference for larger deals, seed stage deals experienced a decline in average size.

Most states shared in the increase in venture activity last year. Among 2010′s top ten states for venture dollars, only North Carolina and Washington had decreases in activity in 2011. The decline caused North Carolina to drop out of the top ten for the year, replaced by Virginia where venture dollars increased by 61.8 percent to $607.6 million. California, which was the recipient of 51 percent of all venture dollars last year, experienced a 32.1 percent increase in investment.

View SSTI charts on dollars invested and deals.

This falls into the category of "we know it goes on, but you’ve got to be kidding." To be more precise, the subject is exaggerating a bit on employee expense forms; the "kidding" part is the ridiculous lengths some people go to try and get non-business expenses paid for.

Not to be "Mr. Goody Two Shoes," but that common exaggeration part, when you look a little closer at it, is really like stealing. No, it’s not swiping the candy bar from the convenience store when the clerk isn’t looking. But at an age when we’re supposed to know better, it is trying to take something (money) from your employer that doesn’t belong to you under those circumstances.

Anyway, Robert Half Management Resources conducted a recent survey of chief financial officers. The question: Most unusual things you’ve seen on expense reports; the answers: pretty incredible.

Here’s a sample, with a larger list in the company’s press release:

• Cosmetic surgery
• Lottery tickets
• Pet food
• A trailer rental for a family reunion
• A teepee
• A person lost his personal cell phone somewhere in the office, so he submitted the cost of a new one
• A golf trip for the employee and his three friends
• Video game console
• Hot tub supplies