These are two strong themes that are going be continuing themes over the next couple of years.

Ethical problems where again headlines today with two left-over MCI executives resigning as more information surfaces about their involvement. Samuel Waskal gets the book thrown at him. It is going to take years to recover from the acts of Enron, WorldCom, ImClone, Tyco, Global Crossing, [breath]…need I go on?

The rising cost of medical care is reaching a boiling point. Unions are striking over it . Employers are trying everything to “control” costs. Locally, Aurora Healthcare has been publishing their First Monday Reports that talk about areas of rising costs and what they are doing to try to help control costs. Today, the Wall Street Journal had a front page story talking about growing signs that the rise in health care costs is slowing:

“The shift marks an unexpected turn of events, because it is being led by two of the most stubborn drivers of medical inflation: prescription drugs and hospital spending. The reasons include a loss of patent protection on some big brand-name drugs — such as Claritin — lower use of outpatient surgical services and stingier new health-insurance plans that force patients to pay more of their medical bills.”

The rest of the article is more lukewarm about a slowing and I am not sure I believe it either.

What are you doing to address these topics in your business?