1. The cost of captial (interest rates) and today's economy are important considerations as well. What do you think of today's slow economy and abnormal low-interest rate market and their influence on starting a company that manufactures and markets designer clothes?
2. With respect to ethcis and shareholder value, "Firms have an ethical responsibility to provide a safe working environment, to avoid polluting the air or water, and to produce safe products. However, the most significant cost-increasing actions will have to be put on a mandatory rather than a voluntary basis to ensure that the burden falls uniformly on all businesses" and "Stock price maximization requires efficient, low-cost operations that produce high-quality goods and services at the lowest possible cost". How would you balance the two seemingly conflicting goals?
3. In the United States, interest rates are historically low yet our economy is growing at an extremely slow pace as measured by the GDP number of .7% annualized announced this past Friday. Please comment on how you convince a new investor that this is a good or bad environment to start a company to produce and market apparel that she designed.