Mostly, though, countries seem to be exploiting economic success to update their hardware while the going is good.

ECONOMIST: Military spending in South-East Asia

The flaw in this idea might be that successful managers will be tempted to quit while the going is good.

ECONOMIST: Why equity markets have forgotten their function

Indeed, further spending cuts now, while the going is good, would reduce the debt even more, while also cooling the economies a bit.

ECONOMIST: Nordic economies

It might be tempting to get out while the going is good indeed, a number of institutional investors have quietly offered to buy the government's stakes.

ECONOMIST: Hong Kong

But more needs to be done while the going is good.

ECONOMIST: Indonesia's middle class: Missing BRIC in the wall | The

So, while the going is good, Ms. Kanokporn, a former nurse turned entrepreneur, says she will continue rolling out as many gold facials as she can.

WSJ: In Thailand, Those Seeking A Golden Glow Rush to the Spa

Two lessons are being drawn - success in social networking is an ephemeral business and the owners of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter should get out now while the going is good.

BBC: MySpace sale offers tough lessons in social networking

There are two predictable human reactions to the hot IPOs coming out of China, and they are the same as for any investment bubble: Get in while the going is good, or sell short and hope for the sky to fall.

FORBES: China IPOs: The Short-Selling Hype Is On

The reporting is generally along the lines that Apple has been pressed into doing it by NGO and consumer action: the NGOs going on to point out that while improvements are good not enough is being done, there is still further to go.

FORBES: Apple's Foxconn Is Improving Labour Conditions In China

For a short-while one might ignore the down side for the greater good, but four years, going on five, is too long.

FORBES: Allow Interest Rates To Rise While Keeping Monetary Policy Accommodative

Target corporation, just a few miles down the road from Best Buy, in the same town, and competing for the same corporate retail talent, never adopted a formal ROWE program, and never needed to, in fact, Target has been tremendously successful in recruiting great talent, while embracing the concept that dressing up and going into work, to work with your teams and colleagues is a good thing.

FORBES: Proximity Rules: Why Yahoo! Made the Right Call on Telecommuting