The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business, 2007

Sometimes, whatever needs to be said is said so well that there is nothing more to be said… However, I’m going to try, anyway.

This article from Fortune Magazine comes to us via the good folks over at Yahoo ( I still remember when they were just little ‘ol yahoo.berkeley.edu, but that’s another story) recaps the 101 dumbest Business moments in 2007. We’ll give you the top 50, you’ll have to go to Fortune Magazine’s 101 Dumbest Moments in Business for the rest…

The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business, 2007

Monday, December 17, 2007provided by

Ah, what a dumb year it was! And that’s the positive spin on it. Consider the alternative. Like, if selling poisonous toothpaste to children isn’t dumb, what is it? If the constant slide and imminent collapse of air travel isn’t dumb, what then? If all the hyperintellectuals who created the subprime mess aren’t functional dummies, what might they be, huh? No, we’ll take dumb over evil, inept, and greedy any day. In fact, our hats are off to all of these, the absolutely dumbest of the dumb that the gods of fate and humor delivered into our laps—and yours—this past year. Thanks to each and every one of them!

1. That’s the good news. The bad news is that 2008 is the Year of the Rat. During 2007, the Year of the Pig, Mattel is forced to recall almost 20 million items made in China because of lead paint on toy cars and tiny magnets that could be deadly if swallowed. Lead paint problems are also found in 844,000 Chinese-made Barbie accessories and toys with the Sesame Street brand. Pet food makers recall more than 60 million cans of food laced with tainted melamine in wheat gluten from China. A huge underground distribution network for steroids, human growth hormones, and other bodybuilding drugs is traced to 37 companies in China. Chinese-made lunch boxes, given away by the California Department of Public Health to promote healthy eating habits among children, are found to contain lead. Nike recalls 235,000 football helmets because the Chinese-made chin cup has a defective strap and has caused at least two concussions and a broken nose. Ethylene glycol is found in Chinese-made toothpaste. The government of China executes the former head of its State Food and Drug Administration.