"Spot the connection," ends a sidebar in The Economist about France's technological lead in automation and the state of its labor market ("France and automation: Driverless, workless. Driverless trains reflect not just new technology but also rigid labor laws," November 26, 2011).

Examples of labor saving automation expanding rapidly in France:

• The debut of remote controlled, driverless trains on the busiest line of the Paris Metro
• Rapid expansion of self checkout at supermarkets
• Unstaffed self service gas stations
• Touch screen ordering and credit card payment at fast food establishments
• Self service car washes

The spurs to such automation:

• A labor code with over 3,300 pages
• Average payroll taxes of 39% paid by employers
• A heavy burden of mandated paid vacations, holidays and leave for employees
• Frequent labor strikes

It's a wonder that, per the sidebar, unemployment is only 10% in France these days. For financial managers, be sure that your company thoroughly researches local labor laws, business taxes and business regulations before expanding into a new locality, state or country.

A growing problem for financial managers is the domino effect created by delinquent payments. Moreover, this is a big problem with business customers, not just with retail customers. When company A is late paying company B, B probably has to delay paying C, and so on. It's a huge, and worsening, vicious cycle with effects felt throughout the economy.

What should the intelligent financial manager do? Give customers some slack, hoping for them to recover, or draw the line and stop running the risk of a huge writeoff when bad credits go under? Follow the link above for some ideas and observations.

Private equity funds are coming under increasing fire, especially given a lengthy run of subpar results, for excessive fees. Investors and portfolio companies alike are balking at fees that not only are high in isolation, but which represent double and even triple dipping when viewed collectively. Follow the link for details.

What is the outlook, then, for the private equity sector and for careers therein? Is the gravy train coming to the end of the line?

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has been formed by Citigroup's sale of its Smith Barney brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley. Originally billed as a joint venture between the firms, it was transparent from the start that this was a desperate attempt by a severely wounded Citigroup to raise some fast cash in 2009, by pawning its most profitable division. Now it's the largest brokerage operation in the industry, despite a significant downsizing of its financial advisor ranks since the original combination was announced.

Is this industry leader the right place for financial advisors and support professionals such as sales assistants and operations people to ply their trade? It depends on your situation, and the positions on offer. If nothing else, the ongoing integration of trading and account management platforms suggests a need for information technology expertise, especially in systems integration.