Bear with me here. This is going to be one of those "out there" posts. But Steve Randy Waldman takes an interesting stab at a problem I've been wrestling with, at least in the furthest reaches of the financial corner of my brain, since the financial crisis began.

And that is how to stimulate the economy without creating another asset bubble. It sounds easy enough to the Keynesians, but as Waldman has pointed out before, rebooting aggregate demand through traditional government action may simply create another bubble. And ultimately, the distinction between monetary and fiscal policy may be moot.

Multinational aluminum producer Alcoa is building the experience and knowledge-base of some of its top finance executives by having them swap jobs. Although it is hardly a new trend for companies to groom finance executives for the top position by putting them through their paces in various different functions and departments, it is an interesting twist for the two execs to simply switch jobs.

On August 1, Alcoa Vice President and Controller Tony Thene will take over as CFO of Alcoa's engineered products and solutions business group (EPS). Taking his place will be current EPS CFO Graeme Bottger. Thene will stay a vice president and will join the company’s executive council. Bottger—already on the council—was elected an officer of the company.

Executives are willing to do what it takes to get that next great gig - be it moving out of state, region or country. So said 82 percent of those who recently took the Executive Quiz, commissioned by The Korn/Ferry Institute.

What's driving executives to pack their bags? Career acceleration is the primary reason to move, according to 78 percent of those surveyed. However, compensation is not necessarily the number one motivating factor. Nearly half of global executives say the "quality of life" in a new location would most motivate them, while only 20 percent chose "job title or promotion", or "salary", as the top motivator. Eighteen percent of executives cite "the reputation of the company" as the primary motivating factor.