Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's last day in office is today. It would be hard to find a public servant more misunderstood. He's been vilified by the left as a creature of Wall Street and by the right as a Socialist. The truth is, a generation from now, students of economic history will read about, and understand, how Geithner helped to save this Nation, and the global economy, from another Great Depression. How Geithner helped to lay the foundations for a safer, fairer financial system. And how he helped America navigate global financial storms that threaten our economy.

All eyes are on digital titan Apple this week. Despite quarterly profits of over $13 billion, the recent success of the iPad mini, and seemingly strong growth rates for both the iPhone and iPad, the share price is off more than a third from its pre-iPhone-5 launch high of over $700, and the company has shed over $200 billion in market cap over the last five months. Could this merely be the extreme volatility often associated with the digital sector? Or perhaps the expectations of Apple's investors have evolved to mirror those of iconic founder Jobs, demanding nothing less than perfection from the company?

(Read More: El-Erian: Solving Wall Street's Apple Puzzle)

There is a lot of talk this morning - and rightly so - on the big drop in Apple's share price. After all, it is a widely owned and followed stock; it is one of the most recognized brands in the world; and it accounts for a meaningful portion (9.5% percent) of the NASDAQ composite.

Most of the commentary focuses on the reasons and validity of the recent movements in Apple's share price. The basic question is the extent to which the sharp fall - down over 10 percent early this morning and 35 percent overall since the end of September - is warranted by growing concerns about the ability of the company to maintain rapid growth in the context of increasing competition and an uncertain product cycle.

This question is well covered by analysts, and will continue to be so.

(Read More: Apple Suppliers Slammed, but Experts Say Buy)

TV as we know it has been under assault. Commercials are skipped via DVR or ignored by looking down to check Facebook on your smart phone or pad. Cable revenue is under pressure as consumers shun that dreaded $100 a month bill for streaming alternatives such as Netflix and Hulu Plus.

A lowlight of this struggle includes AMC going to war with "Mad Men" creator Matt Weiner over subtracting two minutes per episode of content in order to jam in more commercials. Eventually they agreed to keep the same amount of scripted content and increase the length of the episodes by two minutes. Also, CBS recently blocked its subsidiary CNET's attempt to include Dish Network's Hopper from consideration as one of CNET's "Best of CES" because of its ongoing litigation to attempt to stop the commercial hopping device.

Can big budget television production still be profitable in an environment where consumers are increasingly able to avoid commercials and cable bills?

Apple is in the news as investors grow increasingly concerned that the days of innovation are over for this tech giant. We believe this to be a weak contention as there are still plenty of products in Apple's pipeline that will impress consumers and investors over the course of the next twelve months.

But the concerns raised about this stock address innovation issues that affect companies across the technology and application space. Innovation is key and fast-moving markets require companies to be ahead of the curve as they introduce products and services.

"In the last two years, we have been successful in controlling inflation to some extent, but I admit the rate is still high. To control inflation is and will remain our priority."

This is what the Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao is reported to have said two weeks before the next policy review meeting on January 29 during an outreach program in a village in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state.

And to underscore the social, economic and political aspects of his duty to control inflation, Mr. Subbarao also said that rising prices, especially those of food and clothing, had affected "every section of the society, particularly the poor."

The assertion that paper use automatically equals environmental damage is a tired argument and is no longer defensible. Marked improvement in paper and print manufacturing has redefined the impacts this industry has on the environment. Today's savvy consumers are not easily duped by unsubstantiated claims focused on vilifying an entire industry; particularly when those pointing the finger are positioned to reap monetary gain as a result.

Google Drive recently joined forces with HelloFax, HelloSign, Manilla, Expensify, Xero and Fujitsu ScanSnap in launching a campaign entitled "Go Paperless in 2013" under the guise of improving the environment. Many paper based industries are in an uproar over the move.

In his inaugural address this week, President Obama committed us to get back to work on the challenge of a sustainable energy future.

"We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations," he said.

But will this reignite the debate on climate change or have three widely publicized stories already done that for us?

In a recent study by Price Water House Coopers, 53% of CEO's said that they see a lack of skills as a major challenge facing their organization.

So, what's being done about this?

Has your organization made any significant changes to help up –skill your employees? Are you investing dollars in the learning and development functions? Or are you hoping that benign neglect will eventually work for you and that the university system will start pumping out more highly qualified employees than ever?

It's not just CEO's who are worried about the skills shortages. Employees themselves feel the pressure to upgrade their own skill set. According to an Accenture report, The Learning Enterprise, nearly 55% of workers feel pressure to acquire new skills. But here's the catch, only 25% of them actually feel like they are getting the support that they need.

It's simply not working.

Once again, President Obama has declared the United States must respond to the threat of climate change; however, putting the U.S. economy in a straight jacket—as many of his supporters in the environmental community advocate—would likely hasten the pace of global warming. Instead, the United States should accentuate several environmental policies President Obama has already put in place and exploit its new bounty of natural gas to strengthen the U.S. economy and global environment.

Many Americans are persuaded that the buildup of green house gases (GHG) in the atmosphere is responsible for shrinking mountain ice caps, rising sea levels and the ferocious destruction of Hurricane Sandy and similar storms.