Down With Wall Street, but Keep the Pizza Coming - WSJ.com
"Bre Lembitz, a 21-year-old sleeping in the park and working as a medic, said she is opposed to the way investors' appetites for high profits and ever-greater returns force corporations to cut back on salaries and benefits for workers.
"You have this super-charged profit motive," said Ms. Lembitz, a student at Clark University in Massachusetts who is majoring in international relations and economics. "You don't have the corporate accountability that you need to have."
QUESTIONS:
Does the desire of investors for high profits force companies to cut back on worker salaries and benefits? Should corporations be more accountable?
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Manhattan Institute Video
The first 13 minutes of the video below provide an interesting evaluation of the government's actions during the depression of the 1930s, and of why it's relevant today.
Manhattan Institute Video
Manhattan Institute Video
Friday, September 16, 2011
UPS's Latest Efficiency Move: Ditch the Keys - WSJ.com
UPS's Latest Efficiency Move: Ditch the Keys - WSJ.com
EXCERPTS:
"LOUISVILLE, Ky.—United Parcel Service Inc., already designs its delivery routes to avoid left turns, so as not to waste time waiting for oncoming traffic. And the company requires its drivers to walk at a "brisk pace," which it defines as 2.5 paces a second.
But at an investor conference here, UPS executives said they hit upon another cost-saving strategy: take away the drivers' keys.
They said the company will save $70 million a year by going to a "keyless" system in which drivers will start their vehicle with a fob hooked to their belt.
Currently, UPS drivers are required to carry key rings on their ring finger to avoid wasting time searching for them. During the company's driver-training school, instructors yell out, "raise your hands!" Candidates caught without their keys lose points.
Still, wrangling with keys can eat up valuable seconds, UPS says. Once a driver stops, he or she has to take the keys out of the ignition, and then turn around and use them to unlock the bulkhead door to get to the packages.
Soon, drivers will wear a digital-remote fob on their belts and will be able to turn the engine off with a button that will unlock the bulkhead door at the same time.... That automatic door opening will save 1.75 seconds per stop, or 6.5 minutes per driver per day, while also reducing motion and fatigue, said David Abney, UPS's chief operating officer.
Mr. Abney acknowledged that the company is "obsessive...."
EXCERPTS:
"LOUISVILLE, Ky.—United Parcel Service Inc., already designs its delivery routes to avoid left turns, so as not to waste time waiting for oncoming traffic. And the company requires its drivers to walk at a "brisk pace," which it defines as 2.5 paces a second.
But at an investor conference here, UPS executives said they hit upon another cost-saving strategy: take away the drivers' keys.
They said the company will save $70 million a year by going to a "keyless" system in which drivers will start their vehicle with a fob hooked to their belt.
Currently, UPS drivers are required to carry key rings on their ring finger to avoid wasting time searching for them. During the company's driver-training school, instructors yell out, "raise your hands!" Candidates caught without their keys lose points.
Still, wrangling with keys can eat up valuable seconds, UPS says. Once a driver stops, he or she has to take the keys out of the ignition, and then turn around and use them to unlock the bulkhead door to get to the packages.
Soon, drivers will wear a digital-remote fob on their belts and will be able to turn the engine off with a button that will unlock the bulkhead door at the same time.... That automatic door opening will save 1.75 seconds per stop, or 6.5 minutes per driver per day, while also reducing motion and fatigue, said David Abney, UPS's chief operating officer.
Mr. Abney acknowledged that the company is "obsessive...."
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
RealClearPolitics - Why U.S. Health Care Leads the Way
RealClearPolitics - Why U.S. Health Care Leads the Way
EXCERPT:
"In [the vision that prevails widely among the intelligentsia], people can draw on the available resources only to the extent that the government considers appropriate, in the light of other claims on those resources. This treats what the people have produced as if it automatically belongs to the government -- and as if politicians and bureaucrats have both the right and the wisdom to override the personal decisions that the people want to make for themselves.
"This issue involves a difference between a world in which people can make their own decisions with their own money and a world in which decisions -- including life and death medical decisions -- are taken out of the hands of millions of people across the country and put into the hands of politicians and bureaucrats in Washington.
"One of the big claims for government-run medical systems is that they can "bring down the cost of medical care." But anyone can bring down the cost of anything by simply buying a smaller quantity or a lower quality.
EXCERPT:
"In [the vision that prevails widely among the intelligentsia], people can draw on the available resources only to the extent that the government considers appropriate, in the light of other claims on those resources. This treats what the people have produced as if it automatically belongs to the government -- and as if politicians and bureaucrats have both the right and the wisdom to override the personal decisions that the people want to make for themselves.
"This issue involves a difference between a world in which people can make their own decisions with their own money and a world in which decisions -- including life and death medical decisions -- are taken out of the hands of millions of people across the country and put into the hands of politicians and bureaucrats in Washington.
"One of the big claims for government-run medical systems is that they can "bring down the cost of medical care." But anyone can bring down the cost of anything by simply buying a smaller quantity or a lower quality.
Two Different Worlds - Thomas Sowell
RealClearPolitics - Two Different Worlds
EXCERPTS:
"Ideological clashes over particular laws, policies and programs often go far deeper. Those with opposing views of what is desirable for the future also tend to differ equally sharply as to what the reality of the present is. In other words, they envision two very different worlds.
***
"Judging businesses or their owners by how much wealth they give away -- rather than by how much wealth they create -- is putting the cart before the horse. Wealth is ultimately the only thing that can reduce poverty. The most dramatic reductions in poverty, in countries around the world, have come from increasing the amount of wealth, rather than from a redistribution of existing wealth.
"What kind of world do we want -- one in which everyone works to increase wealth to whatever extent they can, or a world in which everyone will be supported by either government handouts or private philanthropy, whether they work or don't work?
EXCERPTS:
"Ideological clashes over particular laws, policies and programs often go far deeper. Those with opposing views of what is desirable for the future also tend to differ equally sharply as to what the reality of the present is. In other words, they envision two very different worlds.
***
"Judging businesses or their owners by how much wealth they give away -- rather than by how much wealth they create -- is putting the cart before the horse. Wealth is ultimately the only thing that can reduce poverty. The most dramatic reductions in poverty, in countries around the world, have come from increasing the amount of wealth, rather than from a redistribution of existing wealth.
"What kind of world do we want -- one in which everyone works to increase wealth to whatever extent they can, or a world in which everyone will be supported by either government handouts or private philanthropy, whether they work or don't work?
Keynes and planning
Quotation of the Day…
This is an interesting quote I came across at Cafe Hayek:
… page 79 of James M. Buchanan’s and Richard E. Wagner’s vital 1977 book Democracy in Deficit:
"Perhaps it is best simply to say that [John Maynard] Keynes was not particularly concerned about institutions, as such. His emphasis was on results and not on rules or institutions through which such results might be reached. And if institutional barriers to what he considered rational policy planning should have worried him, Keynes would have been ready to set up a “national planning board” run by a committee of the wise."
This is an interesting quote I came across at Cafe Hayek:
… page 79 of James M. Buchanan’s and Richard E. Wagner’s vital 1977 book Democracy in Deficit:
"Perhaps it is best simply to say that [John Maynard] Keynes was not particularly concerned about institutions, as such. His emphasis was on results and not on rules or institutions through which such results might be reached. And if institutional barriers to what he considered rational policy planning should have worried him, Keynes would have been ready to set up a “national planning board” run by a committee of the wise."
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Why the Stimulus Failed - WSJ.com
Review & Outlook:Why the Stimulus Failed - WSJ.com
EXCERPTS:
"This suggests just how hard it is for Keynesian job creation to work in a modern, expertise-based economy," they write. The stimulus "was implemented at a time when the Keynesian model had every chance of succeeding on its own terms. The high level of unemployment and the rapid deadline for spending created both the supply of workers and the demand for workers. If the job market results are so lackluster in this setting, economists should expect even weaker stimulative results during more modest recessions."
EXCERPTS:
"This suggests just how hard it is for Keynesian job creation to work in a modern, expertise-based economy," they write. The stimulus "was implemented at a time when the Keynesian model had every chance of succeeding on its own terms. The high level of unemployment and the rapid deadline for spending created both the supply of workers and the demand for workers. If the job market results are so lackluster in this setting, economists should expect even weaker stimulative results during more modest recessions."
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Bernie Sanders' War on Chinese Bobbleheads! - YouTube
Bernie Sanders' War on Chinese Bobbleheads! - YouTube
"If a museum owned by the people of America cannot even have products manufactured in the United States by American workers, we've got some very, very serious problems." - Congressman Bernie Sanders
Do you agree with Sanders? Watch the video and then see what you think.
"If a museum owned by the people of America cannot even have products manufactured in the United States by American workers, we've got some very, very serious problems." - Congressman Bernie Sanders
Do you agree with Sanders? Watch the video and then see what you think.
The Importance of Positive Analysis: Luxury Tax on Yachts - Walter E. Williams - Townhall Conservative
Ignorance, Stupidity or Connivance? - Page 1 - Walter E. Williams - Townhall Conservative
In the 1990s, Congress imposed a 10 percent luxury tax on yachts, private airplanes and expensive automobiles. This article provides a good example of the consequences of not taking the time to do positive economic analysis before enacting a policy.
In the 1990s, Congress imposed a 10 percent luxury tax on yachts, private airplanes and expensive automobiles. This article provides a good example of the consequences of not taking the time to do positive economic analysis before enacting a policy.
Friday, September 2, 2011
One parking space: $100,000 - WSJ.com
In Crowded Downtowns, Parking Costs a Premium - WSJ.com
EXCERPTS:
"Helen and Bob Alkon paid $1.3 million for their condominium in downtown Boston two years ago. And while some apartments in the building have slipped in value since then, one of the Alkons' investments has paid off: The parking spot they purchased for $100,000 today sells for $125,000.
EXCERPTS:
"Helen and Bob Alkon paid $1.3 million for their condominium in downtown Boston two years ago. And while some apartments in the building have slipped in value since then, one of the Alkons' investments has paid off: The parking spot they purchased for $100,000 today sells for $125,000.
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