Free Market Merit

admin on July 20th, 2010

A recent NYT article reported on a business partnership formed around innovative technology going sour.  The story line is familiar.  A partnership of business interests is formed, partly because it makes sense, and partly to get around some tax issues.  One of the partners is a “small guy” that innovates, the other partner is a [...]

Continue reading about Innovation: Indulgence or Philanthropy – Part 1

admin on March 25th, 2010

Perhaps I should not be commenting on health care reform at this point, since I do not dissect the various proposals, including the current legislation.  Here’s the problem:  no health care reform will be close to ideal at this point.  Like most things in our increasing paternalistic society the ideal to my mind would involve [...]

Continue reading about Health Care Reform

Last week I posted my responses to three questions asked by the editor of a business magazine put out by the American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia (the country).  Here is my response to her final question. (4) Is there such a thing as the mentality of the middle class? There is the idea that [...]

Continue reading about What Is the Mental Class Mentality? – Final Question from Investor.ge

admin on January 23rd, 2010

Here is the third question posed to me by the editor of the business magazine Investor.ge, put out by the American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia. (3) Why is it (the middle class) important? Can we say it is more important economically than socially or does it play an important role in both spheres? What [...]

Continue reading about Is the Middle Class a Cause or Effect?

I recently got a request for an interview by the editor of a business magazine, Investor.ge.  The magazine is produced by the American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia (the country).  For those aware of recent events on The Middle Class Forum this is quite ironic.  There is a recent commenter out there rolling his eyes [...]

Continue reading about What Is the Middle Class? – A Question from Investor.ge

admin on January 16th, 2010

We pride ourselves on our entreprenurial spirit, and we have data that indicates we engage in start-ups constantly.  In truth, starting a business as a proprietor is much easier than starting a corporation.  It is naturally much easier, of course, and government provides some infrastucture and incentives to assist the start-up of proprietors further. Yet [...]

Continue reading about Starting versus Staying in Business

admin on January 14th, 2010

A teachable moment recently occurred on The Middle Class Forum.  I received a comment faulting how I related entitlements to stockholders.  I approved and replied to that comment, but I’m going to cut and paste that reply here for three reasons:  1) my original reply was “off the cuff” and there was sloppiness in my [...]

Continue reading about Dealing with Tantrums

admin on December 11th, 2009

There is a simple one-size-fits-all solution to restoring economic balance, a solution that no one would disagree with in principle, a solution that will never be implemented: good economic indicators.  We are bombarded with stock market indicators incessantly.  Consequently, that is where our focus lies for “restoring balance.”  When the stock market does well it’s [...]

Continue reading about Restoring Economic Balance – Good Economic Indicators

admin on December 10th, 2009

Restoring economic balance will require greater experimentation, as reported in the previous entry for this series, and better information.  Most people equate misinformation as being distortions of information.  Others maintain that as long as the information is out there somewhere in some format then “Buyer Beware.”  Yet hidden or obscured information is essentially misinformation, afflicting [...]

Continue reading about Restoring Economic Balance – Simplified Fiscal Policy

admin on December 4th, 2009

Due in large part to economics being more of a scholastic field with its schools of thought, rather than an empirical field as its apologists would insist, there is not much experimentation going on to enhance the corporate business model.  So one important ingredient for restoring economic balance would be greater tinkering with the requirements [...]

Continue reading about Restoring Economic Balance – Corporate Tinkering