This is a guest blog post by John Wood who lives in Darlington, Australia. It is excerpted by permission from a longer piece by John: “Financial Sustainability: Staying Solvent in an Insolvent World.” I believe the responsibility for our economic welfare is ours. Not our neighbours. Not our employers. Not our communities. No; not our… Continue Reading
Author Archives:
The Politics of Hate
When my parents were married in 1948 there was a severe shortage of housing in New York City. The severe shortage was directly caused by New York City rent controls. My parents did find a 600 square-foot flat in the Bronx for $51 a month rent. Due to rent controls, this was lower than the… Continue Reading
If Only the Government Knows, Beware
Last week, supermarket chains Kroger Company and Stop & Shop reversed their position: they stopped selling “lean, finely textured beef.” If you’re not familiar with the news stories, you might do a double take. Why would supermarkets stop selling lean beef? Many of you already know that what they actually decided to stop selling is… Continue Reading
The Berlin Wall in Economics
There are a few economic principles that almost all economists endorse. One of those principles is that prices are best set by markets, rather than by politicians or central planners. Yet, at the same time, many economists believe the Federal Reserve (Fed) should manipulate interest rates. Curious, isn’t it? Interest rates are a linchpin price… Continue Reading
We Will Be Remembered By What We Do
You might, as I did, find a recent study by Symantec alarming. Symantec researchers intentionally “lost” 50 smartphones in cities around the U.S. and in Canada. They were left on newspaper boxes, park benches, elevators and other places that passers-by would quickly spot them. But these weren’t just any phones—they were loaded with tracking and… Continue Reading
Let Us Be True to One Another
Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain Swept… Continue Reading
Mrs. Sidor’s Chips
Recently a New York-based company, North Fork Potato Chips, won a $50,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to update its websites and brochures. “Candice Celestin, spokeswoman for USDA Rural Development, said the Value-Added Producer Grant Program is designed to help companies expand their businesses to a wider audience.” Such a program… Continue Reading
Free Nurse Trujillo (To Use Her Knowledge)
What would you do? Imagine you are a well-trained nurse. You care about your patients and are especially concerned about a terminally ill patient who is scheduled for surgery. You know that the surgery will have consequences affecting the patient’s quality of life. In your opinion, the surgery is likely to increase the patient’s suffering…. Continue Reading
Three Leaf Blowers and America’s Cold
We often get so overwhelmed by the suffering in the world that it is the small stories that break the heart the most. Recently, The New York Times told the story of Ike Libby, the co-owner of Hometown Energy, a small oil company in Maine, and his customer, Robert Hartford. Libby received a call from… Continue Reading