Marketplace Economics
|
To march or not to march?
The local news media continue to announce how much the whole parade business cost the city. I can't help but think of the MasterCard television commercial - Police protection: $100,000; Sheriff's deputies working overtime: 27; Barricades: $15,000. Protecting the 1st Amendment: priceless.
|
|
Warrantied Roads
You could be sitting at home enjoying a nice cold beer on the deck or watching your kid play soccer but you aren't because you're stuck in construction traffic again. Or you've hit a pothole, knocked your car out of alignment and have to shell out money for a mechanic again. You must be driving in Colorado.
|
|
Of pet parents and soda fountains
The city of Boulder recently passed a resolution that pet moms and dads will no longer be referred to as pet "owners" but pet guardians Their hope is that when people begin to call themselves g - u - a - r - d - i - a - n - s instead of owners they will realize that pets are "people" too and should be treated accordingly.
|
|
It's the law
As I watched the Elian Gonzalez kidnapping story replay itself on TV I couldn't decide what made me want to throw up more - thinking about how the President and the Attorney General continuously abuse their power or the attitude of the American public.
|
|
A mighty woman with a torch
That’s like saying the 12 million immigrants who came through Ellis Island in the early 1900s did so just to get a peek at the Statue of Liberty.
|
|
Save me from myself
There are obviously many different examples I could name where Americans want the government to intervene and help them along, but one issue in particular that strikes my fancy is firearms.
|
|
No competition need apply
Are you an independent business owner? Tired of having to lower your prices, provide superior customer service and guaranteed satisfaction? Are you just tired of competition in general? Then consider this - the Boulder Independent Business Alliance proposed an ordinance recently known as the Community Vitality Act (CVA).
|
|
On the other hand
Cathy Young looks at dozens and dozens of feminist and left-thinking theories with a critical eye and analyzes each one for accuracy, content and believability.
|
|
Free market dictators?
Recently, someone I know, as she was discussing free markets, nuclear weapons and the Ten Commandments, stated that ...But more subtle is our 'free market' economy that has its own ways of killing-- of enslaving and de-humanizing. How many people and cultures have died in the name of tea, tobacco and sugar?
|
|
On Christianity and property rights
Thomas Jefferson wrote:
The right to procure property and to use it for one's own enjoyment is essential to the freedom of every person, and our other rights would mean little without these rights of property ownership.
|
|
When I don't like the free market
There are times when I have to admit that I don't like the free market. I really don't like it when I go to the mall (which I try to avoid at all costs - too many scary looking teenagers with big pants) and see those adorable puppies wiggling and squiggling all over each other. What amazes me is that people actually buy dogs (or cats) from these wretched places.
|
|
Host your own talk show? Don't count on it!
If you try to operate what is also known as a "pirate" radio station and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gets wind of it you will be shut down and your equipment seized. (Thereby leaving you free to go out and commit some real crimes.)
|
|
What would Moses say?
The recent drive to push religion into the public school system has been argued mainly on three points: 1) Today's children lack morals and character; 2) The founders were God-fearing men and God is mentioned in the United States Constitution; 3) It will stop school violence. All three are at best misdirected and at worst false. After Congress passed a bill last June allowing schools to post the Ten Commandments on school property the social conservatives shouted "Hurrah! Now these heathens will get some religion!"
|
|
Are we there yet?
It's that time again - the kids are out of school (damn!), the reservations have been made at DisneyWorld (yes, at the All-Star Resort - the "cheap"place) and the plane tickets have been purchased. It's tourist season.
|
|
What can be done?
I firmly believe that there is not a great deal that "can be done" in terms of preventing these random school shootings. According to University of Colorado Professor Del Elliott a student has a "one in ten million chance of getting killed in a school shooting."
|
|
Rock a bye baby
"The presence of such behavioral responses does not imply that all government regulations are necessarily ill conceived. What the responses do suggest, however, is that one cannot view safety as simply being a matter of engineering controls. Individual behavior plays a key element." W. Kip Viscusi
|
|
This and that
Just too much going on in the news this week from which I can choose so I decided to write a little about everything.
|
|
Spoiled By Success
Columnists sometimes exaggerate problems to generate interest.The most understudied contributor to them is the explosion in living standards over the past thirty years. As a nation, we are richer than we have realized, and yet, this material success has sowed the seeds of many our most pressing social problems.
|
|
Guns and Economics
Guns mean big bucks to legitimate dealers and even bigger bucks to those who sell them on the streets.
|
|
Still Looking To Get Rich
Did Jenny Jones shoot this guy herself? No. Did he get cancer from drinking studio water? No. While he was in the studio did part of the roof fall on him and kill him? No.
|
|
Who Benefits In The Wake of a Tragedy?
The sound from the politician's flapping lips is almost deafening. Whether they're pro/anti gun, pro/anti abortion, etc. They're out there hawking their wares and hoping for votes.
|
|
Terror on TV
The school shooting tragedy in Littleton, Colorado on Tuesday is not the first and unfortunately it won't be the last. What is unique about this situation however, is the fact that most of the plight was literally carried out on live television.
|
|
Lucky Dog!
Pets (especially dogs and cats) mean big money to veterinarians, storeowners, kennel owners, etc.
|
|
Real Life Bizarre News Stories
Tired of watching Monica cheese it up for the cameras on Oscar night? Does news of Kosovo depress you? Read on for some of the most bizarre stories involving economics making the news today.
|
|
The Economics of War
The B-2 Stealth Bomber is being used in the current conflict for the first time. Each bomber costs approximately $2.1 billion. Who needs a concealed weapons permit when you have one of these parked in your back yard?
|
|
A Bit of Adam Smith
It was in 1776 that Smith published what is perhaps his most famous book, the Wealth of Nations. Anyone who has ever read or even looked at this book knows just how large a tome it really is. It does not make for light reading over a bowl of Alpha-Bits at the breakfast table.
|
|
The Economics of Education
Schools that tend to have higher test scores and graduation rates also tend to see a rather high level of parental involvement.
|
|
Do You Believe?
We watch Ally McBeal and All My Children under the assumption that they are fiction and we enjoy them for their entertainment value. Yet we watch the news to gain information and we certainly don't start out with the assumption that it is fiction. Then again, maybe we should!
|
|
Should We Be Allowed To Discriminate?
The free market would dictate that the state should not be involved and the landlords should be allowed to discriminate on the basis of religious principles, or any other basis they find pertinent to their beliefs.
|
|
Save The Whales!
On the face of it the ESA sounds like a noble endeavor, yet as with a great deal of government legislation it has far reaching and often devastating unintended consequences.
|
|
The 1960s Revisited
In Praise of Decadence by Jeff Riggenbach is a unique look at the 1960s. Anyone who either lived through the 60s (and has intact memories!) or for those who simply have an interest in the subject, or readers who enjoy an argument that is unique, should enjoy this book.
|
|
Get Rich Quick Schemes
There is a lot of money to be made by suing big companies. You have suffered, and you want money.
|
|
They Shoot Economists Don't They?
The following is a short, but handy lesson in economics. Clip out this valuable column, carry it in your pocket, and at your next cocktail party, throw out these terms and people will flock to your side and revel in your wit and wisdom.
|
|
Clinton's Double Speak
Oh to be one of those pop-up video guys! What would really make the President’s State of the Union address interesting would be to insert little messages, on the screen, as the President was speaking. When the President said, “I want to honor the first lady…” a little balloon could pop up that read, “Since when!?”
|
|
Get On The Bus, Gus
Consider this important factor, if people started taking public transportation on a large scale, when would women have the chance to put on their makeup?
|
|
Remember The Magic!
It was hard not to notice the three-story faux can of Spaulding tennis balls that graced the stairwells of our hotel, or the equally large cup of Coca-Cola on the building next door. Admittedly, the commercialism did not end at the hotel. Nay, that was just the beginning. Basically you could,at times, interpret DisneyWorld as one gargantuan commercial.
|
|
WHY WE NEED LESS BUREAUCRATS
The EPA is only one example of many of why the world would be better off with less buraucrats. Yet it is possibly one of the most misleading, costly, not to mention downright annoying facets of our government.
|
|
Hey Buddy! Can Ya Spare An Indulgence?
After all, what typifies the Economics of Human Behavior more than the Catholic Church selling indulgences? I see this as a kind of history of economic thought.
|
|
Government Restrictions in the Workplace
As I have mentioned previously in the column (and will continue to do so in the future), I believe the free market is the most efficient means of ensuring that the largest number of people possible will be better off than they would under a different system.
|
|
For What Will You Give Thanks?
I am thankful for the fact I don't have to face down a tank in Tienamen Square in order to have the right to vote because someone already did that for me.
|
|
SHOULD SOCIAL SECURITY BE PRIVATIZED?
It is my belief that the Chilean system is far superior to the United States system in terms of saving for our retirement. In 1981 Chileans were allowed to opt into a privatized retirement system.
|
|
DO CONSPIRACY THEORIES REALLY EXIST?
A cartel is formed when a number of firms get together and agree to set the price and output of their product, in an attempt to control the market.
|
|
DO CONSPIRACY THEORIES REALLY EXIST?
A cartel is formed when a number of firms get together and agree to set the price and output of their product, in an attempt to control the market.
|
|
Latest Articles