The French Model

The Washington Times | by Richard W. Rahn | Aug. 26, 2009

Why does it appear France is bouncing back more quickly from the recession than the United States? France has long been known for having an economy that suffered from too much government interference, too-high taxes and destructive union activity. Yet it grew 1.4 percent in the second quarter of 2009, while the U.S. economy continued to decline.

The United States and Britain have had the largest “stimulus” programs of the major economies (as measured by increases in government spending and deficits relative to gross domestic product) and yet they are not moving toward recovery as rapidly as most other countries that had far smaller stimulus programs or none. [Read more…]

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare

The Wall Street Journal | by John Mackey | Aug. 11, 2009

With a projected $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009, several trillions more in deficits projected over the next decade, and with both Medicare and Social Security entitlement spending about to ratchet up several notches over the next 15 years as Baby Boomers become eligible for both, we are rapidly running out of other people’s money. These deficits are simply not sustainable. They are either going to result in unprecedented new taxes and inflation, or they will bankrupt us.

While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone: [Read more…]

The Assault on American Business

The message from Washington is clear and getting louder by the day. If you run a successful business you face excessive government regulations and higher levels of taxation for years to come. The more productive and profitable you become, the more you will be forced to pay for the privilege of operating in this country. This threat is real and it appears that many companies and business owners are taking steps to protect themselves.

President Obama’s anti-business and anti-competitive campaign messages made executives and business owners apprehensive ahead of the January 2009 presidential inauguration and the Democrats obtaining control of Congress. Coming in the midst of one of the worst financial crisis and economic recessions in recent memory these promises had predictable results: businesses aggressively cut expenses, decreased their capital expenditures, drastically reduced their payrolls, and hunkered down to weather the current crisis and deal with the long-term consequences of punitive government actions. [Read more…]

The New ROE: Return On Ethics

Forbes | by Sharon Allen | July 21, 2009

With everyone’s current focus on the economy, you might assume I’m talking about that traditional financial metric, return on equity. But the ROE I advocate is different. It’s return on ethics. This ROE is really more mindset than measure, an approach to encouraging the highest standard of business behavior. It’s based on the premise that ethical decision-making can lead to strong performance and competitive advantage, while unethical decision-making leads to very different outcomes. [Read more…]

A Lesson in Stupid Tax Policy

American Thinker | by Daniel Salvaterra | July 12, 2009

North Carolina is a state with a huge budget deficit. It is one of the worst state deficits in the nation at $4.6 billion or 21% of the general fund budget for fiscal year 2010. In addition, North Carolina has the 5th worst unemployment rate in the country at 11.1%, and just missed the top 10 lists of the worst states in the country for business.

So how has the Tar Heel State proposed it solve its budget crisis and spur economic growth? Not by cutting spending of course! Governor Beverly Perdue has proposed $1.5 billion in tax increases, much of which will come from taxing online retail sales from companies that have no physical presence in the state. [Read more…]

Information Overload? Relax

The Wall Street Journal | by L. Gordon Crovitz | July 6, 2009

Just in time for summer, Crown Imports has brought back a popular television advertisement for its Corona beer that first aired in 1998. The new one shows a man at the beach skipping rocks into the sea. He decides to do the same with his BlackBerry — a beeper in the earlier version — when it interrupts his relaxation by ringing and vibrating.

The ad addresses one of the key causes of anxiety in the information age: What does it mean that for the first time, information is no longer scarce? We have fast and easy access to the communications and the facts we need, through email, the Web, Facebook, Twitter, text messages and other tools. So now we have the problem of too much supply. How can we escape useless information, unneeded emails and unwanted communications? [Read more…]

Health Care Is Not That Complicated

American Thinker | by C. Edmund Wright | June 16, 2009

It is no more practical to have “health insurance” to pay for prescription drugs and routine doctor visits than it is to expect your auto insurance to pay for your oil changes and tire rotations. But we do.

Consider: if a health insurance type system existed for auto insurance, it would certainly result in those quick lube oil changes costing about 95 dollars instead of something like 29. It would require an army of public and private sector bureaucrats to shuffle mounds of paper with hundreds of mouse clicks to make sure you were eligible for your lube job, that you paid your 10 dollar “lube co-pay” and that the remaining 85 bucks was eventually approved by a Chevy lube specialist underwriter. [Read more…]