Economy & Business:

Peak Oil?, March 8, 2008
Expert says: The world has plenty of oil. As much as we don't like paying high prices for a gallon a gas, there is a major difference between today and the Carter era, when gasoline was not only expensive, it...

Talking Down the Economy, March 6, 2008
At various points in this piece, Business Week economics contributing editor Chris Farrell disputes - and pushes - the notion that it is possible for negative media coverage to drive the economy deeper into a funk. Farrell tries to absolve...

The Vision Thing, February 27, 2008
With Democrat candidates running around making promises to usher in the era of government-subsidized "universal healthcare," it's an open question whether they truly understand basic economics. For example, why is the cost of Lasik corrective eye surgery coming down while...

Just Another Example of Supply and Demand, February 19, 2008
Regarding the subprime mortgage crisis that I wrote about yesterday, Ilya Somin at The Volokh Conspiracy comments on new research showing that restrictive zoning and other government land-use restrictions have played a major role in causing the subprime mortgage crisis....

Home $weet Home, February 18, 2008
The Nashville City Paper reports today that Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, is co-sponsoring legislation that would give a $15,000 tax credit to anyone purchasing a newly constructed home, a foreclosed home or a home where foreclosure is pending. The goal:...

Laffer Unplugged, February 17, 2008
The Tennessean has an interview with Arthur Laffer, the economist whose supply-side economic theories lead the Reagan administration to cut taxes - leading to a major economic boom. Laffer lives in Nashville now, having fled high-tax California a few years...

Why Taxpayers Migrate, February 13, 2008
State's tax rates appear to play a role in the migration of Americans from some states to others, says the Wall Street Journal.Politicians who think taxes don't matter might want to explain the Dakotas. North Dakota ranked second worst in...

The Price is Right, February 5, 2008
The economic sky is falling, right? Wrong. I'll let Drew Carey explain......

Freeloaders Update, December 17, 2007
Blowback and response...

Freeloaders, December 15, 2007
The Tennessean has some video of "dumpster divers" - folks in Nashville who get most of their food from stuff thrown away in the trash. One of the cable networks recently did a story on the same trend, and the...

Bad Medicine, November 3, 2007
The administrators of the publicly-owned hospitals in Williamson and Maury counties continue their quest to deny the people of Spring Hill, Tennessee, the option of having a close, convenient hospital....

Bush Economic Boom Accelerating?, November 2, 2007
Economist Larry Kudlow says the economy is booming - and he's got plenty of data to support it. In fact, some of the data suggests economic growth is accelerating, Kudlow blames the Bush tax cuts for the boom. I do...

Venture Capital Blogging, October 22, 2007
The Boston Globe had a very interesting story in late September about venture capital firms and blogs, which I didn't see until yesterday. Scott Kirsner, who writes the paper's weekly "Innovation Economy" column focusing on entrepreneurship, technology, and venture capital...

Net Impact 2007, October 21, 2007
There's an interesting conference coming up Nov. 1-3 at Vanderbilt University's Owen School of Management at which some 1,500 MBA students and professionals will discuss how to use business to create a more "sustainable" - that is, environmentally friendly -...

The Bush Economic Boom Rolls On, October 6, 2007
The Wall Street Journal and other media are taking note of the continuing strength of the Bush economic boom. From the WSJ:We interrupt this fear of recession with a word from the job market: The Labor Department reported yesterday that...

Lawyers Gone Wild, September 15, 2007
The Washington Examiner has begun publishing what looks to be an excellent series, Lawyers Gone Wild. The home page for the series on the web is here....

Plugging China, September 14, 2007
Economist David Evans muses about what the electrical plugs in China's hotels tell us about the relative health of the Chinese and European Union economies....

Entrepreneurial Documentary: Free Screening Monday in Nashville, September 7, 2007
The Center for Entrepreneurship in Nashville is hosting a free screening of the new documentary The Call of the Entrepreneur, Monday, Sept. 10. Jeff Cornwall has details. The YouTube video shows the trailer. I've previewed the film, and agree with...

An Entrepreneurial Truth, July 26, 2007
I just finished watching the new documentary The Call of the Entrepreneur, which will be released later this summer by the Acton Institute, and it is every bit as good as the trailer (see video) made it appear to be....

The Call of the Entrepreneur, July 23, 2007
I'm rather looking forward to seeing the new documentary The Call of the Entrepreneur when it is released later this year - and not just because my cousin wrote the script. Arnold Kling at TCS Daily calls it "the most...

Surging China, July 19, 2007
China's annual economic growth surged to an 11- year high of 11.9 percent in the second quarter, a stunning number that puts China on course to chalk up its straight fifth year of double-digit economic growth and to overtake...

A Close Call, June 30, 2007
Tennessee ranked 11th best among the 50 states for its legal climate in terms of liability risks for business, according to Risky Business, a new guide from Directorship magazine and the American Justice Partnership. The guide profiles the political, legislative...

Cool News About Gasoline, June 19, 2007
Here's something I didn't know until I read the newspaper on the web this morning: You get less gasoline in a "gallon" of gas when it is hot outside than when it is cool. Learn why you should pump your...

Most States Using Surpluses To Cut Taxes, June 11, 2007
The New York Times reports that most states are flush with unexpectedly high tax revenue, but fails to point out the cause: The economic boom generated by the Bush tax cuts.More than 40 states have found themselves with more money...

And Counting..., June 4, 2007
For all the bellyaching about the Bush administration, I thought I'd point out that, as Jeff Cornwall pointed out, We just had our 45th straight month of real job growth. The Bush economic boom started with his tax cuts and...

A Costly Mistake, May 17, 2007
Instapundit notes the passage of the new federal budget:WHILE EVERYONE'S TALKING IMMIGRATION, this passed: "Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a $2.9 trillion budget plan that promises big spending increases for education and health care and a federal surplus...

I Blame The Bush Tax Cuts, May 10, 2007
The Wall Street Journal yesterday noted the record tax revenues being collected by the federal government thanks to the economic growth stimulated by President Bush's tax cuts.Here's the "surge" you aren't reading about: the continuing flood of tax revenue into...

Jackpot Justice, March 27, 2007
America's out-of-control legal system imposes a staggering economic cost of over $865 billion every year according to a new scholarly study released today by the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco. That is 27 times...

History Proves He's Right, March 1, 2007
Economist Gene Heck says the way to reduce the federal budget deficit even farther than it has already falling in the past year or so of the Bush economic recovery is not just to extend the Bush tax cuts, but...

Only One Week?, February 26, 2007
It's National Entrepreneurship Week. Jeff Cornwall wonders why entrepreneurship doesn't get a whole month, like the bikini and the sweet vidalia onion, rather than a just a week like the pancake and the fig....

Toyota Moving Forward, February 8, 2007
Arkansas News Bureau columnist David Sanders reports that Tennessee congressman Steve Cohen of Memphis is is "actively lobbying" Toyota Motor Co. to build its next plant in Arkansas rather than in Chattanooga. The Arkansas site at Marion is about 10...

Inconveniencing the Truth, February 6, 2007
Newsweek/MSNBC has a "web exclusive commentary" on the controversy surrounding Mine Your Own Business, the documentary that exposes how international environmental groups are blocking development projects that would benefit impoverished people in Romania, Chile and Madagascar. Also mentioned is how...

Greenpeace Vs. The Environmentalists, January 31, 2007
Click the play button to watch the head of Greenpeace tell lies about a mining project that would help pull a small Romanian village out of poverty, as he debates the issue with documentary film maker who, unlike the head...

The Forgotten Mammal, January 26, 2007
Mary Katherine Ham has an excellent column today on the damage the environmental Left does to the people it claims it is trying to help. It's an excellent follow-up to her excellent column from yesterday on the Left's condescening romanticization...

"That's what poverty looks like", January 25, 2007
Mary Katherine Ham looks at how environmentalists undermine the efforts of the poor to become not-poor. Writes Ham, "All too often, Lefties - particularly environmentalists - condemn globalization, free trade, free enterprise, and new development in other countries without thinking...

Greenpeace Fails To Silence Critics, January 24, 2007
A documentary that Greenpeace doesn't want anyone to see will be shown in the nation's capital tonight, despite the efforts of the environmentalist group to demonize and squelch it. The documentary, Mine Your Own Business, shows how international environmentalists are...

Poverty is Not Quaint, January 22, 2007
Last week I wrote two posts about a new documentary, Mine Your Own Business, and how the environmentalist Left was trying to squelch it. Well, they failed. Last week, Fox News's Brit Hume reported on the film and the issues...

A Tennessee Toyota Plant?, January 21, 2007
A report in an Arkansas newspaper says Toyota will build a new auto assembly plant either in Chattanooga, Tennessee, or in Marion, Ark., across the Mississippi River from Memphis. The Sunday Tennessean has the details. A few days ago the...

TennCare and the Terminator, January 17, 2007
Public policy writer Patrick Poole says California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should study the TennCare disaster before implementing a similar scheme in the Golden State. That's good advice....

America's Entrepreneur-Driven Boom Rolls On, January 10, 2007
Jeff Cornwall: U.S. entrepreneurs have created most of the 6.8 million new jobs in the nation since 2003. Much more information about our nation's entrepreneurial health over at Cornwall's blog. Also, Cornwall notes, self-employment continues to rise. Cornwall's been on...

Free the Cabbies!, November 29, 2006
What issue could possibly find me in agreement with Chris Wage, A.C. Kleinheider, Roger Abramson and Brittney Gilbert? Taxicab regulation - or, rather, the senselessness of Nashville's government regulating the number of taxicabs that entrepreneurs and taxi companies may operate...

Blogs Becoming Advertising Force, November 13, 2006
This Reuters report says that, in Europe, "blogs are becoming a force to be reckoned with as a means of advertising products" according to a survey by Ipsos MORI . The Ipsos MORI poll "found that the Internet journals are...

Solidly Back on the Road to Socialism, November 11, 2006
Jeff Cornwall writes:Since we got ourselves solidly back on the road to socialism on Tuesday, I thought it somehow appropriate to take a little peak at how entrepreneurship is doing in the People's Republic of China.It's worth reading the whole...

Sun CEO Seeks Permission to Issue Earnings Reports Via His Blog, October 10, 2006
Jonathan Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer, Sun Microystems, Inc., is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow public companies to satisfy their "Regulation FD" requirments for fair disclosure of earnings reports and other such information. Schwartz writes,A regulation known as...

Labor Department: Bush Economic Boom Generates Big Job Growth, October 9, 2006
The Wall Street Journal takes note of something the mainstream media largely ignored: the Labor Department has revised upward - by 810,000 - the number of new jobs created in the 12 months ending March 2006 after reconciling data in...

Wright Amendment Update, October 2, 2006
Congress has approved legislation leading to a gradual end of the Wright Amendment, which adversely affects air fares between Dallas and a host of cities including Nashville. Details here. Background here....

Pepsi's New Anti-American CEO, August 14, 2006
Pepsico has a new CEO, India-born Indra Nooyi. Today's press coverage of her appointment to run Pepsico doesn't mention it, but some of us recall her deeply offensive anti-American speech to the MBA grads at Columbia Business School back in...

Cyber version of pump and dump, August 11, 2006
By Ben Cunningham Interesting report on the 10Q Detective Blog about a web based pump and dump operation. 10Q detective along with other blogs like Footnoted is doing a great job of investigating obscure corporate SEC filings. This is another...

Chicago Mayor Daley Needs A Wal-mart Alliance, August 8, 2006
by Rick Forman First of all is hell getting ready to freeze over? El Presidente Bush used the veto pen for the first time last month. And now Chicago mayor Richard Daley is waving his veto pen after 17 years....

What's In It For Phil?, August 7, 2006
By Rick Forman Supposedly Bredesen is all for the free market and capitalism. Then why does he keep pushing corporatism/fascist ideas like this alliance with Wal-Mart? What would be the carrot for Walmart to enter into this alliance? Possibly an...

When Life Gives You Lemonade..., July 31, 2006
Jeff Cornwall highlights an Inc.com contest seeking the "Best Lemonade Stand in America.", to highlight the passion and creativity of budding sidewalk entrepreneurs. Target.com sells lemonade stands - for a whopping $119.99. When I was a kid, if we sold...

Put A Little Fidel In Your Tank, July 31, 2006
Cuba might become an oil exporter. I've been in favor of dropping the economic embargo on Cuba for a long time and this is just one more reason to do it. Before Cuba joins OPEC....

Doing The Wright Thing, July 25, 2006
TravelWeekly.com has an update on the proposal to gradually repeal the Wright Amendment, which will lead to lower fares between Nashville and Dallas. The story requires a free registration, so here's the gist of it: The mayors of Dallas and...

Alexander Fights Permanent Extension of Internet Tax Freedom Act, July 23, 2006
I voted for him and would vote for him again, so I regret to have to report that U.S. Sen. Lamar! Alexander is once again on the wrong side of the Internet access taxation issue. Sen. Alexander is opposing legislation...

Working for Wal-Mart, July 13, 2006
A pro-Wal-Mart organization named Working Families for Wal-Mart has unveiled a new blog designed to expose the paid critics who are attacking the company. The site's URL is PaidCritics.com. It is described as a sight designed to turn the spotlight...

I Blame the Bush Tax Cuts, July 8, 2006
Larry Kudlow notes that, in less than three years, the United States economy has grown by an amount larger then the entire economy of China.Did you know that just over the past 11 quarters, dating back to the June 2003...

I Blame the Bush Tax Cuts, June 30, 2006
The United States government's Bureau of Economic Analysis yesterday released the final estimate of economic growth in the first quarter of 2006, pegging the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 1st quarter at a 5.6 percent annual rate...

Wright Amendment Update, June 26, 2006
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., favors repeal of the Wright Amendment - and has sponsored legislation that would exempt Tennessee from the Wright Amendment if it is not repealed. That's the gist of a letter Rep. Blackburn, who represents Tennessee's...

Flying Blind, June 24, 2006
The Saturday Tennessean reports that there is some sort of deal in the works that could eventually repeal something called the "Wright Amendment," which, reporter Bush Bernard says, has prevented Southwest Airlines from flying directly from Nashville to Dallas' Love...

Wright Amendment Headed for the Dustbin of History!, June 15, 2006
Southwest and American Airlines have agreed on a compromise regarding the future of Love Field. It includes a phasing out of the Wright Amendment, and continued service at Love Field. The agreement also will allow Southwest to sell single tickets...

Wrong on the Wright Amendment, June 15, 2006
Colleen Conway-Welch, dean of the School of Nursing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, had an op-ed in the Wednesday Tennessean, headlined "Southwest's Dallas setup inconvenient for Nashville travelers", arguing against repeal of the Wright Amendment, which restricts the cities Southwest...

The Economic Boom, June 2, 2006
Dr. Jeff Cornwall has a couple of interesting posts today over at The Entrepreneurial Mind. One post looks at the home-based business bonanza that is boosting the U.S. economy.One factor that many attribute as an engine of our entrepreneurial economy...

Socialized Entrepreneurship, May 24, 2006
Dr. Jeff Cornwall is writing a lot these days about "socialized entrepreneurship," - essentially, government using public funds to seed entrepreneurial ventures. His first post, about Chile's foray in socialized entrepreneurship, drew a comment from the Chilean coordinator of the...

Why we can never fall for tax hiking rhetoric, January 7, 2006
By Ben Cunningham Back in 2003, Alabamians overwhelmingly defeated a $1.2 billion tax increase proposed by Gov Bob Riley. Actually, it was more than defeated, it was crushed. Virtually every demographic voted against the bill. The result: loud screams of...

Is this a bribe?, December 27, 2005
by Ben Cunningham Is this a bribe? Johnson and Johnson is trying to buy Guidant and as part of the deal they are offering huge payments to Guidant executives. "The latest filing also notes that 11 Guidant executives will receive...

"Something is very wrong here", December 26, 2005
by Ben Cunningham NYTimes article comparing response of private vs public hurricane clean up efforts: "Something is very wrong here," said Frank Leach, a Jackson County supervisor. "Our federal government is paying an extraordinary amount of money for services that...

Anti-Walmart Campaign Caught in Lies and Race-Baiting, December 21, 2005
WakeUpWalMart.com, the Big Labor-funded attack on Wal-Mart, has been caught in lies and race-baiting. Joel Mowbray has the details. This isn't the first time I've noticed anti-Wal-Mart crusaders peddling misinformation. The truth, however, is that Wal-Mart is good for America's...

What is An Entrepreneur?, December 9, 2005
Jeff Cornwall of The Entrepreneurial Mind writes:It seems rather odd that after over 1,000 posts at this site I finally get around to a direct discussion on the definition of entrepreneurship. I have written about the definition of a small...

Pole Mart, December 9, 2005
The labor union behind the bash-Walmart campaign bought and paid for a poll that purports to show that a majority of Americans think Walmart is bad for America. What it really shows is that tens of thousands of dollars can...

It's the Jobs, Baby, November 23, 2005
By Donna Locke Tennesseans for Immigration Control and Reform The immigration-reduction movement, in a coalition with several trade groups, has launched a TV ad saying foreign workers are taking jobs that Americans want. I think this ad can be seen...

It's the Jobs, Baby, November 23, 2005
By Donna Locke Tennesseans for Immigration Control and Reform The immigration-reduction movement, in a coalition with several trade groups, has launched a TV ad saying foreign workers are taking jobs that Americans want. I think this ad can be seen...

Say it ain't so!!, November 23, 2005
By Ben Cunningham A taxpayer funded sports stadium that has huge cost overruns. Say it ain't so!!...

Democrats Talk Down the Economy, November 22, 2005
Jeff Cornwall wonders why Democrats in Congress are talking down the health of the entrepreneurial economy....

Myths and Reality, November 17, 2005
By Donna Locke Tennesseans for Immigration Control and Reform You guessed it. It's Day 3 of "guest-blogging"! Hey, boys, has anybody opened the car trunk and checked on Bill? He's delusional. He thinks he's in Texas and I'm a Dixie...

Myths and Reality, November 17, 2005
By Donna Locke Tennesseans for Immigration Control and Reform You guessed it. It's Day 3 of "guest-blogging"! Hey, boys, has anybody opened the car trunk and checked on Bill? He's delusional. He thinks he's in Texas and I'm a Dixie...

Bredesen's Sweetheart Deal, November 16, 2005
By Matthew White The Tennessean reports that the incentive package offered to Nissan to lure them to Middle Tennessee equates to $155,000 per job created in the area. The paper reported on Thursday:State officials insisted today that they couldn't yet...

Freedom Works, October 13, 2005
Reader Ben Cunningham sent along a link to the text of a speech given yesterday by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Ben especially liked this part:"Whether by intention or by happenstance, many, if not most, governments in recent decades have...

Big Surge in Small Biz, October 6, 2005
Jeff Cornwall looks at the latest data indicating a strong surge in self-employment in America. Last year I tracked a lot of data showing strong growth in the number of limited-liability corporations being formed across the country, with LLCs surging...

Suckers in Portland, June 30, 2003
Portland, Oregon, is one of those cities that seems to fall for every liberal big-government central-planning idea that comes down the pike. "Urban growth boundaries," and expensive mass transit, and such. Readers of this blog and my newspaper columns in...

A Laffing Matter, June 18, 2003
NashvillePost.com, a business news website that regularly blows away the business section of the city's big daily newspaper, has another scoop today: the firm founded by the author of the famous "Laffer Curve" of supply-side economics fame, is moving from...