For years Charter Communications was the only way I could get internet service. The company was founded here in St. Louis and I had many dealings with them. I’m not a fan. I won’t go into details but the only thing that rivals the stories I have to tell are those I read from Comcast customers. […]
This week’s misleading headline isn’t particularly egregious in nature and anyone with a modicum of sense knew that the headline was steering people in the wrong direction even before clicking the story. Still, I picked it today because it is a classic example of someone writing a misleading headline to attract viewers when I think […]
There’s a rather interesting news story about how the state of Minnesota has banned the sale of a chemical called triclosan that is used in anti-bacterial soaps. It gives me a good opportunity to talk about who best protects us: the federal government, the state, or our own purchasing habits. The Federal Government through the Food and […]
New Jersey became the third state to ban sales of Tesla cars because they refuse to be part of the franchise system. Texas and Arizona have already instituted the ban based on the idea that in those states you are required to be a franchise in order to sell cars. I wrote about this issue […]
New Jersey became the third state to ban sales of Tesla cars because they refuse to be part of the franchise system. Texas and Arizona have already instituted the ban based on the idea that in those states you are required to be a franchise in order to sell cars. I wrote about this issue […]
I wrote earlier last week that Fox Network refused to air an advertisement from a company that sells soda making equipment because it referenced rivals Coca-Cola and Pepsi. They didn’t give any explanation as to why they refused to air the ad but the assumption is that they didn’t want to offend two of their […]
Super Bowl 48 (yes, I wrote 48, not LXVIII) is fast approaching and that means it is time for advertising executives to get their game face on. I suppose the players need to prep as well. There’s an interesting controversy that gives me the opportunity to write a blog about Scarlett Johansson, football, capitalism, and […]
The state of Texas has a law that allows only franchised dealers to sell automobiles. The idea is that only an authorized franchise store of Ford, or Chevy, or Toyota is allowed to sell cars. The Texas Automobile Dealers Association convinced the legislature to ban the sale of Tesla cars because the company sells directly to […]
When the Supreme Court ruled that Political Action Committees could collect unlimited amounts of money from anyone to support political campaigns most people thought it corrupted politics. The same thing is destroying business in the United States turning us, some would say has already turned us, away from capitalism and onto Crony Capitalism. Perhaps even […]
I saw a story today that showed the Ford Focus automobile is now the best-selling car in the world. The company has had a long and tumultuous history that I think is quite instructive in the ways of capitalism and the ideas of libertarians. The company was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford and twelve […]
An increasingly large number of Americans do not have bank accounts. This number has grown by about ten percent in the last four years and is expected to climb. This presents what some view as a dilemma and others view as an opportunity. In this internet age it is more expensive for an employer to […]
While my legion of loyal followers knows me as a prolific blogger and author of stupendous Sword and Sorcery novels I’m not ashamed to admit that neither one of those endeavors pays the bills. I’d like for my novels to become best-sellers and box-office blockbusters but, as of this moment, what allows me to live […]
Corporate tax status is in the news lately with Apple but I just read another interesting story about the NFL. It turns out that way back in 1966 in a deal negotiated by then commissioner Pete Rozelle the NFL and sports leagues in general were declared non-profit organizations. What this means in practice is that […]
There is an interesting situation developing in regards to gambling in the United States that in some ways epitomizes one of the things that Crony Capitalism does to destroy true capitalism. It’s a complex situation and I’m certain that I don’t fully understand all the legal technicalities but I thought it was a story worth exploring. What […]
There is a lot of chatter about the economic condition of Zimbabwe in the news these days and I think it’s a very interesting situation. The history of the country is fairly fascinating and plays into those condition. I’m going to go over that quickly before I get onto the pertinent economic issues. Like most […]
I don’t think anyone takes computers for granted these days so there isn’t a lot of sense in telling everyone how important they are in the world. Instead I want to talk about how they, more than any politician, altered the economic landscape of the United States and mention of few of the most important […]
After my Crony Capitalism post a little while ago several fellow Libertarians posted comments in support but mentioned that they didn’t think the government had the ability to create a level playing field through regulation. That this field was created by competition itself. Tomorrow I’ll share one group of situations where I think federal oversight, […]
I spent time two days ago talking about how Nuclear Power works and yesterday I spoke about the pros and cons of it. Today I’ll weigh the various arguments and come to a conclusion. Hopefully you will tell me where I made all my mistakes with comments! The pros of nuclear power are strong and […]
Today I’m going to discuss the concept of root cause. This is the underlying cause of any problem. It is important to understand this because if we fail in our original estimation as to the root cause of a problem then any solution we might decide upon is going to be fundamentally flawed. It is […]
There’s a bit of a contretemps involving a satirical commercial starring Aubrey Plaza for something called Wood Milk and I’d like to discuss it. Essentially, the commercial attempts to discredit plant-based milk products by promoting the fictional milk made from wood. A complaint was filed over the commercial and a quick perusal of comments indicates […]