Business

Rubio perpetuates exactly what’s wrong. He assumes, like Obama, that what we have is a mostly free enterprise system. But we don’t.

Right-to-work laws prevent unions from imposing mandatory fees, giving employees the right to work without paying union dues. Otherwise, right-to-work has no effect on collective bargaining. All other negotiations continue as before. What’s wrong with that?

Collective bargaining laws give unions an effective monopoly on many state and local government workforces.[1] They force the government to negotiate employment terms with the union, and all employees must accept that union’s representation. Unions use this power to...

Obama and his wife, call for service to replace the motive of profit. Yet if money and profit are so bad, why do those seeking the trillions in redistributed wealth want it so badly?

Associated Press and FoxNews.com reports: Medical supply giant Stryker is the latest company to announce job cuts in anticipation of coming costs associated with Obamacare, even though the man who inherited a fortune from the company's founder is a fan. The company...

If we are to believe people like President Obama who famously said: “You didn’t build that”, individual accomplishment is insignificant; only as a group we can build something. While collaboration, trade, and learning are great benefits of living in a society and we...

Most of us pursue self-interest every day: we eat nutritious food,  engage in productive work (to have a purpose and to make a living), look after our health, enjoy recreation and entertainment, spend time with friends and loved ones, and go to the mall to buy things...

This is an issue mostly in countries with abundant natural resources and governments bent on economic nationalism, but it nevertheless poses an interesting ethical dilemma. Canada’s economy is dominated by resource companies: in oil and gas, minerals, the forest...

Many economists today are arguing that the unprecedented era of innovation—the last 250 years or so since the industrial revolution—is going to be over soon, ending economic growth. Why should we care about economic growth? Because our well-being depends on it—the...

The funny thing about the Labor Department’s monthly unemployment report is that the number-crunching bureaucrats act like they’re delivering high carat diamonds when the real worth of what they’re reporting is closer to the value of a mud pie. First, a college...

One of the points of contention among the commentators on the U.S. presidential campaign is whether Mitt Romney’s business experience and success is an advantage, as those on the Republican side think or a source of guilt, as his critics argue. The Democratic critics...

Many people take government involvement in the economy for granted. They agree that government should, among other things, determine who business should hire (equal opportunity/affirmative action legislation), what and how to pay employees (minimum wage laws, insider...

Freedom (our own and that of others) to choose values, including the level of wealth to which we aspire and what we want to do with it, is the first requirement of happiness. Any proposals for limiting our freedom—by imposing limits on income or a duty to share it with others—should be rejected as anti-human and anti-happiness.

Last week I attended an awards gala called “Rising Stars.” It was organized by Canada’s Oilweek magazine to recognize up-and-coming leaders in the oil industry in Calgary. Having done a study on oil company CEOs with “good minds” and being interested in innovation in...

A friend once gave me a T-shirt with “Happiness Is Positive Cash Flow” printed in the front. While I agree that positive cash flow is one of the necessary conditions of happiness in a civilized society, it is not in itself sufficient. What is happiness? It is a...

“As soon as two businessmen get together, they start discussing how to fix prices” This is what I heard a leftist public radio talk show host say on Sunday morning. My ears naturally perked up upon hearing something that ludicrous. He said he was quoting some...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced recently a plan to ban large sodas (16 oz. or more) from New York City’s restaurants, movie theaters, and street carts, in an effort to combat obesity.It has created a wide-spread backlash among businesses—rightly so—led by...

This story was shared by an MBA student who was trying to assess a personal business experience.  A small technology start-up has started to see some financial success after two years of hard work. The three main shareholders, the CEO and two vice presidents, had made...

Most people look at “business” as something separate from everything else in life, and at best, a necessary evil. Something you have to do. Or a way to make money—in a practical, but never creative, artistic or (perish the thought) moral way. In today’s political...

Scott Thompson, CEO of Yahoo Inc. just since January, resigned this week when it was found out that his resume falsely stated that he holds a degree in computer science.  What motivates people to “embellish” their resume? Presumably it is the desire to impress...