tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50406374847032927372024-03-13T21:31:33.927-05:00The Spirit of EnterpriseCelebrating and defending enterprise of all kinds.TigerHawkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07478818024748287426noreply@blogger.comBlogger498125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-16589271738416880302016-04-27T18:43:00.000-05:002016-04-27T18:43:24.096-05:00Back in the game
At least some of our readers may enjoy the local Austin blog Blueberry Town, which is written in a style eerily similar to this blog and others of lore. The Editor over at Blueberry Town hopes you pay a visit.Jack Hennemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941691973135749246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-48449016957819889842013-10-02T06:57:00.000-05:002013-10-02T06:57:13.256-05:00What's the end game?
The editors of the WSJ more or less make the point I did yesterday: What's the end game of the intransigence play? Since President Obama regards the Affordable Care Act as the signature achievement of his presidency, his threat to be uncompromising on at least that question is a lot more credible than the Republican threat to cling to the Hastert Rule no matter how bad the political -- and GOPDefending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-1353948321535671352013-10-01T07:21:00.005-05:002013-10-01T07:22:03.845-05:00Shutdown silliness in a nutshell
I both substantively agree with those who want a massively reduced federal government and I do not think that a short-term "shutdown" of the federal government matters much, even as it may spoil my beloved nephew's school trip to Washington. However, I think the Tea Party caucus in the House is blowing the tactics of it, and will set back the cause of smaller government by running the great Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-32413451556754459452013-09-29T12:09:00.003-05:002013-09-29T12:09:58.578-05:00Renewable fuels folly
While we are looking for "discretionary" spending to cut, how about the renewable fuels initiative? Along with anything else that has a negative rate of return.Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-61517646109587285732013-09-28T07:13:00.001-05:002013-09-28T07:15:17.185-05:00The fiscal catastrophe that awaitsBarron's has an essential cover story for fiscal catastrophe denialists among you. Fair use excerpt, with some commentary to follow (if you know the fiscal catastrophe story by heart, delight yourself by scrolling to the bottom):
As President Barack Obama and Congress continue to bicker over passing the federal budget and raising the government's debt ceiling, a report published by one of the Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-32895443033145966742013-09-27T20:38:00.003-05:002013-09-27T20:40:46.854-05:00The world yearns
The world yearns for American leadership:
“We want American leadership,” said a member of a diplomatic delegation of a major U.S. ally. He said it softly, as if confiding he missed an old friend.
“In the past we have seen some America overreach,” said the prime minister of a Western democracy, in a conversation. “Now I think we are seeing America underreach.” He was referring not only to Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-39613856686260830582013-09-25T07:13:00.000-05:002013-09-25T07:13:00.936-05:00A graduate student rebels
A graduate student in the University of Wisconsin's History Department rebels against the regulation of speech. For conservatives who live in college towns -- as I have, almost my entire life -- it is a thing of beauty. If I were a graduate student, this is the kind of graduate student I would be. Which, of course, would mean that I would never be hired as a professor. Which makes it even Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-16196053166692252432013-09-21T14:18:00.001-05:002013-09-21T14:18:43.106-05:00Stevie towersAn hour ago.
(Austin, Texas, September 21, 2013)Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-36090495481048451032013-09-14T07:08:00.001-05:002013-09-14T07:08:35.151-05:00Morning science moment: Digital gyroscopes
So how does an iPhone or a FitBit sense motion? Through incredibly small mechanical features embedded in the electronics. Interesting stuff.Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-5764100441600300442013-09-12T20:41:00.000-05:002013-09-12T20:41:11.304-05:00The scourge of unregulated dinner parties
In the category of "first world problems," the New York media is now wrapped around the axle over the revelation that people are hosting entirely "unregulated" dinner parties in their own homes. What is the world coming to?
Freedom never occurs to some people. Pun intended.Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-55519132301357734112013-09-09T16:30:00.001-05:002013-09-09T16:30:04.511-05:00The best and worst states for pension liability
When you move to a state, you not only assume a current tax burden but a future obligation to pay off the debts of the past, including particularly public employee pension obligations. Here is a handy list of the states with the worst and best pension positions. Intellectual honesty compels me to point out that a state's position on this particular list seems relatively uncorrelated with its Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-26334901090206263602013-09-06T16:52:00.001-05:002013-09-06T16:52:55.674-05:00The jobs report sucked rocks
When Wonkblog says an Obama-recovery jobs report chews chunks, you know it does.
If you only looked at the headlines on Friday’s August jobs numbers, you’d think “Not bad!”
You would also be completely wrong.
Yes, the unemployment rate fell a notch to 7.3 percent, from 7.4 percent in July. Yes, the nation added 169,000 jobs, broadly consistent with the pattern of recent months.
But in almost allDefending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-9540603917112654802013-09-05T13:24:00.000-05:002013-09-05T13:24:04.396-05:00Yesterday morning
(Texas Rowing Center, Lady Bird Lake, Austin, September 4, 2013)Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-66146066645613051372013-09-05T08:57:00.000-05:002013-09-05T08:58:08.736-05:00The continuing outrage
The impact of the Affordable Care Act -- Obamacare -- on the true marginal tax on labor. It is a lot uglier than advertised:
The results are startling. The ACA includes both positive and negative tax rate effects, but nonetheless all provisions combined raise marginal tax rates in 2015 by 10 percentage points of total compensation, on average, for about half of the nonelderly adult population Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-65117814048908718472013-09-03T13:02:00.000-05:002013-09-03T13:02:04.278-05:00The connection between Airbnb and serial killers
A fascinating look at how a significant decline in serial killings over the last 30 years has enabled the rise of the "sharing economy."Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-91084140205828222532013-09-03T08:23:00.000-05:002013-09-03T08:23:00.903-05:00Adirondack light
One of the things we love about the Adirondacks is the light.
(Big Wolf Lake, near Tupper Lake, New York, September 1, 2013)Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-47018263509307144442013-09-03T07:18:00.000-05:002013-09-03T07:18:16.463-05:00MicroNoke Hail Mary
We at TSOE will be stunned if Mr. Softee can actually make something of its acquisition of Nokia. It seems like a long pass in to tight coverage. Of course, the $5 billion purchase price is such chump change by Microsoft's standards that one might justify the deal as an easy speculation on Nokia's apparently considerable intellectual property position. In the category of dying metaphors, evenDefending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-23964041827382391082013-09-02T13:08:00.000-05:002013-09-02T13:08:17.028-05:00The continuing outrage
Union vs. union: The Longshoremen quit the AFL-CIO with a big snarky bang. The resignation letter is schadenfreude bait.
The editors of the New York Times applaud the state's crackdown on payday lenders. On the one hand, even we are reluctant to defend abusive usury. On the other hand, if chronic payday borrowers are willing to pay a legitimate business huge fees, they will probably be Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-89507609204907017322013-09-01T09:59:00.002-05:002013-09-01T09:59:46.235-05:00Beware subsidies of the markers of status
We were reminded today of a notion that seems missing in most public policy discussions, both left and right:
The government decides to try to increase the middle class by subsidizing things that middle class people have: If middle-class people go to college and own homes, then surely if more people go to college and own homes, we’ll have more middle-class people. But homeownership and college Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-81469227737999135742013-09-01T08:41:00.000-05:002013-09-01T08:41:02.473-05:00Work Trek
The CEO of Trek bicycles talks about his first job on the night shift of a plastics factory, and how it taught him to enjoy work he might have hated. Easier to do, of course, when you have good reason to believe that you will not be doing the same thing for the rest of your life, but a nice story all the same.Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-58008692556670535882013-08-30T09:55:00.000-05:002013-08-30T09:55:18.993-05:00The continuing outrage
OK, really just a tab dump.
Brazil v. Mexico.
Graphical timeline of the turmoil between the bursting of the tech bubble in 2001 and the financial crisis years.
The Federal Communications Commission has to change its regulations to hit its fines-and-penalties objective of $339,884,000.00. When the continuing employment of government officials depends on extracting fines, you can bet we will Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-81903038660916827972013-08-30T09:15:00.001-05:002013-08-30T09:15:54.902-05:00Whence I conferenceConference calls are always better when the view is awesome.
(Big Wolf Lake, New York State, August 30, 2013)Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-4003855359292818252013-08-28T06:22:00.000-05:002013-08-28T06:22:26.955-05:00Good news: U.S. oil imports return to Reagan-era levelsIn the category of good news, our net imports of oil have declined to their lowest levels since Ronald Reagan was canoodling with Mikhail.
Roll that one out at your next cocktail party.Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-77703173115351869412013-08-24T12:02:00.001-05:002013-08-24T12:02:35.260-05:00Docks
(Big Wolf Lake, New York State, August 16, 2013)Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040637484703292737.post-27819446389195201552013-08-24T08:19:00.000-05:002013-08-24T08:19:11.953-05:00The demographic imperative: China's labor force has peaked
A fascinating look at China's demographic cliff, which is substantially more challenging than even in most rich countries. China will be the first large country to face a rapidly aging population without a majority having reached the middle class. Put differently, its population is aging more quickly than its economy is growing, which is never good.
Among other factoids, China's labor force Defending Enterprisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336786850729742227noreply@blogger.com3