People can change anything they want to, and that means everything in the world. ~ Joe Strummer I’ve worked with many people who get paid more than I pay myself and one thing I’ve often struggled with, is seeing them take on a high paying corporate job, and work many more hours than they did […]
Residential Mobility: The path to prosperity?
We hillbillies must wake the hell up. It starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless corporations and ask ourselves what we can do to make things better. ~ J.D. Vance As I wrote about the high cost of housing in Los Angeles and some of the issues responsible for it, I couldn’t […]
The Consequences of Regulation on Affordable Housing
There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California. ~ Edward Abbey Last year, we discussed that “building less housing (in LA) than people demand drives high housing costs.” (LOA) If that is the case, what may be hindering the market from satisfying California’s demand for housing? First, […]
Is that a housing bubble? Or just my nerves?
Life and history are made up of short runs. If we are at peace in the short run that is something. The best we can do is put off disaster, of only in the hope, which is not necessarily a remote one, that something will turn up. ~ John Maynard Keynes I just returned from […]
The High Cost of Cost Cutting
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. ~ Reinhold Niebuhr [Note: Certain details in this blog have been omitted and modified in observance of my maxim of measured authenticity. These modifications or omissions protect the […]
The Delayed Invisible Consequences of Regulation
Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state wants to live at the expense of everyone. ~ Frédéric Bastiat Frédéric Bastiat’s words are just as true today as they were in 1850 when he penned his essay “Ce Qu’on Voit et Ce Qu’on Ne Voit Pas” (English translation […]
The Burden of Regulation on Small Business
I recently declined an invitation to attend a conference in favor of saving money to fix our factory roof. It was a reminder of how different life in a small business is than a large company. It may be difficult to fully appreciate until you’re responsible for making payroll, but one of the greatest differences […]
Source of Satisfaction: Something Important
In his book Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 Charles Murray suggests the kinds of accomplishments that lead to satisfaction have three things in common: The source of satisfaction involves something important. The source of satisfaction involves effort, probably over an extended period of time. The source of satisfaction requires personal responsibility over […]
Do We Really Have “Bad Trade Deals?”
The problem with government deficit spending is never the nationalities of government’s creditors but the excessive spending itself. Such spending makes us Americans poorer – but not as poor as we would be if foreigners did not help us to shoulder the burden of this profligate spending. ~ Donald J. Boudreaux Regardless of the […]
U.S. Jobs Problem: Real or Perceived?
The presumptive Republican nominee recently gave a speech in which he outlined his plans for creating more jobs in the U.S. (transcript from Politico). The speech highlighted topics such as the loss of manufacturing jobs, “bad” trade deals with China and Mexico, the trade deficit, and currency manipulation. In an effort to correct the record, […]