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Econ
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Written by Jesse W Kline
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 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have mandated overtime pay for agricultural workers who are on the job for more than eight hours in a day. California is already the only state to provide overtime pay to employees working over 10 hours; this bill would have gone significantly further. According to the Los Angeles Times:
Saying he didn't want to damage California's agricultural economy, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday vetoed a first-in-the-nation bill that would have given farmworkers the same rights to overtime pay enjoyed by all other hourly workers in California.
Applying the eight-hour day to agriculture would be burdensome to business and reverse longstanding labor practices, Schwarzenegger wrote in a veto message.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:58 |
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Econ
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Written by Jesse W Kline
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 Small businesses have accounted for approximately 65 percent of new private sector jobs over the past 15 years, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Owning a small business is often seen as a challenging, but rewarding experience, sentiments that are confirmed by a new poll conducted by Environics Research for TD Bank. According to the press release:
A remarkable 69 percent of American small business owners polled for the TD Small Business Happiness Index would describe themselves as "very happy," with 61 percent believing they are happier than their peers. Furthermore, the pressures of the recent recession have not deterred small business owners from entrepreneurship, as 87 percent say that five years from now, they're likely to still be running their own business.
TD Bank's survey — which explored the attitudes and behaviors of North American small business owners in a dozen metropolitan areas across the United States and Canada — further revealed that nearly 9 in 10 American small business owners are happier owning and running their own business as compared with working for someone else. However, the sense of pride and accomplishment they derive as small business owners is paired with a deep commitment to the office, as the majority work 50 or more hours each week, with 39 percent saying they work 60 hours or more.…
There are several reasons for small business owners' high satisfaction levels. American small business owners say that owning a small business gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment (97 percent) plus a strong personal connection to their employees (94 percent) and their customers (88 percent). In addition, 82 percent say that owning a small business gives them the opportunity to volunteer their time or make donations to charities, sports teams and events.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 19 August 2010 14:38 |
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Econ
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Written by Jesse W Kline
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 The financial crisis appears to have awoken a host of Bolsheviks from their post-cold war slumber. Free markets and deregulation have been blamed for everything from the housing bubble to the Gulf oil spill.
This is, of course, nothing new. Check out the December 1975 issue of Reason, where Charles G. Koch wrote: "Anti-capitalist feelings in the United States are probably more virulent today than ever before." But there's mounting evidence that free markets aren't just more efficient than more controlled economies, they're fairer too.
In March, Reason's Ronald Bailey wrote about a study from the University of British Columbia, which shows a direct correlation between market institutions and how fairly people treat one another.
Now, a new study from Purdue University suggests that free markets may also produce fairer wages:
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Last Updated on Thursday, 19 August 2010 13:49 |
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Econ
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Written by Jesse W Kline
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 America likes its drugs. This year, Americans will spend over $300 billion on prescription medications and the costs have been rising for sometime. For those who suggest that price controls are the answer, however, new evidence would suggest otherwise.
A recently published study from Fraser America compared individual spending on prescription drugs in both Canada, where the government controls prices, and the United States, in which pharmaceutical companies operate in a much freer market. Contrary to popular belief, the study found that Canadians and Americans spend a similar amount of their personal disposable incomes—and, in the aggregate, as a percentage of gross domestic product—on prescription medication.
Due to a government imposed price ceiling on name brand medications, Canadians pay 53 percent less than Americans. Because the price of generic drugs in Canada is not subject to market forces, however, those drugs are 112 percent more expensive. As the Fraser America study reports:
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Last Updated on Thursday, 19 August 2010 12:56 |
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Econ
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Written by Jesse W Kline
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 All my life I've heard calls from the whiny soccer mom crowd that we need public policy changes in order to protect the children. We need to ensure marijuana remains illegal because we don't want kids doing drugs. We should outlaw pornography because young people might get their hands on a copy of Playboy. There's too much sex and violence in the media and, god forbid, our children should get desensitized to that and not grow up to be whiny pussies like their mothers.
I have always resisted such calls because I've been of the belief that the long-term benefits of liberty are more important than anything gained from censorship and prohibition. I've also felt that it's really the parent's responsibility to ensure their kids don't do things like take ecstasy while watching midget Jell-O wrestling contests. Besides, there are benefits to things like sex, drugs, and rock and roll. As comedian Bill Maher said, "Drugs have done a lot of good [for my music collection]. I think Dark Side of the Moon is worth 100 dead children."
Yet, perhaps it is the fact that I'm pushing 30, but I'm starting to think that maybe the soccer moms had a point after all. Don't worry, I'm not going to propose banning boobies on cable TV. After all, I figure that if they're good for babies, there's no reason to believe they're not good for teenagers as well. I do, however, think that we need to lower (or abolish) the minimum wage, for the sake of the children. I explore this issue further over at Hit & Run:
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Last Updated on Thursday, 01 July 2010 13:18 |
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Econ
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Written by Jesse W Kline
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Oil industry executives now see Manitoba as the best jurisdiction in Canada to invest in, while Alberta fell to 92nd out of 143 international jurisdictions, according to the Fraser Institute's Global Petroleum Survey 2009:
Manitoba has dethroned both Saskatchewan and Alberta as the most attractive Canadian province or territory for oil and gas investment, according to an international survey of petroleum executives and managers released today by independent research organization the Fraser Institute.
Saskatchewan, which was the top province in 2008, drops to the number two spot in Canada. But investors are most critical of Alberta, ranking the province as the least attractive among Canada provinces ranked for oil and gas investment. Aside from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Alberta now also trails Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.…
"The survey results clearly show the industry's dissatisfaction with the Alberta government's misguided policies. Punitive royalty rates, a lack of consultation, and a growing anti-energy bias are common complaints about the Stelmach government," said Gerry Angevine, Fraser Institute senior economist and coordinator of the annual petroleum survey.…
Manitoba, the highest ranked province in 2009, is 21st internationally. Saskatchewan fell from 10th (of 81) in 2008 to 38th (of 143) worldwide. Nova Scotia ranked 54th, Ontario ranked 60th, Quebec 68th, British Columbia 71st, Newfoundland and Labrador 82nd, and Alberta 92nd.
Alberta's poor showing puts the province behind China, the Philippines, and Brazil as an attractive place to invest in upstream oil and gas development.
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Econ
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Written by Jesse W Kline
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The American Thinker has an interesting article that questions whether or not the U.S. economy will ever recover from the current recession:
Haven't they heard? The America that always recovers is not in anymore. Any assumption of a recovery fails to consider the idea that we now have a government run by people who ignore American history and who are hell bent on changing America's future.
Obama has done more than apologize for America's greatness and generosity while abroad. He is wreaking havoc on the economy that paid for that greatness and generosity at home. Don't you remember? He is "the one" we've been waiting for to finally do something right around here.
Thus the conviction that Americans always bounce back and bring their economy with them is not necessarily relevant anymore. The rules for business have changed and continue to do so daily. Incentive has been devastated. The reliable motivations of the past do not matter, because most of those dynamics have been targeted as what is wrong with this country and they are systematically being removed at a stunning pace.
In reaction, Atlas is shrugging. And who can blame him (and her).
We cannot be on the verge of any meaningful recovery because we are in a downward swirl of liberal policy consequences -- and we have a government determined to correct this by getting more and more liberal.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 04 October 2009 16:44 |
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