Category Archives: Economics

Why Pay Taxes or be Honest

This kind of stuff makes me mad. I was taught about robber barons in school (or actually I think by my uncle but…). And what I was taught was that business used to be seen as an amoral area. But … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Management, Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Health Insurance Premiums Soar Again

Health insurance premiums continue to soar (Lame Mercury news removed the page so I removed the link): For the seventh straight year, premiums for employer-based health insurance rose more than twice as fast as overall inflation and wages, an annual … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Health care | 1 Comment

Manufacturing Jobs

The article, Manufacturing Lost 3.4 Million Jobs Since 1998 [the broken link was removed], indicates “The increased output should lead to job recovery.” I doubt it. While it is true there is a correlation between output and jobs by far … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Manufacturing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Housing and the Economy

Chart of home values from 1890 through 2006 (the chart is a misleading because it crops the lower end at 60 (not 0). The values go from 60-200 (it is an index showing the cost of the standard house in … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Investing | 2 Comments

Wisconsin Manufacturing

Editorial: A way forward for state companies [the broken link was removed], Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The idea of lean manufacturing is pretty close to a religion at Ariens these days. The tenets: Be quick on the draw. Improve continuously. Be … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Lean thinking, Management, Public Sector | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation

How intellectual property influences innovation and growth in the economy depends on the application of intellectual property law. No intellectual property (IP) rights would hinder innovation. Complicated application of confusing and overreaching IP rights also hinders innovation. Now I see … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Innovation | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Gladwell (and Drucker) on Pensions

The Risk Poolhttps://management.curiouscatblog.net/2006/08/21/gladwell-and-drucker-on-pensions/ by Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point and Blink): The most influential management theorist of the twentieth century was Peter Drucker, who, in 1950, wrote an extraordinarily prescient article for Harper’s entitled “The Mirage of Pensions.” … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Economics, Health care, Investing, Management, Popular, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Improving the 401(k) System

401(k)s are a great retirement investment vehicle (for those in the USA). Since the introduction of 401(k)s they have proved very advantageous to those saving for their retirement. See our previous post on: Saving for Retirement. However, the experience thusfar … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Investing, Management | 1 Comment

Patent Review Innovation

Michael Crichton wrote an essay critical of the current patent law: This Essay Breaks the Law. I believe the US is making significant mistakes in how we are proceeding with the patent system, see: The Patent System Needs to be … Continue reading

Posted in Creativity, Economics, Innovation, IT, Management, Process improvement | 2 Comments

Manufacturing Value Added Economic Data

In our post on Manufacturing and the Economy we examined global manufacturing value added economic data. The World Bank has provided updated data, for 2002, which we provide below. In, Global Manufacturing Data by Country, we explored data from the … Continue reading

Posted in Data, Economics, Manufacturing, quote | 3 Comments