Category Archives: Economics

USA Spent $2.6 Trillion, $8,402 per person,17.9% of GDP on Medical Expenses in 2010

Posted on January 19, 2012 by John Hunter

The federal government financed 29% of total health spending in 2010, a substantial increase from its share of 23% in 2007. Meanwhile, the shares of the total health care bill financed by state and local governments (16%), private businesses (21%), and households (28%) declined during the same time period. Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Health care, Systems thinking | Tagged business, economic data, Economics, economy, Health care, health care system, USA | 2 Comments

Taking What You Don’t Deserve, CEO Style

Posted on December 8, 2011 by John Hunter

The excesses to which CEO’s and their board buddies go to in taking from corporate treasuries what they don’t deserve continues to amaze me. The level to which the bad behavior is accepted is apparent in the lack of progress … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Economics, Investing, Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged Deming, ethics, executive pay, leadership, management, overpaid executives | 5 Comments

Manufacturing Jobs Increasing for First Time Since 1998 in the USA

Posted on September 29, 2010 by John Hunter

Surprise! Blue collar jobs are coming back [the broken link was removed] Manufacturing employment began its decline long before the recession, losing jobs every year since 1998. But since the start of this year, there’s been a 1.6% gain in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Manufacturing | Tagged economic data, economy, Manufacturing | 2 Comments

Managing Our Way to Economic Success

Posted on August 23, 2010 by John Hunter

From Managing Our Way to Economic Success, Two Untapped Resources by William G. Hunter, my father. Written in 1986, but still plenty relevant. We have made some good progress, but there is much more to do: we have barely started … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Economics, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Respect, Statistics, Systems thinking | Tagged Bill Hunter, Creativity, Data, Deming, Economics, management, Management Articles, Process improvement, Quality tools, respect for people, SPC

Manufacturing in the USA, and Why Organizations Often Don’t

Posted on May 9, 2010 by John Hunter

Manufacturing in the USA continues to do well. But it could do better. There are reasons manufacturing that could be located in the USA is not. And addressing those can increase USA manufacturing. Some reasons are sensible, based on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Manufacturing | Tagged China, Economics, Manufacturing, USA | 3 Comments

Net Neutrality, Policy, Economics and Intelligent Engineering

Posted on April 13, 2010 by John Hunter

I believe net neutrality should be championed to prevent decay of the usability of the internet. It seems to me internet connectivity is a natural monopoly that economic theory says should be a regulated monopoly. Smart countries have invested in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Google, Innovation, IT | Tagged commentary, Economics, economy, engineering, internet, IT | 3 Comments

Taxes per Person by Country

Posted on April 7, 2010 by John Hunter

I think that the idea that data lies is false, and that such a notion is commonly held a sign of lazy intellect. You can present data in different ways to focus on different aspects of a system. And you … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Economics, Management | Tagged Data, economic data, management, Statistics | 1 Comment

Kiva – Giving Entrepreneurs an Opportunity to Succeed

Posted on April 3, 2010 by John Hunter

I really like Kiva. Kiva lets you lend small amounts of money to entrepreneurs around the world. My latest loan is to a manufacturing entrepreneur in the USA. When Tony’s 6’0 6″ body could not fit in the traditional supercars, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Fun, Investing, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged Creativity, curiouscat, Economics, ethics, Investing, John Hunter, respect for people | 2 Comments

Systemic Health Care Failure: Small Business Coverage

Posted on December 27, 2009 by John Hunter

There are many significant problems with the medical care system in the USA. It makes sense that a system that costs over 50% more than other countries and has no better outcomes, from all that extra spending, suffers from many … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Health care, Innovation, Systems thinking | Tagged Economics, health care system | 2 Comments

The Biggest Manufacturing Countries in 2008 with Historical Data

Posted on December 7, 2009 by John Hunter

Once again the USA was the leading country in manufacturing for 2008. And once again China grew their manufacturing output amazingly. In a change with recent trends Japan grew output significantly. Of course, the 2009 data is going to show … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Economics, Manufacturing | Tagged charts, curiouscat, Data, economic data, Economics, John Hunter, Manufacturing, quote | 5 Comments