John A. Parnell, Ph.D.
Thanks for the strength of the dollar and the competitive threat from frackers, the price of oil has declined precipitously, resulting in gas prices close to the levels that existed when President Obama was inaugurated. Some legislators—including a few Republicans—see this as an opportunity to raise the gas tax. Raising it might not be the […]
Read MoreThe minimum wage was raised in 20 states on January 1. President Obama is calling for an increase in the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to something in the $10-15 range. The mainstream press continues to clamor for more increases as well. A recent Washington Post article is one such example. In it, […]
Read MoreGovernment can learn a lot from business. Most private companies get their revenue primarily from customers so responsiveness is not an option. Keeping customers happy and cutting expenses are essential. Continuous improvement is the norm. Consider the case of McDonald’s. During the last decade, McDonald’s added a lot of new products, including oatmeal, snack wraps, […]
Read MoreThe Business Roundtable (BRT) is a group of US CEOs that seek to promote pro-business government policies. My review of the BRT is mixed. Some of its positions, like the group’s support for “comprehensive immigration reform,” are just plain self-serving. In fact, the notion that CEOs and the President should “work together” to solve our […]
Read MoreThe Ferguson situation is unfortunate for many reasons. Those burning down the city lack a comprehensive understanding of the case, yet they clamor for the indictment of an officer they don’t know to be guilty. They supposedly act in the name of justice while reflecting a total disregard for private property and the rule of […]
Read MoreOn Monday (November 10), President Obama definitely declared broadband Internet service as “essential to the economy.” In doing so, he asked the FCC to declare broadband as a public utility, expand its regulatory control, and invoke so-called net neutrality, the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated equally. Should the FCC oblige, there would […]
Read MoreConfidence in the Obama administration’s ability to manage the ebola crisis has been low overall, but it has been driven by hourly news events. Approval ratings for the President and the CDC will almost definitely decline if there are additional cases in the US, and they will rise if there are not. This reflects human […]
Read MoreThere has been a lot of talk about the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) role in the ebola scare. Some of it is accurate, but some is completely misdirected. First things first…CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden should be fired. The CDC is, by definition, a crisis management organization. His job is to ensure that clear, […]
Read MoreVenezuela’s nationalization of the oil industry has been a disaster. After running off the evil capitalists, the government hasn’t been able to extract and process oil at a competitive rate. The nationalization scheme has also failed to compensate oil companies fairly for their assets. Companies are entitled to fair market compensation if their assets are […]
Read MoreLarry asked a great question in response to my last post…so are the republicans supply side economists or Austrian economists? If you are referring to Republican (or Democrat) politicians, most are attorneys, not economists, and there are different views within each party. The following is my oversimplified interpretation of national politics. Let’s start with the […]
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