Category Archives: economics

In Many Ways, Success is in the Stars

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When was the last time you heard some super-successful entrepreneur say ”I owe it all to luck!” I’m going to guess maybe never.

And yet, our lives are often filled with chance occurrences, fortuitous encounters, or unlucky twists of fate that heavily influence success or failure. This is not to denigrate the role of knowledge, experience, courage, and skill. Being lucky usually won’t bring success if you don’t have the other prerequisites. But the opposite is true more often than we think – lots of people may hold the prerequisites, but good fortune often chooses the winners.

Let me offer an example from my own life. Continue reading →

Approaching Oligarchy, Government by the Few

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How much does it cost to buy control of the North Carolina State Legislature? Probably not as much as you think.

You can ask Art Pope, the CEO of Raleigh-based Variety Wholesalers. Last year, he and his family invested $240,000 in legislative races all over the state. Their favored candidates won enough races to win control of the State Legislature for the Republicans. It’s the first time that the Party has controlled both statehouses in North Carolina in more than 100 years.

Pope is one of a new breed of Oligarchs who choose to circumvent the democratic process and dictate public outcomes through sheer power, money, and will. Continue reading →

Are We Wired for Fairness?

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As economic beings, are we wired for fairness or for greed?

One of the 20th Century’s most influential economists, Milton Friedman, spent a lifetime advocating that business has no legitimate goal except the pursuit of ever-greater profits. Should we be guided solely by self-interest or even greed in the pursuit of our economic lives? Continue reading →

Crafters on a Collective Mission

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Asheville craftsman Brian Boggs is a man on a mission.

Outdoor Chair Boogs CollectionAfter 30 years of working in wood, Boggs is recognized as a premier designer and crafter of custom-built tables and chairs. Now he has his eyes on a bigger prize. He has set out to create a new kind of business structure that not only makes his own business better, but also provides a sturdier business umbrella for other independent woodworkers. He calls it the Boggs Collective. Continue reading →

Tell Me Again – Who’s Investing in America?

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When historian Thomas Carlyle first called Economics “the dismal science,” his targets for scorn were the economists he feuded with in the mid-19th century.

If Carlyle were here today, he might observe that nothing much has changed. We are still plagued by mistaken beliefs that are passed along to us as something akin to gospel truths.

One of the zanier ones has popped up again. It goes something like this: it’s really good that rich people have lots of disposable income, because it is their investment and spending that creates all those jobs for the rest of us.

Of course, that is spectacularly untrue, but that does not stop its proponents from trotting it out, especially when there is talk of more taxes for the wealthy. Continue reading →