One of my favorite sayings is from Ronald Reagan, who said the scariest 10 words in the English language are: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help you.” Well, with great humility to those leaders and visionaries I keep on a Word document on my desktop, I ‘m going to add to my […]
For a decade, manufacturing in America weakened and 6 million small business manufacturing jobs were lost, decreasing by 33 percent from 1997 to 2009, according to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal. This last year, however, marks a change. American manufacturers are ramping up and adding needed jobs to the economy. U.S. manufacturers […]
I can still remember the day and the feeling. I was sitting in the board room of a local bank about three months after my brother died and I moved to town to take over the Business Times. In a meeting with my family, our business banker and the bank president, the president spoke these […]
Informed people can disagree over whether or not to change the Colorado National Monument to a national park. But it’s difficult to argue the monument doesn’t deserve national park designation — or at least a serious consideration of that possibility. Regardless of how familiar the experience, a trip over Rim Rock Drive as it snakes […]
There’s a lot of talk in our nation’s capital these days about putting aside politics and coming together to reduce the federal deficit. To this economist, that sounds good. Unfortunately, some of the people saying its time to drop the politics are either disingenuous or simply don’t understand the economics at work. As a quick […]
For more than four decades, the U.S. Small Business Administration has acknowledged the extraordinary contributions small businesses make to the economy of our nation by designating a special week in their honor. Proclaimed by President Barack Obama, May 16 to 20 is National Small Business Week in Washington, D.C., where entrepreneurs from across the nation […]
President Barack Obama is working on an executive order that would require any company bidding on federal government work to list all political contributions by the firm, officers and directors, along with donations made to private groups engaged in speech related to, for example, politics and policy. This mandate would cover contributions and donations made […]
Economic forecasts are lot like … well, opinions, in that it seems everyone has one. Nonetheless, there’s a growing consensus economic conditions are improving in the Grand Valley and that light at the end of the tunnel might not be a train after all. As usual, though, there are caveats. And still more patience likely […]
For parents, graduation is like a welcome gasp of relief sucked through teeth clinched tight in terror. So far, so good. But now what? At a time when it feels as though the only certainty is uncertainty, parents understandably worry about what the future holds for their children. Will they fare well at college? Will […]
During the recession and subsequent recovery, the general move on taxes in the states has been in a distinctly negative direction. That is, faced with budget deficits, states have reacted by raising taxes. This past July, for example, the National Conference of State Legislatures reported: “The impact of the severe economic recession that began in […]