Not surprisingly, many small business owners are bottom-line people. When it comes to government actions, they prefer to put aside the flowery rhetoric and fuzzy political promises for bottom-line public policies. That is, are these steps being taken by government going to be good for the economy and business or not? In New Jersey, decades […]
In the media business, the old saying “don’t shoot the messenger” applies in cases in which outlets report news people might not want to hear. But in several recent instances in the Grand Valley, much of the media didn’t have the chance to decide whether or not to pass along the messages because they never […]
A recent front-page story in USA Today should have grabbed the attention of anyone concerned about economic growth and job creation. The headline? “Weakest startups since early ’90s.” USA Today reported that, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 12-month period ending in March 2011 experienced the slowest new business startups over 12 months […]
After a three-judge federal panel heard arguments by the National Federation of Independent Business and 26 states that President Barack Obama’s health reform law violates the Constitution, one major newspaper columnist wrote he’d almost “bet the house” the lawsuit will wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court. We at NFIB are encouraged, too, because our […]
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 […]