Of all the indicators that offer insights into the economy, few illicit as much interest as wages. Understandably so. Wages constitute the largest collective expense for most businesses. Moreover, people just naturally want to know how their own paychecks compare with what others take home elsewhere. So what do the latest numbers have to say […]
Various market players expected second quarter real growth in gross domestic product in the United States to come in at less than 1 percent. But growth wound up registering 1.7 percent. So, for those playing the expectations game, second-quarter growth in the broad measure of goods and services produced in the country turned out to […]
Small business owners are rightly proud of their reputation as job creators. But their ability to create jobs is considerably complicated by the federal tax code burden they face. Today’s federal tax code is so complex and unfair that fully 91 percent of business owners surveyed recently by the National Federation of Independent Business said […]
A funny thing happening on the left side of the House. While political eyes focus on internecine tensions among the right, a similar thing seems to be occurring on the left, although it’s a far less fashionable topic upon which to comment. Polemicist and political philosopher Matt Damon’s public “breakup” with President Barack Obama offers […]
And so it goes in Happy Valley once again. Up next is another citizen-based effort to order the rest of us to change to suit someone else’s idea of what would be best for the masses. This time it’s renaming North Avenue to University Boulevard. As expected, the folks initiating the idea offer plenty of […]
Since I printed my opinion about the Grand Junction City Council subsidizing the Avalon Theater, I’ve been inundated by Avalon supporters who use the old standbys of “You just don’t understand;” “If you had all the facts, you’d change your opinion;” and my personal favorite, “You don’t want to hear other opinions that differ from […]
In the days following the Supreme Court decision in June to strike down the dated provision of the Civil Rights Act requiring some states to receive permission from the Department of Justice before changing voting laws, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the left this signaled a return to the Jim Crow […]
Statistics for the first half of 2013 complete a kind of paint-by-numbers portrait of the economic landscape in Mesa County. As usual, the composition offers a mix of encouragement and frustration. Here’s a look at what’s passed and what’s ahead: An improving real estate market tops the list of encouraging indicators with a 5.5 percent […]
It’s been a busy couple of weeks. In the midst of a string of rather sensible decisions that kept to the proper role of the judiciary on such issues as voting laws and class action lawsuits, the Supreme Court — or rather the only person who truly matters in the country, Justice and Supreme Overlord […]
Undaunted optimism in the face of business uncertainty constitutes ones of the most important attributes of the remarkable entrepreneurs who start and operate ventures. Were they to succumb to the temptation to respond like the dismally gloomy Eeyore or panic-stricken Chicken Little, entrepreneurs wouldn’t dare risk what’s often their life savings to pursue their passions […]