Economy and Business
North Carolina Rips More Holes in Its Safety Net
Something profoundly awful has seeped into the top strata of American society: Our nation's corporate and political elites have developed immunity to shame. It has become morally acceptable for those in lofty circles to enrich themselves while turning their backs on...
The Tradeoff Between Apple and Apples
In May, Americans watched as Apple CEO Tim Cook defended his company's tax avoidance strategies before a Senate investigative panel. Prior to the hearing, Senate investigators released a report documenting Apple's use of accounting gimmicks to shift $74 billion of...
A More Perfect Union
Ten generations have come and gone since 1776. Yet the Founders still fascinate us. Books about Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington still regularly dot our best-seller lists. What so attracts us to these men of means who put their security and...
One More Untaxed Bite at the Apple
Where Would We Be Without Social Security?
Nearly every single American is intimately connected with the earned benefits of Social Security and Medicare — as either a contributor, a recipient, or both. In fact, a recent national poll indicated nearly 90 percent of us favor taking strong measures to preserve...
Runaway CEO Pay Gets a Free Pass
Only 10 percent of Americans now have confidence in Congress, Gallup informs us. No other major American institution has ever had an approval rating this low. But public confidence in Congress would probably sink even lower if average Americans knew more about what...
A New Housing Emergency
Folks, there's a serious housing shortage in America these days. The stress it's creating for needy families is approaching heart-attack levels. Did you know, for example, that the inventory of million-dollar homes in Carmel, California, dwindled to only four...
Don’t Squat in Your Spurs or Be an Idiot
June is the month of the summer solstice and America's biggest blizzard. I don't mean a weather event blowing in from the Arctic, but a merciless storm of words blowing from the mouths of commencement speakers at high school and college graduations. This year, I was...
The Day the Music Stopped
What do bank executives who make $19 million a year do in their spare time? The same thing they do in their executive suites. They squeeze America's middle class. That's not, of course, what the flacks at U.S. Bancorp, the nation's fifth-largest bank, will tell you....
It’s Time Corporations Flew Old Glory Instead of the Jolly Roger
The swashbuckling pirates of olde amassed private fortunes by raiding ships and stealing them. Once they captured a ship, they would replace its flag — which represented one of the world's sovereign nations — with the Jolly Roger. By flying the skull and crossbones,...
