Free Republic

Congress created the usual special interest frenzy with its latest iteration of the Farm Bill. Agricultural subsidies are one of the most important examples of corporate welfare, money handed out to businesses based on political connections. Business plays a vital role in a free market. In real capitalism there are no guaranteed profits. But corporate welfare eliminates this handicap for the well-connected. Business subsidies that allow politicians to channel economic resources toward their preferred ends distort investment and trade. Moreover, turning government into an engine of illicit profit encourages what economists call rent-seeking. Well-organized special interests usually triumph over the...

“With respect to John H. Schnatter," the board of directors at Papa John’s says “Papa John” Schnatter will no longer have a work space at the company headquarters in the wake of his latest controversy. On Sunday, Papa John’s International, Inc. issued a press release stating that the company will be terminating a sublease agreement with Schnatter, which had allowed him the use of office space within the building. The decision came following the board’s previous actions toward terminating Schnatter’s “founders agreement,” and removing his likeness from marketing materials after he admitted to using the N-word during a conference call...

Starting a business entails understanding and dealing with many issues—legal, financing, sales and marketing, intellectual property protection, liability protection, human resources, and more. But interest in entrepreneurship is at an all-time high. And there have been spectacular success stories of early stage startups growing to be multi-billion-dollar companies, such as Uber, Facebook, WhatsApp, Airbnb, and many others. In this article, I give an overview of 35 key steps for entrepreneurs who are starting a business, with links to additional articles addressing some of the topics in more depth. 1. Understand the Commitment and Challenges Involved in Starting a Business Starting...

While the concept behind open office spaces is to drive informal interaction and collaboration among employees, the study found that for both groups of employees monitored (52 for one company and 100 for the other company) face-to-face interactions dropped, the number of emails sent increased between 20 and 50 percent and company executives reported a qualitative drop in productivity. “[Organizations] transform their office architectures into open spaces with the intention of creating more [face-to-face] interaction and thus a more vibrant work environment,” the study’s authors, Ethan Bernstein and Stephen Turban, wrote. “[But] what they often get—as captured by a steady...

Today, Americans have taken so much for granted. We look at our life and think that it is as it has always been. Indeed, it is assumed that the way things are today have always been that way. Yet, the simple and plain truth is that America has changed. Over the last few decades there has been tremendous changes at all levels of American society and culture. For instance, it is a recent phenomenon that restaurants can charge $8 for a cup of coffee. Or, that we have to take a urine sample to get employed. Casual day on Friday,...

There are various dueling popular narratives about what drives economic growth in a city or region. One narrative focuses on business climate factors such as taxes and regulation. Others stress the importance of locally available talent or affordable housing and commercial property. But the reality is that economic growth is multi-factorial. There’s no single component that drives every outcome. Places have to pay attention to many things, not just one. Consider, for example, the recent announcement that the investment management firm AllianceBernstein will relocate its headquarters and more than 1,000 jobs from New York City to Nashville. If talent were...

The Humanization of Animals From the beginning of domestication, our ancestors in their great wisdom worked hard to erect a barrier between animals and humans in order to avoid falling into the trap of animal humanization and the very damaging sentimentality that accompanies it, as much for animals as for humans. Since animals are not inert objects that can be exploited at will without any risk of illness, injury, and environmental damage, it was necessary for reasons of common sense to take precautions to avoid the worst. PETER SINGER But for the past fifty years or so, animal advocates, such...

Are you folks aware that when the weekly Cable TV News viewer numbers are posted, the viewers watching Fox Business Channel are not included. As it stands Fox News Channel alone is destroying both MSNBC and basement dweller, CNN. Add the FBN viewer numbers and fox just about outscores all of cable television. A recent article in Forbes magazine states, FBN crushes CNBC. Maria Bartioromo (Morning) has 260,000 viewers, Charles Payne has 310,000 viewers (Evening) and Lou Dobbs 430,000 viewers (Evening). The Fox pair is nearing the 4-5 million viewers per day on a regular basis...with MSNBC at about 2...

Taking a political stand — like asking a White House press secretary to leave your restaurant — can be polarizing and risky. So experts say an owner who decides to act should do so with forethought and civility. The Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia, has become internationally famous since ousting Sarah Huckabee Sanders over last weekend. The owner had consulted with employees, who said Ms. Sanders made them feel uncomfortable. It was an on-the-spot decision, and led to condemnation by President Donald Trump, an onslaught of negative Yelp reviews and global media coverage. Under federal law, restaurants and other businesses...

They said it wouldn't happen, but it did: The money companies stashed overseas to protect them from high U.S. corporate tax rates is flooding back in, boosting growth, jobs and confidence in the economy. Thank the Trump tax cuts. All told, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported, some $305.6 billion returned to the U.S. from overseas accounts. That's a $1.2 trillion annual rate, and far more than the $35 billion one year before. The BEA's analysts explain why this happened: "The large magnitudes (of inward capital flows) ... reflect the repatriation of accumulated earnings by foreign affiliates of U.S....

A new Cline Avenue Bridge is rising in East Chicago, with more than a third of 29 piers in place that will carry traffic 100 feet above the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal, and with the casting of surface segments well underway in a building erected for that purpose at the bridge's Riley Road headquarters. The privately owned toll-bridge is scheduled to open to traffic in January 2020. "The project is moving along — it's on schedule," said Terry Velligan, the bridge's general manager of operations, on Tuesday. Normally 168 workers are on-site each day, he said. Velligan works for United...

New research indicates that more millennials are leaving the traditional 9-to-5 job in hopes of starting their own business. Young people have President Trump’s tax cuts to thank, as they are helping grow the American economy at levels not seen in decades. According to recent analysis by MetLife insurance, four in 10 millennials are planning to quit their current jobs within the next five years and seek out work as a freelancer in the labor market. According to one millennial entrepreneur, the idea of starting one’s own business and being your own boss is a major priority among young entrepreneurs

WASHINGTON — A group of powerful business leaders is calling for more toll lanes on highways from Richmond, Virginia, to Baltimore.The first focus of the Greater Washington Partnership’s toll lane push is expected to be on Maryland’s plans for toll lanes around the Capital Beltway and up part of Interstate 270, with lobbying from the CEOs of some of the largest companies in Maryland, Virginia and the District to get the rules in Maryland to match those on Virginia’s Interstate 495 Express Lanes.Virginia’s lanes are free with a minimum of three people in the car and an E-ZPass Flex, while...

Connecticut manufacturers, looking to fill thousands of jobs, are reaching beyond community colleges and vocational schools to persuade high school students to embrace careers in 21st-century factories. It’s not an easy task as educators and manufacturers battle stereotypes of old, dirty factories. “The struggle has been getting the kids to see it,” said Mark Ruede, assistant principal at Manchester High School. “We definitely have some perception work to do in town.” Manchester High School students have visited Pratt & Whitney in Middletown where the United Technologies Corp. subsidiary manufactures jet engines, he said. What began as a trip to teach...

AT&T will drop $100M on its four-block downtown Dallas campus, adding restaurants, a small outdoor concert venue and a six-story video wall. The renovation, which would be completed by the end of 2019, will join a number of redevelopment projects in downtown's southeast quadrant in the last year: the Statler Hotel renovation, a two-year upgrade of the Adolphus Hotel and the relocation of the Dallas Morning News to the old Dallas library. "We're looking to inject additional growth, commerce and entertainment into Downtown Dallas," AT&T Regional Vice President Mike Peterson said in a news release Monday. "This investment will result...

When you drove down California Street through San Francisco's Richmond District in the 1970s, one house made a stronger impression than most others. This was not because the house was an architectural marvel. It was a small, cookie-cutter Victorian. No, it stood out because it was painted black. From sidewalk to rooftop, every inch was coated in a uniform darkness. Its owner in those days was Anton LeVey, author of "The Satanic Bible"; and, years later, when it was about to be torn down, the San Francisco Chronicle would refer to it as "the building that once housed San Francisco's...

What a fine-tuned machine our state is when it comes to clamping down on its own residents, as witnessed Thursday when Boston’s Licensing Board took a shot across the bow of a local small business owner. Naveen Kapoor, owner of the Quality Market in Brighton, was caught on camera moving beer from that store down the street to his other shop, Quality Liquors in Allston. He told the Licensing Board that he was transferring the suds because Quality Liquors had run out of several beer brands. That is a big no-no. According to the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, “All licensed...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past six years, business dreams have become a reality for 30 military veterans thanks to Dream Vacations' award-winning annual contest "Operation Vetrepreneur: Become Your Own General" contest. Each year five veterans are awarded a travel agency franchise, and in 2018, the best franchise opportunity for veterans is expanding its contest to award seven veterans with a free franchise, as a result of a grant from the International Franchise Association (IFA) for winning the Gold Franchising Gives Back award in the "Supporting our Veterans" category. The contest will begin on Memorial...

I have just finished reviewing the family’s investment portfolio and comparing thirty Value Line write-ups. In all but two cases the Value Line write-up made a comment about the positive impact of the tax cuts. Large multinational companies were bringing back to the states billions of dollars as the new tax structure made it profitable to do so, as they can now reinvest in the US as opposed to abroad. In most cases the write-up said the companies were adding billions of dollars to their bottom lines which was being, variously and in different proportions, returned to investors and invested...

The Altria Group and Nikon Inc. were both expected to attend the NRA’s annual event May 4-6 but have since backed out of the event. Altria Group is the parent corporate for “big tobacco,” such as Marlboro cigarettes and Skoal smokeless tobacco. Nikon, the photograph equipment company – which makes rifle scopes – has been appeared at several past NRA conventions.