Commerce

A recent ruling has lifted restrictions on corporate contributions to political campaigns.

100 people come to a picnic.  There is a table with 100 bowls of food.

The first person takes ONE THIRD of the bowls, 33 of them.

The next four people grab 26 bowls.  The next five people take 12 bowls. The next ten people take 13 bowls.

The next twenty people take 11 bowls, which they have to share.

The next twenty people take 4 bowls, which they attempt to share.

The next twenty-two people take the last bowl.  It doesn’t go very far.

The last eighteen people get nothing at all.

Imagine that this doesn’t happen just one time.  How long do you think it could continue before something really bad happens?

This the wealth distribution in America.

I think this idea has promise.  It’s usually a good idea to plan ahead and set aside money to deal with future challenges, than wait and get run over by them.

The idea behind this program was to get old, inefficient, polluting cars off the road permanently.  It seems to be working.  I would like to see more programs like this that reward people for doing the right thing.

The gap between the richest and the poorest Americans has been growing for decades.  Wages and benefits for ordinary workers have stagnated or declined while rewards to supervisors, CEOs, and other powerful workers have skyrocketed.  The following article looks at some of the resulting problems and how these might be solved.

The Obama family continues to do wonderful things for America’s food supply. Not only does the White House now have an organic garden, but President Obama recently wished for a farmer’s market nearby — and he’s getting his wish.

Recently a friend tipped me to a program designed to help companies avoid laying off their employees during hard times.  It’s not perfect, but it seems promising and there is plenty of room for expansion.

Money from previous stimulus plans continues to trickle into the lethargic economy.  Some funds are aimed toward helping the environment as well as the economy.  The following article describes one program that encourages people to buy energy-efficient refrigerators.

Dairy farms are feeling the economic crunch more than other businesses.  This situation puts our food supply at risk and causes other problems.