Read about winners Al Gore, Sam Zell, Jamie Diamond and Steve Jobs; and losers John Borwne, John Mackey, Charles Prince, James Cayne and Conrad Black.
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Archive for January, 2008
Bjorn Lomborg argues that many of the elaborate and expensive actions now being considered to stop global warming will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, are often based on emotional rather than strictly scientific assumptions, and may very well have little impact on the world’s temperature for hundreds of years. Rather than starting with the most radical procedures, Lomborg argues that we should first focus our resources on more immediate concerns, such as fighting malaria and HIV/AIDS and assuring and maintaining a safe, fresh water supply-which can be addressed at a fraction of the cost and save millions of lives within our lifetime. He asks why the debate over climate change has stifled rational dialogue and killed meaningful dissent.
You can find a link to the Lomborg’s website by clicking here
WASHINGTON – When people are panicking, it’s hard to stop the stampede with talk about cutting a “federal funds rate.” Economic fears on Wall Street and around the world are making people and businesses hunker down, and that could make all the recession worries come true – a vicious cycle the Federal Reserve, White House and Congress may be hard-pressed to break.
Read the entire article from the Honolulu Advertiser by clicking here
Those Pell Vouchers
Jan 30
If unrestricted federal education grants are kosher for college students, why not for grades K-12 too? That’s the question President Bush is asking with his proposal to create Pell Grants for Kids, a program to offer $300 million in scholarships that low-income students could use to attend the school of their choice, says the Wall Street Journal.
Pell grants for college are among the most popular ways to spend money in Washington. Over the past seven years, members from both sides of the aisle have lined up to expand the number and size of these grants that students can use to attend the college or university of their choice, public or private:
Last year, 5.3 million students received a total of $14 billion in Pell grants, up from 4.3 million students receiving $8.8 billion at the start of the Bush Presidency. However, what no one wants to admit is that Pell grants are essentially “vouchers,” with the decision about where to spend the money in the hands of parents and students, says the Journal:
Institute for Policy Innovation, TechBytes – 01/24/2008
In a speech earlier this week, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps outlined his vision for how the wireless phone market ought to work, as opposed to how it works today.
Of course, it’s not the role of government regulators to be designing markets, in some measure because when they do typically their reach exceeds their grasp.
Commissioner Copps is decidedly unhappy that the current state of the wireless market doesn’t live up to his imagined ideal of how it should work. But, in fact, a close look at Copps’ address reveals that, his imagination is a government control — FCC control — his control, his dream. Copps simply thinks that the wireless market ought to work exactly like — the Internet. But it ought to work like the wireless router business, too. Oh, and it also ought to work like the old monopoly wireline network used to work.
President George W. Bush, other federal lawmakers, and some government agency officials have begun calling for an economic “stimulus” package. Ideas remain sketchy but have included tax rebates, tax breaks for small businesses, an expanded food stamp program, and greater unemployment insurance benefits.
The following is a statement from Steve Stanek, managing editor of Budget & Tax News and research fellow at The Heartland Institute. You may quote from this statement or contact Stanek directly at 815/385-5602, stanek@heartland.org.
The 4th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey by Wendell Cox and Hugh Pavletich ranks Honolulu the 4th least affordable housing market in survey of (227) markets in the United States, Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Click here for the report. Only San Francisco, Salinas and Los Angeles in California were rated less affordable.
Last year in the same report, Honolulu was ranked 3rd least affordable, behind San Diego and Los Angeles. Honolulu’s affordability rating was the same both years, 10.3. This translates to a median single-family home price 10.3 times the median household income, using third quarter data. Click here to see last year’s report.
Green Sand Inc. (GSI) announced today that it has offset its carbon emissions with Carbonfund.org the country’s leading carbon offset organization. After implementing strategies to reduce their footprint directly, GSI’s carbon footprint was calculated at 40 tons. GSI’s donation through the CarbonFree Small Business program offsets 70 tons of carbon dioxide, making GSI a carbon-negative company. This commitment places GSI as an environmental leader in the architecture community and demonstrates proactive steps being taken in the fight against global climate change.
A visit to the Carbonfund.org web site revealed that the 70 ton offset that GSI made is the minimum allowed on the site. A review of participating companies showed that most, having reduced paper and electricity usage usually offset their remaining electrical usage. None seem to offset any part of their manufacturing business. The largest company participating, Dell, only offsets the electricity used when owners power up their individual PCs.
By Tom Petruno and Walter Hamilton
Los Angeles Times
Asian stock markets opened sharply lower today, continuing a plunge that spread worldwide yesterday on worries that U.S. economic woes could turn global boom times to bust. Japan’s Nikkei-225 share index was down about 4.4 percent two hours into the trading session in Tokyo. That followed a 3.9 percent slide yesterday.
Stocks also were down nearly 5 percent in Australia, where they had tumbled 2.9 percent yesterday.
On a patch of land just one-sixth as large as Washington, D.C., Macau surpassed sprawling Las Vegas last year in gaming revenues, thanks to a growing deluge of mainland Chinese tourists. They are transforming this place faster than imperialism and organized crime ever did.
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