11 | December | 2012

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Michigan becomes 24th right-to-work state and joins states creating jobs at almost 3X the rate of forced unionism states

Mark J. Perry | December 11, 2012, 4:52 pm

In an historic milestone for the rights of American workers to decide whether to join labor unions, Michigan became a “right to work” state today over the protests of thousands of union workers and teachers. Despite those protests (some of … read more >

131

Society and Culture, Education

Would an education bar exam raise the bar on teacher quality?

Lauren Aronson | December 11, 2012, 2:38 pm

Last week, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and its Teacher Preparation Task Force released “Raising the Bar,” a comprehensive report—and loud call to action—on teacher preparation and the teaching profession itself. The report told education stakeholders that, “We need … read more >

Economics, Pethokoukis

Would letting all the Bush tax cuts expire make tax reform easier?

James Pethokoukis | December 11, 2012, 2:31 pm

My great pal Tony Fratto over at Hamilton Place Strategies is talking up the “benefits to allowing my favored Bush income tax rates to expire and return to Clinton-era tax rates for everyone.” While emphasizing the Clinton-era tax code is … read more >

Image credit: Ragesoss (Flickr) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Economics, Free Enterprise

Only a moral argument can roll back big government

Arthur C. Brooks | December 11, 2012, 2:03 pm

The American Enterprise Institute was founded in 1938 by a group of business leaders who were concerned that government at all levels was consuming or transferring about 15% of the country’s gross domestic product. Today, government at all levels is … read more >

Economics, Pethokoukis

Has the decline of unions caused an explosion in income inequality? Not so much

James Pethokoukis | December 11, 2012, 1:41 pm

With heavily-unionized Michigan about to become a “right to work” state, I expect to soon see a blizzard of blog posts and news stories about how the decline in unionism has caused stagnant wages and rising income inequality. But the … read more >

Economics, International economy

Well on the way to a European lost decade

Desmond Lachman | December 11, 2012, 1:08 pm

At the heart of Europe’s economic troubles is its Euro straitjacket which precludes the countries in the European periphery from devaluing their currencies to boost their exports. read more >

Carpe Diem

Quotation of the day: Thomas Sowell on academic mismatch

Mark J. Perry | December 11, 2012, 12:56 pm

“Racial preferences put more minority students on campus, but in ways that reduce the number who graduate. Conversely, when racial preferences were banned in the University of California system, the number of black students who graduated actually increased substantially, as … read more >

Carpe Diem

Timelapse of drilling and fracking an Eagle Ford Shale well

Mark J. Perry | December 11, 2012, 12:39 pm

The timelapse video above shows the drilling and fracking of a typical well in the Eagle Ford Shale area of Texas. It was captured in the summer of 2012 by Marathon Oil.

Economics, Pethokoukis

Small business owners are very, very worried right now

James Pethokoukis | December 11, 2012, 11:46 am

A terrible read from the National Federation of Independent Business. Its Small Business Optimism Index, which fell 5.6 points to 87.5 in November. The NFIB: Something bad happened in November—and based on the NFIB survey data, it wasn’t merely Hurricane Sandy. The … read more >

Carpe Diem

13 UAW workers at Chrysler who were caught red-handed drinking and smoking weed during work hours are reinstated

Mark J. Perry | December 11, 2012, 11:34 am

UAW workers are apparently guaranteed the “right to loaf” on the job Fox 2 News Headlines In 2010, Fox TV in Detroit filmed 13 Chrysler workers from the Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit who were repeatedly drinking alcohol and … read more >

The Uses of Scandal
One of the greatest uses of scandal is to vividly demonstrate what new laws are needed and to create the political conditions to get them enacted. […]
Lean In… to Government?
Sheryl Sandberg's runaway best-selling book Lean In has managed to offend both the Left and the Right. Sandberg touts female hard-headedness, yet also calls for an elaborate government- and employer-supplied support system for women. […]
Are American Voters Racist?
Racial prejudice plays a very small role in American politics, but a highly disciplined sense of self-interest on the part of one group may play a very large role in the way the federal government functions. […]
The Perpetual Passion for Paper
Paper is becoming less important in some respects, but its strengths — prestige, utility, permanence, and security — are more essential than ever. […]