Risky Business
-
"Monkey Bite" Bill Would Mean No Interstate Trade Of Primate Pets
Continue reading… 13 CommentsIf you've seen The Daily Show recently, you know about the latest moral panic: pet chimps run amok! And like with so many moral panics in the past, Congress is using it to punish businesspeople. Check out the Daily Show video here.
The House of Representatives has used the media frenzy around the Connecticut woman who was gruesomely injured by a pet chimpanzee to pass the Captive Primate Safety Act. The bill, if passed by the Senate, would ban the interstate trade of "non-human" primates, with a few exceptions, such as if you're a licensed veterinarian or working for a nonprofit purpose.
The sale of monkeys as pets is by no means a big industry. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that 15,000 "chimps and smaller monkeys" are kept as pets in the U.S, and 22 states either prohibit or tightly regulate the monkey trade within their borders. But even if it's not a large business, why should a few attention-grabbing headlines lead to its prohibition?
-
Topless Cafe In Maine: Insert Lame Joke About Cup Size Here
Continue reading… 39 CommentsThis has to be the weirdest idea for a small business I've heard in a long time:
Inside, two men sipped coffee at their booth; the rest of the tables were empty. There are 15 tables, with room enough for 58 people.
On Tuesday, inside were three topless women, one topless man and owner Donald Crabtree in a dress shirt and tie. Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" was playing.
Brothers Dick and Rene Brochu of Augusta, ages 60 and 59, said they decided to stop by the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop after hearing about it from friends. Both men are retired.
But really, with how coffee-crazy Americans have become over the past decade or so, wasn't it a matter of time before someone married our love for caffeine with our love for prurient exhibitionism?
Probably the most surprising thing about this is that the topless coffee shop opened up in a small New England town of 4,000 people, and not a large urban area. I grew up in Tampa, Florida, infamously known as the strip club capital of the country, and the Grand View would certainly fit in there.
So watch out Tampa--you've got an upstart rival in the form of Vassalboro, Maine.
-
Obama's State Of The Union Vs. Bobby Jindal's Response: Two Views On The Role Of Government For The Entrepreneur
Continue reading… 5 CommentsLet's compare the ideas expressed by President Obama and Governor Jindal in their respective speeches last night. Specifically, I'm going to look at what they think are the proper duties of government toward the entrepreneurial sector of the economy.
Obama (emphasis mine):
I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves; that says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity.
For history tells a different story. History reminds us that at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas. In the midst of civil war, we laid railroad tracks from one coast to another that spurred commerce and industry. From the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution came a system of public high schools that prepared our citizens for a new age. In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle-class in history. And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world.
In each case, government didn’t supplant private enterprise; it catalyzed private enterprise. It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive.
-
Is Internet Porn Destroying America?
Continue reading… 21 CommentsThe Washington Times editorializes about the "virulent cancer" that is destroying our economy. Toxic bank assets? Nope--Internet porn. (HT: The Agitator)
The Times supports Senator Chuck Grassley in calling for a "national conversation" about employees watching porn on their computers at work. Of course, we know what these "conversations" turn into when kicked off by politicians--witness the circus of Congressional hearings around the issue of Major League Baseball and steroids.
I've blogged about attempts to regulate the Internet before, because I think that keeping this "last frontier" safe from regulation is very importnat for the interests of the entrepreneurial community. So what about this claim that workplace internet porn is draining productivity and wasting wages?
Let's look at the only evidence the Times uses to back up this claim:
-
What You Should Know About Gary Locke, Obama's Potential Commerce Secretary
Continue reading… 11 CommentsThe Washington Post is reporting that Gary Locke, governor of the state of Washington from 1997 to 2005, will soon be announced as President Obama's third (and final?) pick to head the Department of Commerce.
Locke would be a much more conventional choice for Obama than Gregg. The Democratic Party did much to promote him to the national stage. Most significantly, in 2003, Locke delivered the Democratic response to President Bush's State of the Union address--albeit a response that Matt Yglesias describes as "crappy." Still, in that speech Locke criticized Republican "upside-down" economic policies and called for $100 billion in investments and middle-class tax relief. He is almost certainly to be very supportive of Obama's economic policies, unlike Gregg.
-
Slumdog Millionaire--An Almost Perfect Oscar Sweep
Continue reading… 0 CommentsThis post is somewhat neither-here-nor-there, but this is what I was thinking last night:
How bad you feel if you are the sound editor for Slumdog Millionaire? Sound editing was the only category in which Slumdog was nominated for an Oscar but did not win, losing to The Dark Knight.
Anybody an expert on motion picture sound? Why was Slumdog's sound mixing Oscar-worthy, but not its sound editing?
-
Inspiration Cafe Outshines Academy Award Winners
Continue reading… 6 CommentsThe 81st Academy Awards, to me at least, seemed even longer and more boring than those ceremonies usually are. So much that I found some of the commercials more interesting than the show itself. That was certainly the case for me and many other viewers with the spot about the Inspiration Cafe, the Chicago restaurant for the homeless, founded and run by former Chicago police officer Lisa Nigro.
While the Inspiration Cafe is run by a nonprofit, not a business, the story of how it got started is similar to how many small businesses got off the ground. Nigro had to slowly expand her work, and rely on the generosity of those in the community to get started:
When Lisa Nigro founded Inspiration Cafe in 1989, she borrowed her nephew’s red wagon and filled it with coffee and sandwiches. A former police officer, Lisa pulled that wagon around the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago offering a little dignity and respect to the homeless men and women she encountered. Over time, Lisa and other early supporters grew the Cafe beyond that red wagon, first turning a van into a kitchen on wheels and then converting a bus into a travelling cafe.
Lisa’s idea, to cook and serve good food with a dash of hope, captured the attention of the Uptown neighborhood and the Chicago media. She soon received a phone call from an Uptown building owner, offering her a six-month lease on a Wilson Avenue storefront for one dollar.
-
A Stimulus For The Drug War
Continue reading… 4 CommentsHere's an additional item I was not able to fit into my examination of stimulus pork (truth be told, there were a LOT of items I could not fit in there.)
The discretionary spending in the stimulus package is essentially one big grab-bag for whatever is politically popular, regardless of its connection to the economy. There is no better example of that than the various spending provisions to ramp up the war on drugs.
(Note: see my previous post on how the drug war affects entrepreneurship here.)
The final version of the stimulus plan includes $125 million for "rural communities" to combat drug crimes. More significantly, it gives $2 billion to the Byrne Formula Grant Program, a little-known funding project in the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Byrne program basically gives states and local governments money for more personnel, equipment, and training to enforce drug laws. The BJA describes it as a step to "improve the functioning of the criminal justice system," but critics of the drug war call it a "massive federal slush fund for local law enforcement.
-
On That Rick Santelli 'Rant Of The Year': What's The Multiplier For Government Spending?
Continue reading… 51 CommentsRick Santelli's CNBC rant is getting a lot of attention for its passionate delivery. But is there any substance to it that would actually change anybody's mind?
Take his sarcastic comments about the stimulus package.
He said:
They are pretty much of the notion you can't buy your way into prosperity. If the multiplier that all of these Washington economists are selling us is over 1, then we never have to worry about the economy again! The government should spend a trillion dollars an hour, that way we'll get 1.5 back!
-
Adam Carolla Show Cancelled; Is Radio A Doomed Business?
Continue reading… 37 CommentsHere's another nail in the coffin of terrestrial talk radio. It was announced late yesterday that Adam Carolla, who replaced Howard Stern on the west coast, has been fired. His home station in Los Angeles is switching formats away from talk.
The slow death of radio mainstays--Carolla has been on the air since the mid-90s, starting as host of the syndicated show Loveline--has led to cries from some that a whole type of business is dying while no one tries to save it. See my previous post here.
Carolla has won fans since his days on Loveline for his anti-radio radio personality: he doesn't have the mellifluous or bassy voices of most broadcasters, and his specialty is long, unscripted, often off-the-cuff rants.
Some might point to Carolla's demise as further evidence that it is impossible for independent voices to thrive on radio. That might be true of terrestrial radio. But, as I blogged about last month, this is a sign of progress, not regress, for broadcasting entrepreneurs.
-
Neanderthal Resurrection The Latest Ethical Dilemma For Futurists
Continue reading… 3 CommentsEveryone knows Jurassic Park and the story of an eccentric entrepreneur who tries to build the world's most insane theme park with living relics from prehistoric times.
What if somebody tried to do the same thing, not with animals from the past, but with "people" from the past?
A recent New York Times article reported that a new genetic breakthrough has raised the scientific possibility of cloning a neanderthal. Cloning normal human beings is controversial enough, but the issue of neanderthal resurrection has another ethical twist on top of that: what rights would these beings have? Would they even be considered "people?"
Ron Bailey has an article at Reason about the ethical issues of neanderthal resurrection, and he does a little speculating about what we would do with such beings:
-
How To Cash In On Stimulus Tax Breaks: Keep Cash Flow Up
Continue reading… 0 CommentsOne provision of the stimulus package allows businesses to immediately write off 50 percent of new equipment purchases from their taxes, for up to $250,000 of purchases. If a business is losing money, it can carry back net operating losses to a previous profitable year, and claim a tax refund for that year, for up to five years. But what about businesses that can't do that--say, they're out of the five-year limit, or are currently profitable--but still are having trouble making investments? How do you improve your cash flow to the point where you can invest in new equipment this year?
The New York Times just published a guide to the basics of improving cash flow. It also has some links to new resources on how to do old tricks, like this blog on factoring.
-
Stimulus Package Could Be Windfall For Small Businesses Able To Make Investments
Continue reading… 4 CommentsThe Portland Business Journal has a good breakdown of the tax breaks for businesses in the recently-enacted stimulus package:
These breaks can be a powerful incentive for business investment, especially when combined, said Bill Smith, director of the national tax office for CBIZ MHM.
Smith cites an example of a small business investing $500,000 in equipment that normally is depreciated over five years. The business could take the $250,000 Section 179 expensing limit and then apply 50 percent bonus depreciation. The business could then depreciate $25,000 of the remaining $125,000 of the investment this year. The end result: The business could write off $400,000 of the $500,000 investment this year, instead of having to wait to recover this money.
-
As Obama Signs Stimulus, A Look Back: A Conversation With Paul Ryan, Ranking Republican On Budget Committee
Continue reading… 1 CommentPresident Obama signs into law the historic $787 billion stimulus today. The question on everyone's mind is: will it work?
I had a conversation with Republican Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the highest-ranking Republican on the Budget committee and one of the most high-profile leaders in the House on economic issues. (Note: this interview took place in December, but Congressman Ryan's points on the stimulus still apply to today's bill as he talks about the stimulus effort as a whole, not the details.) Read why he thinks we're repeating the mistakes Japan made in the 1990s, and his suggestions for alternatives, after the jump.
-
Why Is Judd Gregg Withdrawing His Nomination To Be Commerce Secretary?
Continue reading… 8 CommentsJudd Gregg is the latest Obama Cabinet nominee to withdraw, and perhaps the most confusing withdrawal yet. Gregg's stated reasons for withdrawing don't fully explain the picture. First, he says he disagrees with the policy direction the administration has gone with the stimulus. But if that were the full explanation, Gregg never would have agreed to be nominated in the first place. We've known for months that the stimulus would be a massive, big-spending bill that would go against Gregg's strong fiscal-conservative ideology. But Gregg still eagerly accepted the nomination just a little over a week ago. What's more, since then, the stimulus package has been trimmed down. Why was bipartisanship possible last week, but not this week?
His second reason is his disagreement with the alleged politicization of the Census Bureau. The census is part of the Department of Commerce, but Obama is giving Rahm Emanuel partial control. This makes a little more sense--the census is very politically important as it helps determine congressional districts--but I'm skeptical that this single issue is big enough to get Gregg to walk away. Leaving does nothing to decrease this "politicization"--it actually increases it, because now Gregg will have no say in how the census is conducted.
-
Lincoln's Birthday: Rumors Of His Business Failures Are Greatly Exaggerated
Continue reading… 2 CommentsHappy 200th, Abraham Lincoln. If he were still around, Abe might be too happy to know that he's remembered today almost as much for his failures as for his successes. Probably starting in classrooms at young ages, we've all heard the inspirational story about how Lincoln failed at almost every aspect of his life before becoming president. And one of those failures was that he was a failed businessman.
A quick Google search finds the same meme all over the web:
* 1832 Lost job Defeated for state legislature
* 1833 Failed in business
* 1835 Sweetheart died
* 1836 Had nervous breakdown
* 1838 Defeated for Speaker
* 1843 Defeated for nomination for Congress
* 1848 Lost renomination
* 1849 Rejected for land officer
* 1854 Defeated for U.S. Senate
* 1856 Defeated for nomination for Vice President
* 1858 Again defeated for U.S. Senate
* 1860 Elected President -
$15,000 Home-Buying Tax Credit Trimmed
Continue reading… 28 CommentsAs part of a compromise to reduce the price tag of the stimulus, Congress is cutting down on the home-buying tax credit:
The final package will substantially reduce the Senate's $15,000 tax credit for home buyers, placing income limits on who could benefit and reducing the overall cost from $35 billion to about $5 billion, Collins said.
In terms of stimulating the economy, this was already a pretty irrelevant move. See my initial post on the matter. Now it's even more irrelevant.
-
TARP Gets Anti-Foreign-Worker Treatment
Continue reading… 20 CommentsThomas Friedman points to another example of economic protectionism getting a boost thanks to the recession:
While I think President Obama has been doing his best to keep the worst protectionist impulses in Congress out of his stimulus plan, the U.S. Senate unfortunately voted on Feb. 6 to restrict banks and other financial institutions that receive taxpayer bailout money from hiring high-skilled immigrants on temporary work permits known as H-1B visas.
-
Maxine Waters: Banks Screwing Credit Card Users While Rolling In Bailout Money
Continue reading… 37 CommentsLike the heads of the Detroit auto companies did a few months ago, the CEOs of big banks including JP Morgan, Goldman, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo got a tongue-lashing from a House committee today. As the CEOs testified before the House Financial Services Committee this morning, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) delivered probably the most scathing remarks, opening with:
"To all the captains of the universe sitting here before all of us, all of my life I have been in disagreement with the banking industry."
As the Washington Post reports, Waters then accused the CEOs of raising interest rates on credit cardholders, and suggested that this is inconsistent with their simultaneous acceptance of billions in bailout money from American taxpayers. Bank of America executive Ken Lewis responded that his bank raised interest rates on only 9 percent of its customers in 2008.
-
Good News For Timothy Geithner: Passionate Delivery Not Required To Win Over Investors
Continue reading… 0 CommentsTim Geithner is having a bad week. Not only has the stock market tanked after he announced Treasury's new plan, but people are coming down on his public speaking style in delivering that announcement. Craig Shirley of Shirley and Banister Public Affairs wrote at Politico that Geithner gave a new meaning to the phrase "deer in the headlights."
This isn't just a problem for people trying to present trillion-dollar bailout plans. Entrepreneurs trying to win over investors for a new start-up might wonder: how important is the style of my pitch, compared to the substance? A new article in the Academy of Management Journal finds that a passionate delivery is not very important for investors' perceptions compared to the overall preparedness of one's business plan.
