Obama's High-Speed Rail Obsession
In an era of tough budgets and proposed cutbacks on basic transportation services, spending billions on high-speed rail just doesn't make sense.
Joel Kotkin, Contributor Active conversation: 7 commentsIn an era of tough budgets and proposed cutbacks on basic transportation services, spending billions on high-speed rail just doesn't make sense.
Joel Kotkin, Contributor Active conversation: 7 commentsContrary to the image they are trying to sell the American public, the Democrats will be responsible if there is a government shutdown—or even a “close call.” My reason for saying this is to set the record straight on the cause and effect—without a political argument. read »
The Wall Street Journal today published what I, as a business school professor, view to be disturbing statistics in an article noting the size of the government payroll:
Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government. read »
Don't blame David Sokol's craving to make a fortune and become a philanthropist on Warren Buffett's understandable confidence that his leading heir-apparent would do nothing to embarass him and Berkshire Hathaway. read »
If you turn on the television these days, everyone seems to have an opinion as to what constitutes securities fraud. In and of themselves, opinions are fine -- the problem is that there is often a difference between those opinions and reality. Debate is nice. Facts and the truth are even better. read »
The Chevrolet Volt sure is innovative. It's Motor Trend's "car of the year." But whether it will be successful is another story. If it's so great, why can't it roll on its own four wheels without a shove from us taxpayers? read »
Evidence grows with each passing week that in Libya the U.S. government and its allies are providing air cover and arms directly to its avowed enemies--including thugs from al Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood, and Taliban--those who’ve devoted the past decade to slaughtering American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Worse, top U.S. and U.K. officials now acknowledge this and condone it. read »
President Obama was out with comments this morning highlighting an ambitious plan to curb America's addiction to foreign oil. In fact, the President went so far as to say he wants to see U.S. oil imports pared by a third over the next decade. read »
Many executives see the drive toward sustainability as a forced march, one in which the government plays the role of drill sergeant, yelling at companies to be more efficient and cut carbon emissions and then punishing them with regulations. From this perspective, making your business more sustainable means making it worse. read »