Regulation Stifles Competition
I’ve always been of the opinion that often the primary outcome of government regulation is to stifle competition. Here’s another case that proves the point, brought to us by TechDirt. Some new taxi cab services sprung up awhile back in Tampa, Florida. They use electric vehicles and don’t charge for the rides. The cabs are [...]
The Swedish Solution (or not)
When talking about nationalizing banks Sweden is often mentioned as a model for success. The problem is, this isn’t exactly true. Planet Money talked to the vice chairman of the Swedish Central Bank. The high points: 1. Sweden had only 4 to 6 big banks (big relative to their economy) 2. The government owned 80% [...]
Tribune Media Goes Bankrupt
The Tribune Media Company filed for bankruptcy protection today. Most of the headlines position this as a newspaper company filing for bankruptcy. They do own the Chicago Tribune, LA Times along with others, including my local paper. They also have the Chicago Cubs and television stations among their properties. I’m sure a lot of the [...]
Thanks Wells Fargo
Wachovia Banks announced a $23.9 billion loss today. Citibank had previously agrees to buy Wachovia as part of a deal where the government agreed to back some problem loans. Wells Fargo came along an offered to pay more and forgo government guarantees. Wachovia predicted another $26.1 billion loss in 2009. Wells Fargo obviously wasn’t shocked, [...]
Shocked! We Were Shocked!
The New York Times has an article about events, policies and actions leading up to the failure of Fannie Mae. They put the quote that stuck in my craw right up front: “Almost no one expected what was coming. It’s not fair to blame us for not predicting the unthinkable.“— Daniel H. Mudd, former chief [...]
Why Newspapers Are Vanishing
My local paper is part of a the Tribune chain that has recently made massive cutbacks in their newsrooms. Reports are they cut 57 jobs at the paper. And they wonder why readership is down? Why would I want a local paper? Local news or a local slant on news seems like an obvious answer. [...]
Share your thoughts..