In a recent interview, Ana Revenga, senior director of the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Group, talks about ending extreme poverty. See, Ending Extreme Poverty: World Bank Economist Ana Revenga @ The Christian Century. (The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1.90 per person per day, and the article describes how…
Free Markets
Art, Business, Free Markets
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Auctions
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Auctions from Artsy on Vimeo. How did the art auctions business become a multi-billion-dollar industry? The first film in a series about the art market explores this question, leading viewers through the complex history of auctions, with specific attention to the last 20 years. The film unpacks record-breaking sales,…
Beautiful Whitewater, Business, City, Free Markets, Lifestyle
Having Nice Things in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Some months ago, a community group, while embarking on a new project, began using the saying, ‘yes, we can have nice things in Whitewater.’ One supposes that they meant the saying as an expression of optimism about their chances for success, along the lines of we can do this. It’s also probable that they intended…
Business, Food, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations
Institute for Justice Fights Anti-Competitive Ban on Baked Goods
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin is lousy with anti-competitive statutes, designed to protect incumbents from free-market competition. One would prefer that private parties did not have to file lawsuits to protect their economic rights. Unfortunately, some laws (and some official actions) compel private citizens to seek redress from the courts to protect their liberties. Fortunately, the Institute for Justice…
Business, Economy, Free Markets, Hip & Prosperous, Poll
Friday Poll: Preferred Shopping Times, 2015
by JOHN ADAMS •
Preferred Shopping Times, 2015 View image | gettyimages.com The Friday FW poll asks about how you’ll shop over the weekend. It’s third year that I’ve run this poll (versions of it ran in 2012 and 2013). Let’s see how this year’s answers compare with those earlier versions. (Multiple selections are possible for those who’ll shop in…
Business, Economy, Free Markets, Good Ideas, Hip & Prosperous, Restaurant
Shop Small on Saturday, November 28, 2015
by JOHN ADAMS •
If you’re out and about on Saturday, I hope you’ll shop at some of the many independent, small merchants of Whitewater. You’ll find a wide selection of items for purchase as gifts, and good restaurants at which to eat while shopping during the day. Best wishes to all for a happy and prosperous season —…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Local Government, University, Waste Digesters, WEDC, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
Boo! Scariest Things in Whitewater, 2015
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the ninth annual FREE WHITEWATER list of the scariest things in Whitewater for 2015. The 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 editions are available for comparison. The list runs in reverse order, from mildly frightening to truly scary. 10. The Coming Ferret Invasion. Alternative title: The Unprepared Will Be Doomed. Earlier this year,…
Blogging, Business, CDA, City, Free Markets, Gluttony, Local Government, New Media, New Whitewater, Politics
If Market-Based Solutions Are Superior to Cronyism, Why Are There So Many Cronies?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a question, concerning even small towns like Whitewater, for which the Financial Times publishes an answer: If market-based solutions are superior to cronyism, why are there so many cronies? First, there aren’t that many cronies (or insistent insiders) in Whitewater or elsewhere, but the few there are manipulate or intimidate weak reporters at local papers into representing their numbers as…
Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Immigration, Labor, Restaurant
Film: From Dishwasher to Award-Winning Restaurateur
by JOHN ADAMS •
I suppose that if I wanted to curry favor with others, I’d talk about the need for immigration restrictions, or at the least I’d avoid taking a contrary view (a restrictive position being so popular these days). That would seem to me a timid way to face the world, unfit for robust Americans. One should…
Business, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Economy, Free Markets, Gluttony, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park
Conservatives Against WEDC
by JOHN ADAMS •
Only a generation ago (not long, really), most conservatives would have rejected something like the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s ineffectual, wasteful attempts to manipulate the economy for the benefit of a few insiders’ friends. Today, communities across our state are beset with any number of unctuous men hawking a kind of big-government conservatism, with false…
City, Corporate Welfare, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Local Government, Marketing, Poverty, University, WEDC, Wisconsin
Wisconsin on Pace for Most Layoff Notifications Since WEDC Created
by JOHN ADAMS •
WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports Now I thought, as it’s what I have heard again, again, and again, that the WEDC was the Laser-Focused Semi-Private Job Creator of Wisconsin™. How odd, then, to read that since the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s inception, Wisconsin is on pace for more job layoffs than…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Economy, Free Markets, Local Government, Wisconsin
The New (But Old) Zero-Sum Game
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Rock Netroots, Lou Kaye makes this accurate observation about how most local communities’ officials understand development: For the most part, city leaders here [he’s referring to Janesville] and across Wisconsin not only believe that communities are in competition with one another, they vigorously support and fuel those concepts by carving out special slush…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Free Markets, WEDC
WEDC Afflicted with Internal Strife
by JOHN ADAMS •
Not long ago, Messrs. Telfer, Knight, and Clapper met in Whitewater with Reed Hall, so-called CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, to ‘celebrate’ another round of public money in the service of crony capitalism. These gentlemen must have thought – somehow – that all this would look grand and spectacular, that it would be…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Free Markets, Good Ideas, Government Spending, Technology
A Tech Company That Seeks Private Support
by JOHN ADAMS •
What does a small tech company that seeks private support look like? Often, we’ll not know, because those private companies seek the support of private venture capital, in thousands of encounters and presentations across America each day. Sometimes, though, one sees more because a private tech startup looks to something like Kickstarter to win backing…