The risk of reliance on a big outside vendor for a big project in a small town is easily described: The vendor will be everywhere initially, will purr contentedly during work, but disappear quickly after the final check clears. It will want the money, will say anything to get it, but without any respect for…
Government Spending
City, Development, Government Spending, Local Government
Why Not Build Another Los Angeles (by the Bridge to Nowhere)?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Typical Los Angeles Resident Los Angeles is America’s second-largest city, and is world-renowned for her diverse economy and global role in commerce, entertainment, and art. All its people are reputed to be exceptionally beautiful, talented, and clever (at least by their own, uniform accounts). If Los Angeles should be so valuable – and it is…
City, Development, Government Spending, Local Government
Public Spending on Infrastructure
by JOHN ADAMS •
A simple rule about public spending on infrastructure, that some forget, and others would prefer remained that way: adding infrastructure is only beneficial if a resulting economic gain (should there be one) is greater than the cost of its acquisition (capital, labor, etc.). There is no way around this. Just about everything one hears about…
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…
Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Misconduct, State Government
The Truth About the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are those times when small-government conservatives, Democrats, and libertarians agree. Acknowledging the misconduct, failures, and cronyism of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation would be one of those occasions. It is, among other things, the state’s biggest white-collar welfare scheme, both mismanaged and mendacious. Here’s the effectual motto of the WEDC: Corruption, Cronyism, and Incompetence…
Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Local Government, Taxes/Taxation
Creating Taxpayers as Government’s Goal
by JOHN ADAMS •
When seeking to persuade Milton, Wisconsin’s councilmembers to regulate food trucks, an incumbent merchant recently said that more competition might put him out of business, after which he would no longer be a taxpayer. That’s telling: the incumbent’s appeal to government – to a room full of politicians and municipal bureaucrats – is that they…
Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government
Would They Run On It?
by JOHN ADAMS •
When local government’s politicians and bureaucrats propose big projects, they should ask themselves: would we run on it? That is, would they run on a standalone vote for (or against) their proposal? The open secret of local politics is that I’d guess many – if not most – of the big projects proposed would fail…
Business, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government
What’s an Entrepreneur?
by JOHN ADAMS •
I would think, and perhaps you would think, too, that an entrepreneur is a man or woman who runs a private business, bearing the risks and demands of his or her enterprise. For this reason, Americans are sympathetic to entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial efforts – we admire the creativity and effort of business men and women…
Government Spending, Local Government, Marketing
Structural Limits and Wishful Thinking
by JOHN ADAMS •
If there’s a limit to a fraud (like Enron), it’s not simply because a swindler is discovered; it’s because some swindles (Ponzi schemes, for example) are impossible to sustain everlastingly. Cleverness doesn’t matter – there are structural limitations that cannot be overcome (only so many people, only so many future victims, only so much money…
Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Press
The Gazette’s Ideological Albatross
by JOHN ADAMS •
It was Carl Denham who once declared, famously, that “It was beauty killed the beast.” In the same way, nothing matters more for a publication of news and opinion than its ideology, its intellectual outlook. A misguided outlook will prove debilitating, if not fatal. A strong set of principles helps a publication steer true in…
Education, Government Spending, School District
Lead Substantively, Support Fiscally
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update, 3.19.14. Someone’s asked if the Common Core discussion at Monday’s school board meeting doesn’t undercut my argument about the need to lead every presentation with a substantive (academics, athletics, art) discussion. On the contrary, I had it in mind, and it bolsters my contention. A discussion of curriculum at a board meeting, but…
City, Government Spending, Local Government
An Empty Answer
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Tuesday night, Trane (a part of Ingersoll Rand) presented to Council about supposed energy efficiency projects for Whitewater. As it turns out, some of these projects weren’t even about energy efficiency but were additional items in a $1,924,749 project list. (See, previously, Whitewater’s a Small Town, for Goodness’ Sake – It Should Be Run…
City, Government Spending, Local Government
Whitewater’s a Small Town, for Goodness’ Sake – It Should Be Run Like One
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last night, at Council, Trane presented a proposal for supposed energy conservation improvements in Whitewater’s public buildings. Total proposed project cost: $1,924,749. It was a galling presentation – some of the items were not about energy savings, at all. Of others, it was work that city staff could do now, or do when necessary (rather…
City, Government Spending, Local Government, Waste Digesters
The New, Old Idea
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over these last few weeks, I’ve received messages from readers asking my view of a new digester proposal first mentioned at Council on December 3rd (but discussed, I know, among officials well before that). Like others, I’ve quietly watched the progression of this second digester plan. (I have posted occasionally at FW about a prior…