Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 23. Sunrise is 6:37 AM and sunset 5:38 PM for 11h 01m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 22.8% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1803, in Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the…
Special Interests
City, Daily Bread, Special Interests, University, UW System
Daily Bread for 11.30.22: The Diligence Required for the UW-Whitewater Chancellor Search
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 29. Sunrise is 7:05 AM and sunset 4:22 PM for 9h 16m 28s of daytime. The moon is in its first quarter with 50.1% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1941, the SS-Einsatzgruppen round up 11,000 Jews from the Riga Ghetto…
Business, CDA, City, Conflicts of Interest, Daily Bread, Ethics, Michels, Regulatory Capture, Special Interests
Daily Bread for 10.10.22: He Won’t Divest — He’ll Only Say He Has
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Good morning. Monday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 67. Sunrise is 7:03 AM and sunset 6:19 PM for 11h 16m 22s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99.4% of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Planning Commission meets at 6 PM. On this day in 1492, the crew of Christopher…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Blogging, Boosterism, City, Confidence Schemes, Coronavirus, Culture, Local Government, Mendacity, Politics, School District, Special Interests, Whitewater's Local Politics 2021
Whitewater’s Local Politics 2021: Marketing
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
This is the ninth in a series on Whitewater’s local politics of 2021. Through all the difficult events of the last two decades (a Great Recession, an opioid epidemic, economic stagnation, creeping nativism, a pandemic, a pandemic recession), Old Whitewater has responded with the same question: how can we market the town to others? If…
Bad Ideas, Corporate Welfare, Development, Foxconn, Marketing, Mendacity, Public Relations, Scott Walker, Special Interests, State Capitalism, State Government, WEDC, WISGOP, YMBFKM
Foxconn’s Venture Capital Fund
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Bruce Murphy has a solid assessment of Foxconn’s much-touted (by Foxconn) venture capital fund in About That Foxconn Venture Capital Fund. It’s well worth reading in full. A few key points: Unfulfilled: Louis Woo of Foxconn had promised this venture fund for startup companies would naturally connect to Foxconn’s innovation centers in Eau Claire, Green Bay…
City, Development, Janesville, Local Government, Politics, Special Interests
A Janesville, Wisconsin Resident on His Town’s Politics (with Similarities to Whitewater)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Over at the Real Janesville™ Twitter feed, a resident of that nearby city offers observations on his city’s politics. In a tweet stream from 3.11.21, he describes the election scene in Janesville. First the feed, then a few remarks of mine on Whitewater. Advice for Janesville city council candidates: Don’t think you’re an agent for…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Conflicts of Interest, Development, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Local Government, Special Interests, WEDC
Miscellany on Development Policy in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
There’s a significant difference between local, political calls for urgency and genuine need. Recent discussions about development policy in Whitewater only bolster this view. A few remarks (as I’ve been asked more than once what I think of the last two months’ events) — Independence. The best decision one could make when writing about policy…
Free Markets, Special Interests
Pro-Market
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There is an issue that – while extremely important today – receives too little attention not only in the traditional media but also in the blogosphere, and academia: the subversion of competition by special interests. Following Adam Smith, the vast majority of economists believe that competition is the essential ingredient that makes a market economy…