If we are to believe people like President Obama who famously said: “You didn’t build that”, individual accomplishment is insignificant; only as a group we can build something. While collaboration, trade, and learning are great benefits of living in a society and we...
Most of us pursue self-interest every day: we eat nutritious food, engage in productive work (to have a purpose and to make a living), look after our health, enjoy recreation and entertainment, spend time with friends and loved ones, and go to the mall to buy things...
This is an issue mostly in countries with abundant natural resources and governments bent on economic nationalism, but it nevertheless poses an interesting ethical dilemma. Canada’s economy is dominated by resource companies: in oil and gas, minerals, the forest...
Many economists today are arguing that the unprecedented era of innovation—the last 250 years or so since the industrial revolution—is going to be over soon, ending economic growth. Why should we care about economic growth? Because our well-being depends on it—the...
The funny thing about the Labor Department’s monthly unemployment report is that the number-crunching bureaucrats act like they’re delivering high carat diamonds when the real worth of what they’re reporting is closer to the value of a mud pie. First, a college...
One of the points of contention among the commentators on the U.S. presidential campaign is whether Mitt Romney’s business experience and success is an advantage, as those on the Republican side think or a source of guilt, as his critics argue. The Democratic critics...
Many people take government involvement in the economy for granted. They agree that government should, among other things, determine who business should hire (equal opportunity/affirmative action legislation), what and how to pay employees (minimum wage laws, insider...
You and your fellow billionaires should make this policy on the part of the colleges and universities an absolute condition of receiving donations or bequests from you for any purpose. You could think of it, perhaps, as the “Fairness for Capitalism Pledge.”
Freedom (our own and that of others) to choose values, including the level of wealth to which we aspire and what we want to do with it, is the first requirement of happiness. Any proposals for limiting our freedom—by imposing limits on income or a duty to share it wit…
Last week I attended an awards gala called “Rising Stars.” It was organized by Canada’s Oilweek magazine to recognize up-and-coming leaders in the oil industry in Calgary. Having done a study on oil company CEOs with “good minds” and being interested in innovation in...
A friend once gave me a T-shirt with “Happiness Is Positive Cash Flow” printed in the front. While I agree that positive cash flow is one of the necessary conditions of happiness in a civilized society, it is not in itself sufficient. What is happiness? It is a...
“As soon as two businessmen get together, they start discussing how to fix prices” This is what I heard a leftist public radio talk show host say on Sunday morning. My ears naturally perked up upon hearing something that ludicrous. He said he was quoting some...
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced recently a plan to ban large sodas (16 oz. or more) from New York City’s restaurants, movie theaters, and street carts, in an effort to combat obesity.It has created a wide-spread backlash among businesses—rightly so—led by...
I have resisted commenting on political issues—such as the riots in Greece against the austerity measures by the government and the more than three-month long student protests in Montreal against the small tuition hikes introduced by the Quebec government—because I...
This story was shared by an MBA student who was trying to assess a personal business experience. A small technology start-up has started to see some financial success after two years of hard work. The three main shareholders, the CEO and two vice presidents, had made...
Most people look at “business” as something separate from everything else in life, and at best, a necessary evil. Something you have to do. Or a way to make money—in a practical, but never creative, artistic or (perish the thought) moral way. In today’s political...
Scott Thompson, CEO of Yahoo Inc. just since January, resigned this week when it was found out that his resume falsely stated that he holds a degree in computer science. What motivates people to “embellish” their resume? Presumably it is the desire to impress...
The following story was related to me by a student. An acquaintance of his was frustrated and unhappy with her job and felt that her company, which was short-staffed, was not giving her sufficient support and help. The acquaintance felt stressed but was able to cope...
Just now I can’t summon the energy to write the post that should be written to defend Goldman Sachs against the disgusting, publicity-seeking attack made on it last week by ex-employee Greg Smith. (Mr. Smith was not highly placed at the firm: he was one of...
Steve Jobs creates delightful products that consumers willingly and eagerly buy. Barney Frank issues edicts and demands that individuals must grudgingly obey.
The compensation of Chief Executive Officers of large American corporations is about 300 times more than that of the average employee. Such a big gap in pay is often criticized as immoral and is generally attributed to “greed” or to general unfairness of the “system.”...
Last week, an apparently disgruntled Goldman Sachs executive, Greg Smith, had his resignation letter published in the New York Times. In the letter, Mr. Smith accused Goldman Sachs for exploiting its clients in order to maximize profits. He wrote that the culture of...
Valid moral principles should never be compromised because they are the guidelines for achieving our long-term self-interest, such as a profitable business
Al Gore claims that capitalism “has turned many of the world’s largest economies into hotbeds of irresponsible short-term investment.” He argues that capitalism causes business people to focus on short-term profit maximization which, allegedly, prevents sufficient...
Once you grant that profit making is shameful and business should “give [profits] back to society,” there is no end of claimants for the business’ profits.
Recent budget crises in Wisconsin, Indiana, and other states have unleashed a renewed debate over the power of unions and “right to work” laws. Unfortunately, both sides of the debate are guilty of numerous equivocations, misrepresentations, and errors. And, at the...
A number of conservatives, such as Senator Rand Paul, have been promoting “right-to-work” legislation in response to the growing power of labor unions. On the surface, such legislation might appear to be consistent with free market principles. But is it? Wikipedia...
“The wealth of the 1 percent provides the standard of living of the 99 percent.”
Congress should not only reject the transparent power grab known as the Employee Free Choice Act, it should start hacking at the root of the complex federal regime that denies free choice in bargaining. That means repealing the Wagner Act, so that labor law can recogniz…
If a company as great and as economically powerful as General Motors once was can collapse into a shadow of its former self, so too can every other company in the United States. So too can the United States itself.
The financial crisis is, fundamentally, a moral crisis. To end the crisis, we must acknowledge that government intervention caused it, and we must demand that the government begin removing its coercive hands from the economy. With an eye to the short term, we must deman…
Shifting the financial pain of business failure onto society at large is unjust.
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