economic freedom

Illustration of creative destruction: lots of Fortune 500 companies disappeared over the last 60 years

What sets apart each of these groups of companies?

Group A: American Motors, Brown Shoe, Studebaker, Collins Radio, Detroit Steel, Zenith Electronics, and National Sugar Refining.

Group B: Boeing, Campbell Soup, General Motors, Kellogg, Proctor and Gamble, Deere, IBM and Whirlpool.

Group C: Facebook, eBay, Home Depot, Microsoft, Office Depot and Target.

Mark Perry, writing at Carpe Diem, explains: Fortune 500 firms in 1955 vs. 2014; 89% are gone, and we’re all better off because of that dynamic ‘creative destruction’.

(This article is cross-posted from my other blog, Outrun Change. You will see why momentarily.)

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Astounding progress everywhere in everything over last 50 years – No better time to be alive than today.

As a break from the dreary news headlines, consider the progress made over the last 50 years in a variety of areas.

This article is cross-posted from my other blog, Outrun Change. Can you see the connection of the following items to economic freedom and political freedom?

Matt Ridley offers a lot of Reasons to be cheerful.

Here is an overview:

Compared with any time in the past half century, the world as a whole is today wealthier, healthier, happier, cleverer, cleaner, kinder, freer, safer, more peaceful and more equal.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Choosing between liberty and equality? How about both?

There is a long-running debate between those who choose equality as the foundation for all policies and decisions on one hand, and those who choose liberty as the foundation on the other hand. The underlying goal of both options is to help others and make life better for all.

The Wall Street Journal addresses these differing approaches in Free People, Free Markets: (more…)

By Jim Ulvog, ago

Pondering the 4th of July makes me wish everyone on the planet enjoyed economic, religious, and political freedom

Been pondering today how thrilled I am to have:

  • the political freedom to write five blogs,
  • the economic freedom to run my own company the way I wish and see as much success as my effort, skills, & drive can create independent of the income level of my father when I was born or where his parents came from, and
  • the religious freedom to worship as I see the bible suggests worship should be conducted, in a church where the preacher preaches the word as we in my fellowship believe it ought to be preached, and I can teach the bible as we believe it is meant to be taught.

(cross posted from my other blog, Outrun Change.)

That freedom is a rarity on the earth today and unheard of for all of history until around, oh, say 300 years ago.

Oh how I wish that everyone on the planet could be blessed with that economic, political, and religious freedom.

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

Why do we study economics? Because of the suffering of people left behind in poverty.

Many countries around the world have seen their economies grow and enjoy the improved nutrition, health care, comfort, and consumer goods that go along with growth. Other countries, locations, and people groups have been left behind.

Why should we care about growth?

Consider a billion people struggling in India while a billion people in China have a per capita GDP today that is equal to what we had in the U.S. back in 1972.

(Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update. The question I’ll ask here: Is it moral that the policies that let a billion people move out of grinding poverty in one place were not applied to lift up a billion of their next-door neighbors?)

The Economist explained the issue this way on 5/24:

The increase in (China’s) average annual GDP per head from around $300 to $6,750 over the period (of the last 30 years) has not just brought previously unimagined prosperity to hundreds of millions of people, but has also remade the world economy and geopolitics.

That’s great. I am sincerely happy for the people of China. The next sentence asks us to consider a billion people who got left behind:

India’s GDP per head was the same as China’s three decades ago. It is now less than a quarter of the size. … India’s economy has never achieved the momentum that has dragged much of East Asia out of poverty.

So what, I hear some say.

Consider the human cost: (more…)

By Jim Ulvog, ago

Appeals court says devastation from New Deal is still okay; We lost a hero who also suffered at the hands of the New Deal

Did you know the enlightened wizards of the New Deal worked out a plan that raisin producers had to turn over a percentage of their crop to the government and not get paid for the raisins?

Yes, that was actually a plan developed back in the ‘30s.

Did you know that plan is still in place? Eighty years later?

(Cross posted from my other blog, Outrun Change.)

I discussed that a year ago – Economic destruction from the New Deal just keeps rolling on.

The lawsuit I mentioned back then involved farmers who were told to give 47% of their ’02 crop and 30% of their ’03 crop to the government without compensation.  The case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled the farmers did actually have standing to sue the government. The case went to the 9th Circuit Court for consideration of their claims.

Guess what?

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By Jim Ulvog, ago

How to summarize half a dozen developmental economics books in one sentence

You want to boil down hundreds of pages from several books? I came across one sentence that does a good job:

…poverty is a symptom— of the absence of a workable economy built on credible political, social, and legal institutions.

I’ve been reading a lot of economics books lately. (Okay, okay, you can pray for me – a CPA reading economics books for relaxation and learning and growth.)

(Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)

If we can figure out how we on this planet have gotten to the place where we have the highest wealth, best health, and longest life expectancy in history, we can keep going on the same path. Likewise, we can maybe figure out how to bring along those people groups that don’t share in the abundant bounty.

Here is the ache in many hearts:  How do we ‘solve’ poverty and suffering?

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By Jim Ulvog, ago