Tag: Interventionism

  • ‘Political capitalism’ explained in Wichita

    In Wichita this Monday, Robert L. Bradley, Jr. explained the state of capitalism in America today, using his experience working in a high-level position at the failed energy conglomerate Enron as a backdrop. Bradley asked: What happened to business prudence? What has happened to capitalism? The answer is that what we have today is not…

  • City council members on downtown Wichita revitalization

    At the meeting of the Wichita City Council last week, several city council members gave their resons for supporting the planning for the revitalization of downtown Wichita. It’s worthwhile to take a look at two members and their remarks.

  • John A. Allison: The current problem, and what to do

    Last Thursday, John A. Allison visited Wichita to address the annual economic outlook conference produced by the Center for Economic Development and Business Research (CEDBR) at Wichita State University. Allison is chairman and former CEO of BB&T Corporation, the nation’s 10th largest financial-holding company. Its headquarters are in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His talk first diagnosed…

  • Causes of global finance crisis explained in Wichita

    Today, an audience of 600 business and civic leaders attended the 30th annual Economic Outlook Conference at Century II, sponsored by the Center for Economic Development and Business Research (CEDBR) at Wichita State University. The featured speaker was John A. Allison, chairman and former CEO of BB&T Corporation, the nation’s 10th largest financial-holding company. Its…

  • Wichita downtown revitalization discussed on Kansas Week

    Bob Weeks discusses planning for downtown Wichita revitalization and what he learned on his trip to the Platinum Triangle in Anaheim, California. Host Tim Brown and guest Randy Brown also appear. From the KPTS Television show Kansas Week, August 14, 2009.

  • Wichita’s getting ready to plan

    The danger we face is that Wichita’s plan will end up like almost all other urban plans — a top-down effort micromanaged by politicians and bureaucrats, people whose incentives are all wrong. We already have the structure in place, with our mayor promoting the plan for downtown as his signature achievement, and a tax-supported downtown…

  • The real right to medical care versus socialized medicine

    In 1994, George Reisman wrote a pamphlet explaining the problems with America’s health care system. He criticized the Clinton plan for reform, and offered an alternative based on freedom and markets rather than government interventionism. It is a brilliant work, and still relevant today: “I wrote this essay to help defeat the Clinton plan for…

  • Someone in California understands TIF

    In California, they’re called redevelopment districts. In Kansas, we call them tax increment financing or TIF districts. By either name, they provide a way to channel money to politically favored developers.

  • Wichita’s economic development is expensive, risky

    Sunday’s Wichita Eagle carried an op-ed piece written by Doug Stanley, vice chairman of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition. As we might expect, he calls for more government involvement and management of economic development.

  • Wichita Chamber of Commerce makes case for interventionism

    In a talk to the Wichita Pachyderm Club on Friday April 24, 2009, Bryan S. Derreberry, President and CEO of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, laid out the case for government management of our area’s economic and community development. The title of the talk was “The Basis for Economic Partner Selection and Collaborative Efforts.”…

  • Articles of Interest

    Kansas budget, wind power, alternative fuels gone wild, newspaper bailouts, journalism entrepreneurship.

  • Walter Williams on the housing crisis

    Economist Walter E. Williams explains the causes of the housing crisis. Then, why would we let these same people who caused the housing crisis take charge of health care? Short and worthwhile viewing.