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08 Dec 09

Space elevator entrepreneurs shoot for the stars

  • Because it would reduce the cost of getting people and materials to space by roughly 90%, a space elevator would disrupt the $5 billion satellite-launching industry and kick-start the space tourism business. And that's just the beginning. Lift hundreds of tons of stuff into orbit every day, and suddenly all sorts of science fiction ideas become feasible: powering the entire planet with energy from orbital solar power farms, mining the asteroid belt, building zero-G hotels, sailing the solar winds to the moon or Mars, disposing of our radioactive waste by shooting it into the sun -- you name it.
  • The main trouble with a true space elevator is that we don't yet have materials strong enough to build the cable.
  • 1 more annotations...
24 Nov 09

Why did regulators bother with Utz-Snyder's deal? Companies called off merger that could have benefited consumers

As is all too common, the author maintains his faith in an enthusiasm for antitrust laws.

www.baltimoresun.com/...ancock18nov18,0,3996592.column - Preview

antitrust merger business government regulation Federal Trade Commission FTC

  • This month Snyder's of Hanover and Utz Quality Foods, both in Hanover, just over the state line from Carroll County, halted a planned merger after regulators intervened.



    In deciding to extend its review of the deal, the Federal Trade Commission sought documents that would have cost the companies millions of dollars and months of uncertainty.



    "They were asking for a lot of data - obviously a very expensive process" says Utz President Tom Dempsey. "We looked at it and said, 'We've got to make a business decision here.' We just decided this isn't something we're prepared to go forward on."



    Too bad. The merger, which the companies said would have been layoff-free, could have given them fighting weight to compete against monsters Frito-Lay and Kraft. It would have been good for Hanover, where they employ a couple of thousand people.



    Not in anybody's imagination (except maybe an antitrust regulator's) could it have hurt consumers.



    Between them Frito-Lay and Kraft control well over half of the U.S. snack market. Frito-Lay makes the eponymous chips and other junk food. Kraft makes Ritz and Triscuit crackers and Mister Salty pretzels.



    Snyder's market share, by contrast, is about 2 percent. Utz's is even less. Combined, they would control a smaller portion of the snack business than Microsoft's share of Web-search activity.
20 Nov 09

1 in 3 Laptops fail over 3 years: Netbooks fail 20% more than laptops; ASUS & Toshiba the most reliable

Keep in mind, this report was prepared by a company that sells aftermarket warranties. Having said that, this might be useful for choosing among brands. Allegedly, Asus and Toshiba make the most reliable laptops; while Acer, Gateway, and HP make the least reliable ones.

www.squaretrade.com/...de_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf - Preview

laptop netbook reliability technology business warranty pdf

03 Nov 09

FACT CHECK: Health insurer profits not so fat

Of course, established health insurers do enjoy some protection from competition, thanks mostly to state governments.

apnews.myway.com/...D9BI4D6O1.html - Preview

health insurance business profit politics

  • Quick quiz: What do these enterprises have in common? Farm and construction machinery, Tupperware, the railroads, Hershey sweets, Yum food brands and Yahoo? Answer: They're all more profitable than the health insurance industry.
  • Ledgers tell a different reality. Health insurance profit margins typically run about 6 percent, give or take a point or two. That's anemic compared with other forms of insurance and a broad array of industries, even some beleaguered ones.
02 Oct 09

In Letter, Health Insurers Back Regulations in Exchange for Individual Mandate

Health insurance companies are all in favor of the left's reform proposals, provided there is no public option and all Americans are forced to buy their products (the "individual mandate"). More evidence that big businesses are not enemies of big government.

www.washingtonexaminer.com/...dividual-Mandate-41771997.html - Preview

health insurance individual mandate business government corporatism progressivism politics

  • The health plan community is united in support of comprehensive health care reform that ensures all Americans have high-quality, affordable health care.
  • Creating a new government-run plan would thwart the ability of the health care sector to implement meaningful delivery system reforms, exacerbate the cost-shift from public programs to consumers and employers in the private market, and destabilize the employer-based system.
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Business vs. Markets

  • An important point is that well-established businesses do not trust markets either. The last thing that a well-established business wants to see is a free market. What it wants is a regulated market that keeps competitors at bay. The people who benefit from free markets are small entrepreneurs and, above all, consumers.
02 Jul 09

Wal-Mart and Health Insurance: The Theories of the Case

  • I find it hard to believe that none of the liberal commentators breathlessly celebrating Wal-Mart's "capitulation" on national health care have even entertained the most parsimonious explanation:  that Wal-Mart is in favor of this because it raises the barriers to entry in the retail market, and hammers Wal-Mart's competition.  Yet somehow, this appears nowhere in any of the analysis.
  • Yet, even in liberal academic literature, it is a commonplace that regulations disproportionately benefit several types of firms:

    a)  Incumbents
    b)  Market leaders
    c)  Firms with the most employees
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15 Jun 09

Save Free Enterprise–Starting Now

  • Converts to the cause of limited government are always welcome. But we might not need a $100 million Campaign for Free Enterprise if American business had opposed big government when the votes were going down in Congress. Still, better late than never.
28 May 09

Time Warner to spin off AOL, ending ill-fated deal

Will those who said that the AOL/Time Warner merger would lead to monopoly control of the Internet now admit that they were wrong?

www.sfgate.com/...article.cgi - Preview

AOL Time Warner merger monopoly trust antitrust Internet business

  • Time Warner Inc. is dumping AOL after spending nearly a decade trying to build a new-age media empire only to wind up in a weaker position than when the marriage began.
  • The $147 billion deal in which AOL bought Time Warner in 2001 epitomized the mind-boggling wealth created during the dot-com boom and quickly became one of the worst corporate combinations in history. In 2002 and 2003, Time Warner absorbed nearly $100 billion in charges to account for the rapidly diminishing value of the combined company. Time Warner even dropped AOL from its corporate name.
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13 May 09

Fly on the wall: Undercover at Wal-Mart, the heartland superstore that may save the economy

  • Getting hired turned out to be a challenge. The personnel manager told me she had received more than 100 applications during that month alone, chasing just a handful of jobs. Thus the mystery deepened. If Wal-Mart was such an exploiter of the working poor, why were the working poor so eager to be exploited?
  • As we introduced ourselves, I discovered that more than half had already worked at other Wal-Marts. Having relocated to this area, they were eager for more of the same.
  • 3 more annotations...
16 Mar 09

The truth about credit default swaps

  • But one market that regulators were deeply concerned about when Bear hit the wall -- the one for unregulated over-the-counter derivatives called credit default swaps -- has defied fears of a meltdown.
03 Mar 09

Fannie and Freddie Likely to Stay in U.S. Hands

  • One reason that Fannie and Freddie will never return to their earlier forms is simple mathematics: to become independent, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must repay the taxpayer dollars invested in the companies, plus interest. Even if the firms achieve profitability, it could take them as long as 100 years — or longer — to pay back the government. And almost no one expects the companies to return to profitability anytime soon.

    Moreover, the takeover has provided legislators with a long-sought ability to influence the mortgage marketplace directly and pursue social goals like low-income housing.
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