If one listens to Congress and many other public voices debate high energy costs one would think that the oil and gas industry is evil. We’re pretty friendly towards oil companies at our house. I’ve worked for a major producer and sat on the other side of the table on the Alaska Royalty Oil and […]

I don’t know the answer to that question. However, the US Dept. of Transportation has published the average airfares for 100 airports based on one way fares. The study found fares have increased 4.0 percent. This is the purpose of the quarterly study, tracking the increase or decrease of airfares to calculate the Air Travel […]

Many of my younger friends are enthusiastic Hannah Montana fans. If she ever comes to Anchorage here are some tips on getting scarce tickets from the economists at Freakonomics.

Forbes.com article, "The Most and Least Profitable Businesses to Start," gives potential entrepreneurs some direction to profit potential. If you’re a parent and want prosperous kids to care for you in your old age here’s the direction to steer them.
The Most Profitable Businesses to Start:

Accounting Services-return a whopping 25% pretax margin
Legal Services,+21.6%
Dental Services,
Specialized Design […]

OK, I know there is no such thing as a free lunch but The Wall Street Journal has offered up something close to it. America’s best newspaper is now available online free.
Since 2000, we’ve operated in a dual world on the Web. The majority of our daily editorial offerings have remained behind a paid subscription […]

I’ve consistently tried to teach my kids to be grateful and not malcontents when it comes to how much they have and don’t have. Now I have a way to demonstrate more empirically how rich they are, The Global Rich List. This site takes your annual income and calculates where you fall on the global […]

Those who read my Thanksgiving post, “Plymouth: A Failed Commune,” will be interested in John Stossel’s latest article at Townhall.com where he responds to comments on the topic and discusses the often-used reason for government intervention, ‘The Tragedy of the Commons.’

Upon arrival in the New World the Pilgrims, complying with their contract with investors, promptly set up a common property arrangement for all to labor in and provide food and goods for the community. They nearly starved to death. Plan B was to assign each family its own plot to provide for their own needs. […]

John Stossel is the co-anchor of ABC’s Friday night magazine show 20/20. He’s a huge favorite at our house and now some of his work is available in a format for teaching upper elementary through high school.
Stossel in the Classroom provides materials for teaching economics including free DVD’s and teacher guides. I have the free […]

Are you teaching a high-schooler 20th century American History or, even better, economics? Check out Amity Shlaes’ The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression. As I’ve learned more about economics I wondered why this depression became Great. Why on earth did it last so long? Ms. Shlaes details the Hoover and Roosevelt […]