Chris Banescu

Don’t Tax You. Don’t Tax Me. Tax That Guy Behind the Tree!

American Thinker | by Thomas Sowell | Jan. 8, 2010

Politicians like Barack Obama try to make you believe that someone else will pay the tax he wants to impose. For example, President Obama said he will increase taxes only for those making more than $250,000 per year. Other politicians, at other times, have told us that we will tax corporations rather than individuals, or tax some other out-of-favor group or product (sin tax) rather than the majority of individuals or the general sales tax.

The problem is that in reality, the guy behind the tree is the vast majority of us…yes, the same people who were promised that they would not pay the proposed tax increase. This is quite easy to see in some examples. [Read more…]

Streamlining Innovation

Forbes | by Sramana Mitra | Dec. 11, 2009

America is in dire need of some breakthrough innovation that can crack open significant new horizons. Yet, every year, numerous corporate and academic labs spend millions working on projects that have no commercial future, no application, no real justification for their existence. At best, they represent the tinkering of a technologist with some cool ideas.

Against that backdrop, I recently spoke with Prith Banerjee, head of HP Labs, on Hewlett-Packard’s strategy to streamline innovation and make it relevant to real world problems. Banerjee, to set the stage, also has experience founding two electronics start-ups, and brings a good understanding of the entrepreneurship and venture capital worlds. [Read more…]

Jobs or Snow Jobs?

American Thinker | by Thomas Sowell | Dec. 8, 2009

President Obama keeps talking about the jobs his administration is “creating” but there are more people unemployed now than before he took office. How can there be more unemployment after so many jobs have been “created”?

Let’s go back to square one. What does it take to create a job? It takes wealth to pay someone who is hired, not to mention additional wealth to buy the material that person will use.

But government creates no wealth. Ignoring that plain and simple fact enables politicians to claim to be able to do all sorts of miraculous things that they cannot do in fact. Without creating wealth, how can they create jobs? By taking wealth from others, whether by taxation, selling bonds or imposing mandates. [Read more…]

Focus Is The New Key To Work-Life Balance

Focus required for success and self-improvementForbes | by Joan Gurvis | Nov. 25, 2009

If having a balanced life was elusive in the fast-paced good times, it can seem impossible in the fast-paced tough times.

The pressures on leaders are huge. Distractions are everywhere. As work demands grow, our inclination is to continue to try to do more things more quickly, to fit everything in. We push ourselves, our co-workers and our employees to keep up the intense pace, but in so doing, we leave ourselves without adequate time to stop, reflect and focus. [Read more…]

Entrepreneurs Go on Strike

American Thinker | by C. Edmund Wright | Nov. 20, 2009

Can Barney Frank dunk on Lebron? No, he cannot. Nor can anyone else in Washington. Nor can they catch passes from Ben Rothlisberger in the Super Bowl or strike out Derek Jeter in the World Series. They are not equipped to do so. So what?

This ridiculous image speaks to the business malaise infecting the economy since Obama took office. The point is that politicians are equally ill-equipped to run the auto industry or the health industry or the lending industry or the insurance industry — and their determination to do so is sucking all the dynamism from the entrepreneurial class in this country. [Read more…]

The Financial Crisis: What We (Still) Haven’t Learned

Acton Institute | by Samuel Gregg | Nov. 18, 2009

It’s over a year now since the 2008 financial crisis spread havoc throughout the global economy. Dozens of books and articles have appeared to explain what went wrong. They identify culprits ranging from Wall Street financiers overleveraging assets, to ACORN lobbying policy-makers to lower mortgage standards, to politicians closely connected to government-sponsored enterprises such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae failing to exercise oversight of those agencies.

As time passes, armies of doctoral students will explore every nook and cranny of the 2008 meltdown. But if most governments’ policy responses to the crisis are any guide, it’s apparent that many lessons from the financial crisis are being ignored or escaping most policy-makers’ attention. Here are five of them. [Read more…]

Knowing When to Fold ‘Em

Web Worker Daily | by Amber Riviere | Nov. 17, 2009

Our impulse is usually to try to do everything. Opportunities present themselves, and we think, “If I turn this away, I may not get another shot. What if there’s nothing else coming down the pike?”

Early on in our careers, especially, it’s tempting to want to take on every job, collaborate with every potential strategic alliance, and never turn down anyone for anything. Sometimes, though, the best option is in the not doing.

But, how do you know when is a good time to hold and when is a good time to fold? Here are a few clues. [Read more…]