Business and Society

August 16, 2005

Fa(s)t food

There’s yet more evidence that supports my claim, “Besieged by the media and public opinion, quick-service restaurants have got the reputation for being unhealthy. But the truth of the matter is more complex. Continue Reading...

August 15, 2005

Space tourism

In an interview with The Space Review Richard Garriott, vice-chairman of Space Adventures discusses the possibilities of space tourism and the potential market in the United States. Garriott describes Space Adventures as currently an [travel] agent, and we have millions of dollars in cash paid reservations for sub orbital flights. Continue Reading...

August 11, 2005

Mmmm….Bacon….

In John Stossel’s article yesterday, he recounts a story that illustrates the dangers of artificial wage controls. (Davis Bacon is a federal law that requires construction workers be paid an amount determined by a bureaucratic formula instead of wages determined by market forces.) Continue Reading...

August 11, 2005

More Palmeiro questions

Two not-so-obviously related news items from today’s Marketplace midday update: #1) Pharmaceutical company Pfizer says it’ll change the way it markets drugs to people. The company announced this morning it will educate doctors for at least 6 months about new medicines before running television or print ads. Continue Reading...

August 10, 2005

“They Picked on the Wrong Armenian!” Part II

In a recent post, Jordan Ballor highlighted the efforts of Mr. Armen Yousoufian, who has been seeking public disclosure of records relating to the financing of the new stadium built recently for the Seattle Seahawks largely at taxpayer expense. Continue Reading...

August 08, 2005

Faith and judging

In the weeks that have passed since the announcement of the nomination of John Roberts to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, an old debate has moved into the forefront once again: can a person with deeply held religious beliefs (in Judge Roberts’ case, a devout Catholic) hold a high political or judicial office and still abide by the Constitution? Continue Reading...

August 05, 2005

Is anyone listening?

In a column in today’s Washington Times, Arnaud de Borchgrave looks at the growing gap between executive compensation and the pay of just about everyone else. He quotes a Wall Street Journal study showing that in 2004 the median salary and bonus for CEOs soared 14.5 percent, while paychecks for salaried employees averaged a 3.4 percent increase. Continue Reading...

August 05, 2005

‘They picked on the wrong Armenian!’

Check out this Seattle Weekly article, detailing the experience of Armen Yousoufian, who sought public disclosure of records in 1997 relating to “the proposed new Seahawks stadium, now called Qwest Field, which was built largely with public money.” Continue Reading...

August 03, 2005

Voluntary association and union politics

In light of the recent exodus from the AFL-CIO, Dr. Charles W. Baird examines the nature of labor unions through the lens of Catholic social teaching. “Catholic social teaching has supported labor unions as part of a general defense of freedom of association,” he writes. Continue Reading...

August 03, 2005

Oil prices: Up, up, and away

Crude oil prices have reach a record high $62 per barrel. Combined with Time Warner’s worse-than-expected recent earnings stocks dropped today as investors waited uneasily for the government’s latest petroleum inventory report. Continue Reading...