Business

Remembering Nixon’s Wage and Price Controls

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Remember “TARP,” “Too Big to Fail,” “Government Motors,” “pay czar,” the buzzwords of the Bush‐​Obama era? They reflected a disturbing trend toward presidential interference in economic life. Forty years ago this week, President Richard Nixon showed us just how dangerous unchecked executive power can be to the free‐​enterprise system. On Aug. 15, 1971, in a … Read more

4 Factors Affecting US Gas Prices

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4) 14% – Distribution and marketingFilling stations make 5-7 cents/gallonMake money on food 3) 14% – RefineriesFairly StableNo large scale refineries built since 1977 2) 16% – Federal and State Taxs and feesFederal gas tax no raise since 199318.4 cents/gallonGermany – $2.80 per gallon 1) 56% – Global price of oilImport about 1/2 the oil … Read more

Starbucks workers in Oviedo vote to unionize — the first Orlando-area store to do so

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On Thursday, Starbucks workers in Orlando voted 24 to 6 to unionize with Starbucks Workers United, joining at least four other Starbucks locations in Florida — and over 135 Starbucks stores in 28 states — that have voted #UnionYes.

Even on a Zoom call, the tension was palpable. But there was excitement, too. Early afternoon on Thursday, over Zoom, a staff member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) counted each vote that had been mailed in by Starbucks workers at the Mitchell Hammock & City Plaza location in Oviedo, Florida over the last month.

One by one.
Anticipation. Nerves.
Then, the final tally.
24 — Yes, for the union.
6 — No.
Zero void ballots. An easy majority.

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Florida’s median home price soars to $410,000

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The median home price in Florida hit $410,000 in April, according to a report from the Florida Realtors trade group, further eroding the options for working-class residents to find housing. All of Florida’s 22 metropolitan statistical areas experienced an increase in home prices over the past year, most in double digits, with prices continuing to … Read more

Growing crisis of housing affordability

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When the government released March inflation data, it showed that prices increased by 8.5% from a year ago,the fastest pace since December 1981. Gas (+48.8%),food (+8.8%) and used cars (+35.3%) showed eye-popping advances, but another line item is also worrisome: shelter, which increased by 5% annually.

That may not seem so bad when compared to those other categories, but shelter accounted for nearly two-thirds of the monthly increase in the Core CPI, which removes the volatile food and energy figures.

The U.S. has a burgeoning housing affordability crisis, and it’s likely to persist longer than high prices in grocery stores and at gas pumps.

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Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech

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This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

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