Based on a Florida law, a bill in the Colorado Legislature seeks to turn upside down an important aspect of Colorado’s civil justice law concerning product liability. Should the bill become law, Colorado’s business climate and economic development efforts would…
There have been a great many articles written about Colorado’s House Bill 1046, and most have been against it. This one is too, but for a different reason. In case you don’t know, HB 1046, sponsored by Republican Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, attempts to require those seeking public assistance to pass a...
I do not think much of those economic forecasters whose only message is, and nearly always has been, that U.S. economic and global collapse is just around the corner. They do sell a lot of books and high-priced newsletters…after all,…
What a rally! The equity markets, and most risk markets, have advanced sharply from the lows of autumn 2011. The market closed on Feb. 17 at 1,261.23, up more than 20 percent from the lows witnessed last October. We had…
There’s been a lot of talk lately about class warfare, usually involving taxes and the rich. It’s a discussion worth having, but we’re starting on the wrong square. The debate should begin with the Winners and the Losers - and who is which. (Nod to Kurt Vonnegut.) Forget America for a second, and...
Richard Betts has witnessed the strain of the health-care crisis from all sides. As CEO of an 18-employee company, Betts knows the struggle of insuring workers amid ever-increasing premium hikes. And with 6,000 clients across the state using his accounting…
Letting your lunch partners pick the restaurant usually means little more than trusting them to pick a place with great food. So when Roxane White — Gov. John Hickenlooper’s chief of staff — chose the original Snooze in Denver’s Ballpark…
The Denver Rescue Mission, which calls itself the oldest full-service Christian charity in the Rocky Mountain region, provides food, shelter and medical care. The nonprofit, known for its "Jesus Saves" sign outside the Lawrence Street shelter, also helps return people…
I spent the month of January ruthlessly cleaning out 35 years worth of files. Economists are notorious packrats, and I’m no exception. Among other things, I found a file of speeches going back to 1989. (I’ve been making speeches on…
Five percent or more of the oil consumed in Colorado comes from a sticky, black substance called bitumen, which is mined 1,600 miles to the north in a forested, boggy region of the Canadian province of Alberta. The locals in Fort McMurray, the center of the mining operations, and at corporate head...
Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, denied developer Aaron Million a permit to pipe water from Wyoming's Flaming Gorge reservoir to Colorado's Front-Range. Million and Frank Jaeger, Parker's respected water official and South Metro Water Supply Authority board member, are...
The common wisdom is that we have lost our ability to “make things” in this country, lost it to China, Mexico and others. Our nation is now a place where we simply trade information with each other and serve each…
After three years of essentially lousy employment reports, the January 2012 report was simply better. Job growth exceeded expectations, it occurred in almost every employment classification, hours worked in various sectors rose and the unemployment rate ticked down for the fifth…
