I’m activating the “Comments” for Life in Business in case anybody might be interested in responding. I can’t promise I’ll respond to all of the comments, but I’d like to hear feedback as to your thoughts and observations. Thanks for your support. Original writing date: June 27, 2007

I found Steven Chapman’s article interesting in that it took an updated look at the regulatory environment for anti-trust enforcement. It is ironic, for example, the Federal Trade Commission would even consider a merger between Whole Foods and Wild Oats to be anything other than a blip in the competitive landscape for organic and natural [...]

Gifting, to the extent that gifting is a part of someone’s persona, is relevant and meaningful to the beneficiaries only to the extent that it is unexpected and a surprise. If the gift is expected, or routine, or otherwise anticipated, it loses its meaning as a gift and transforms itself into an entitlement bereft of [...]

Putting “politics” aside, I am surprised by George Wills’ observation that $3.07 for a gallon of gas in 2007 is less than it was on an inflation adjusted level in 1981. I was even more surprised that our overall dependence on oil is less concentrated today than it was historically. Why does it feel different [...]

There is a theory, which is a variation on the strong anthropic principle, which would suggest that the physical laws of nature are such that it, in a sense, encodes life and intelligence in it’s DNA. It’s a form of cosmic DNA whereby the replication of the physical laws of nature, over a period of [...]

There is a ranking called the Index of Economic Freedom. This index, which was created by the Heritage Foundation, ranks nations based on numerous variables that indicate how intrusive government is in the economic system. The United States has been ranked as high as third in 1995 and was 12th in 2005. In 2007, the [...]

Stakeholder analysis involves three steps: first, identify all the stakeholder groups across all locations; second, gather data quickly from as many stockholder segments as time and resources permit; and third, consolidate the information and build a database of clear statements and preferred communication channels for each stockholder group. Original writing date: October 19, 2006

It’s easier to get people to try new behaviors than it is to alter their beliefs. If you can get them to try new behaviors, and you can reinforce those behaviors for some personal reward, they’ll repeat the behavior, regardless of what they believe. Pretty soon, beliefs gradually shift as the rewarded behavior shifts. Original [...]

And so, there we were cruising in the boat. Isabella was in between my legs facing the wind as we roared forward. I had my arms around her and she saw my left wrist with my watch. At 3-years old, she said: “I need a watch!” I said: “Of course you do, sweetie. As soon [...]

My economic bible isn’t Adam Smith. My economic bible is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I remember having read it six times primarily because I wanted to understand what a real value-to-value exchange is. Original writing date: April 18, 2006