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Inside Wisconsin
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Get insights on technology, the economy and politics through "Inside Wisconsin," a weekly column by Tom Still.
Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council and the Wisconsin Innovation Network. He is the former associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison. Still serves on the board of directors for the Wisconsin Security Research Consortium and “We the People/Wisconsin,’ the UW-Extension Board of Visitors, the UW-Madison College of Engineering Industrial Advisory Board, and the WiSys Technology Foundation Advisory Board, among other civic and business groups. He moderated the Wisconsin Economic Summits (2000-2003) and "Inside Wisconsin" appears regularly in 24 publications. He is a lecturer in the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Still is the co-author of “Hands-On Environmentalism,” published by Encounter Books, New York. |
"From west of the Mississippi, a tinge of envy over Wisconsin’s business climate"
July 1, 2009
For most of the last decade, Wisconsin has been told it should be more like Minnesota. In many ways, that’s true. Minnesota has more college graduates, more business start-ups, more venture capital and, not surprisingly, higher per capita income than its neighbor to the east. Of late, however, the drum beats from across the border have sounded a different note: Minnesota can learn a thing or two from Wisconsin. (Read this blog item from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.)
"What do we have to lose? Let’s lift Wisconsin’s nuclear moratorium"
June 22, 2009
The opponents of nuclear energy in the United States were almost giddy earlier this year when President Obama slashed the budget for a proposed waste storage site in Nevada. Surely, they thought, the inevitable demise of the Yucca Mountain project would end silly talk of splitting more atoms to produce power. They were wrong. While Obama is no fan of the Nevada waste site, and he’s certainly not foolish enough to battle Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his home state, he understands the need to maintain – and even expand – America’s fleet of commercial nuclear reactors.
“Sizing up the GM plant proposal: When does ‘big’ become ‘too big’?”
June 15, 2009
Wisconsin’s bid to persuade General Motors to put a new small-car manufacturing line in Janesville will be big. But how big is too big? It’s hard to calculate the full value of putting 1,500 people back to work in Janesville, where unemployment is hovering around 13 percent. However, a back-of-the-envelope estimate suggests 1,500 workers paid at an industry average (about $52,000 per year) would worth about $78 million per year in gross pay alone. That buys a lot of houses, groceries, electricity, health care, gasoline and all the other things that make a local economy click. But how much is a reopened and retooled GM plant worth to the taxpayers of Wisconsin?
“Milwaukee has the makings of a water industry cluster, but it can’t afford leaks”
June 1, 2009
Rich Meeusen, the energetic CEO of Badger Meter and a driving force behind Milwaukee’s efforts to become a global hub of water technology businesses, expected to be outnumbered at last week’s public hearing on a proposed lakefront site for UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.
“That’s OK,” Meeusen joked earlier in the day at a meeting of the Milwaukee 7 Water Council. “I’m accustomed to lousy odds.”
“Wisconsin’s challenge: Filling the job loss gap once the recession ends”
May 26, 2009
MADISON – Recessions come and go, but this economic downturn has left a mark in Wisconsin that will prove much harder to erase. Simply put, many of the jobs that have been lost won’t be coming back.
Past recessions were harsh, too, such as the prolonged economic dip that gripped the state in the early 1980s. But after the hard times passed...
“Amid economic gloom and doom, signs of biotech industry resiliency”
May 18, 2009
ATLANTA – There are no plans to hang crepe inside the Georgia World Congress Center, but the 2009 BIO International Convention will take place here this week against the backdrop of the toughest economic times ever witnessed by this still-young industry.
“A budget crisis that shouldn’t be wasted: Some ideas for change”
May 12, 2009
A veteran of past political wars in Wisconsin insists there are only two times to truly change state and local government: The first is when there’s a mounting state budget surplus, and the second is when there’s a huge deficit.
It’s safe to conclude...
“Wisconsin companies provide innovation in the fight against flu”
May 5, 2009
It’s a new twist on an age-old question: What came first, the chicken or the fertilized egg?
So far as flu vaccine production is concerned, the answer is definitely the egg. Millions of contaminant-free, fertilized eggs are needed each year to produce vaccines against predicted strains of influenza...
“Producing better-educated workers can help ease recessionary sting”
April 27, 2009
MADISON – This recession has spared no group of workers when it comes to losing jobs, with white-collar workers who seemed nearly immune to past economic downturns standing in unemployment lines with their blue-collar counterparts.
“New broadband technologies can connect even the most remote places”
April 27, 2009
MADISON – There are no shortage of isolated spots in Wisconsin, and Washington Island is high on the seclusion list. Located about seven miles off the tip of Door County, where the waters of Green Bay meet those of Lake Michigan, the 30-square-mile island is accessible by boat, car ferry and two grassy landing strips.
“GM plant closing may have Janesville down, but it’s far from out”
April 21, 2009
JANESVILLE – Visitors at Blackhawk Technical College’s main campus south of Janesville notice one thing almost immediately as they walk its hallways: All of the classrooms are packed with students.
Much like other Wisconsin Technical College System campuses during this recession, Blackhawk is enrolling a surge of students who have lost jobs...
“Lights! Camera! Inaction? State film tax credits stir debate”
April 16, 2009
MADISON – Mention Hollywood and politics in the same sentence and most people envision liberal screen stars lining up on Rodeo Drive to save a whale, rescue a polar bear or hug a Democrat.
That stereotype is flipped in Wisconsin these days, where a conservative Republican state senator has emerged as a leading defender of current state tax incentives for the film-making industry and the Democratic governor has cast himself as a major skeptic of doing business with Tinseltown.
“Civil cases represent major part of workload for state Supreme Court”
March 30, 2009
MADISON – Another race for Wisconsin Supreme Court and another round of ads, from candidates and special interests alike, that would have voters believe the April 7 general election is about being “tough on crime.”
Sure, criminal cases are among the 100 or so cases reviewed in a typical year by the state’s highest court, but that’s only on appeal...
“Entrepreneurism’s renewed appeal hasn’t bypassed Wisconsin”
March 22, 2009
MADISON – You know entrepreneurism is going upscale when the Wall Street Journal and The Economist are covering it.
The Wall Street Journal may have gone decades without writing about a company that wasn’t publically owned, and The Economist has long prided itself on being above the fray of mundane endeavors such as the mechanics of company formation. Yet both publications have produced some excellent journalism of late on the promises and perils of entrepreneurism.
“Focus on troubled major firms obscures fact that small business drives job creation”
March 22, 2009
MADISON – So, General Motors probably won’t rethink closing its aged assembly plant in Janesville and AIG executives were paid bonuses with taxpayer bailout money.
Was anyone surprised by either headline?
“In one ear and out the other: Are complaints about federal budget earmarks overblown?”
March 18, 2009
MADISON – If you believe what you hear on talk radio, federal budget “earmarks” are a shameful waste of public dollars, a prime reason why the budget deficit is soaring, and maybe even a cause for the imminent collapse of Western Civilization.
In hopes the court of public opinion has yet to reach a decision, here are a few myths and facts about earmarks – a term that describes specific federal spending items “marked” by individual members of Congress.
"Stem-cell research opposition can't be reduced to bumper sticker"
March 10, 2009
MADISON – It was no surprise that President Obama lifted the Bush-era restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research. He repeatedly promised to do so during last fall’s campaign. It is surprising that stem-cell research opponents are still struggling to find an argument that resonates with most Americans.
“In Big Pharma’s feeding frenzy, there’s opportunity (and danger) for state firms”
March 8, 2009
Editor's note: A day after this column was distributed, Merck announced it will purchase Schering-Plough for more than $41 billion.
MADISON – It’s unnoticed by most people outside the industry, but the world’s pharmaceutical companies have begun their own high-stakes version of a “March Madness” tournament. How these games are played can hold promise – and even a little danger – for Wisconsin’s emerging biotech and drug development firms.
“Ready, fire, aim: State stimulus bill offers mix of tax increases and incentives”
February 24, 2009
As the federal stimulus bill steamed down the track in Washington, a separate and (much) smaller state bill leapfrogged from formal introduction to passage by the Legislature to being signed by the governor – all inside a week.
“Federal stimulus bill, for all its flaws, plays to Wisconsin’s tech strengths”
February 17, 2009
Parts of the federal economic stimulus bill resemble a dog-eared Democratic Party wish list, rescued from a dusty “Great Society” desk drawer. But other portions of the $790-billion bill might actually accomplish what President Obama intended – which is to create jobs relatively quickly while laying a lasting foundation for business innovation and efficiency.
“During President’s Week, some lessons on bipartisanship from Mr. Lincoln”
February 15, 2009
Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s 16th president and a leader whose 200th birthday we celebrate this month, suffered from depression during much of his life. His public persona, however, was that of the eternal optimist; someone who could inspire others to see beyond national despair and encourage even those who reviled him to reconcile.
“Wisconsin’s academic R&D assets provide foundation for future growth”
February 3, 2009
MILWAUKEE – It’s more than 60 years old, attracts $17 million in research grants and contracts annually, and its scientists have found ways to reduce post-surgical bleeding, prevent fetal deaths, reduce the body’s rejection of transplants and provide safer blood transfusions.
“Recession got you down? Create your own company by writing a business plan”
January 26, 2009
MADISON – As the unemployment rate in Wisconsin ticks higher, some talented but out-of-work people are pondering the ultimate way to avoid the next layoff notice. It’s called entrepreneurism, which is a fancy word for starting a business venture and striking out on your own.
“Want to stimulate Wisconsin’s economy? More science, math and tech grads will help”
January 26, 2009
MADISON – One of the best economic stimulus plans for Wisconsin may have less to do with federal pump-priming than with building on proven ways to turn on today’s students to science, technology, engineering and math. Some first-rate educational programs are working in Wisconsin, but progress is far from universal and even the best schools can’t do it alone. It is important to align the needs and resources of private business with what schools can, and should, offer all students.
“Encouraging cooperation along the ‘I-Q Corridor’ will help the upper Midwest”
January 18, 2009
MADISON – There are many entertaining ways for diehard Wisconsinites to nurture a border rivalry with Minnesota: Packers versus Vikings, Badgers versus Gophers and our 14,000 lakes versus their 10,000 lakes. But missing a chance to cooperate on saving taxpayer dollars in hard times isn’t one of them.
“Use a broader definition of ‘shovel-ready’ in weighing economic stimulus”
January 18, 2009
MADISON – As Barack Obama takes office as the nation’s 44th president, he faces deep, immediate challenges in revitalizing an economy caught in recession. Jolting the economy back to life through stimulus measures that include “shovel-ready” projects financed in large part by federal borrowing is central to his plan.
“Newspapers in crisis: Why their future matters for our democracy”
January 3, 2009
By Tom Still
MADISON – It’s the ideal hand-held communications tool for the 21st century: It’s portable, carries easily segmented global, national and local news, is updated regularly by professionals dedicated to filtering and editing mounds of information, and requires no external power source other than natural or room lighting.
“Return of gas tax indexing preferable to neglect or ‘pass-through’ tax on oil companies”
January 3, 2009
By Tom Still
MADISON – People love well-kept roads, bridges, mass transit systems and bike paths to help them get around – but they’re usually much less enamored about paying for them. Until Wisconsin determines a better way to pay for those transportation necessities, the road ahead could prove much bumpier.
“Reasons for hope: Why Wisconsin’s tech industry is positioned to weather 2009”
December 30, 2008
MADISON – Economists are hanging black crepe on the New Year’s baby even before the tyke pushes the old guy out the door. And no wonder: From the financial industry to real estate to auto manufacturing, there’s plenty of grim news seeping into almost every sector.
“Holiday perks list includes state politics naughty and nice”
December 22, 2008
MADISON – A source close to the toy industry has once again leaked a copy of Santa’s perks list for Wisconsin politicians and newsmakers. Here’s what the good boys and girls in Madison and Washington will reportedly find in their stockings this Christmas week. But they better not pout and they better not cry if an alert district attorney asks why gifts were delivered down chimneys after midnight.
“For Milwaukee’s water cluster, the best product may be ‘bottled’ collaboration”
December 14, 2008
BROOKFIELD – Let no one accuse Rich Meeusen, the chief executive officer of Milwaukee’s Badger Meter, of being less than passionate when he talks about the future of the region’s cluster of water technology companies and researchers.
“Our vision is that, someday, when a young entrepreneur has an idea for a water technology company, all his relatives, friends and neighbors will say, ‘Go to Milwaukee… That’s where it’s happening,” Meeusen told a recent meeting of the Wisconsin Innovation Network in Brookfield.
“As the recession grips Wisconsin, business groups search for common ground”
December 9, 2008
MADISON – Barely a day passes without another discouraging headline about job losses somewhere in Wisconsin. While that’s little different from news in other states, the sense of urgency here may be elevated because Wisconsin’s pre-recession economy wasn’t all that enviable to begin with.
“Congressional resistance on automakers’ bail-out shows why Midwest must hang together.”
December 4, 2008
MADISON – Call me paranoid, parochial or both, but it’s hard for me to overcome the feeling that the bicoastal interests that dominate Capitol Hill are once again ganging up on the Midwest.
“As recession and falling oil prices curb fossil fuel use, will energy alternatives suffer?”
November 28, 2008
EPHRAIM – Our drive to Door County for a family Thanksgiving rendezvous was a reminder of just how far gasoline prices have fallen. What cost $4 or more per gallon this summer is now well under $2 per gallon, a result of the global recession and price-driven incentives for consumers to conserve.
Will it last? Perhaps for the short term, but not for the long haul. Most people will get lax about conserving, whether it is gasoline, electricity or natural gas, as the sting of record prices fades in their memories. The economic recession will pass, too, in time, and stagnant energy consumption will rise worldwide – particularly in the developing world.
“Why stem cell companies in Wisconsin and beyond will finally catch the eye of investors”
November 25, 2008
MADISON – It didn’t capture banner headlines, but a news story that broke in mid-November suggests why private equity investors may finally be paying attention to companies working with human stems cells. The Lancet, a leading medical journal, reported that doctors in Europe have given a 30-year-old woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells...
“Entrepreneurs live on the edge – and our economy is the better for it”
November 18, 2008
Celebrating the engrained insanity of entrepreneurship has finally come into vogue. It’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, a time to shine a light on how entrepreneurs create value, jobs and wealth from ideas, hard work and calculated risk. To learn more about Global Entreprenership Week, visit http://unleashingideas.org or http://www.ocr.wisc.edu/
“Part crisis, part opportunity: Budget deficit defines Wisconsin’s urgent need to grow”
November 14, 2008
MADISON – Gov. Jim Doyle hasn’t been sugar-coating the bitter fiscal pill that state government is destined to swallow. With sales tax revenues sliding, he’s predicting a state budget deficit of roughly $5 billion for the next two-year cycle and warning that many – if not most – state programs will be crimped.
“A few things not to be missed about the 2008 presidential campaign”
November 4, 2008
MADISON – Things I hope to have heard or seen the last of, but probably haven’t, now that the 2008 campaign for president is over.
· Right-wing broadcasters who forget what they said only a few months ago. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and friends savaged Democrat Hillary Clinton during the primary season and pretty much overlooked Barack Obama until momentum turned into mania. Similarly, they blasted John McCain throughout the early primary season for not being a true conservative, effectively turning him into leftover meatloaf in the minds of the GOP’s faithful...
“Launch of U-Verse in Wisconsin is sign of continuing telecom innovation”
October 30, 2008
MADISON – Imagine a multi-media service that enters your home through an existing telephone line to perform these techno-tricks:
• Provide digital television programming for hundreds of channels, including many high-definition channels.
...
“Wisconsin sportsman Hanson leaves conservation legacy”
October 28, 2008
MADISON – Very few people have the luxury of choosing where they die, but Martin Hanson may well have been one of them. Hanson, 81, was found dead last week outside his log cabin in the Chequamegon National Forest in northwest Wisconsin. The key word is “outside.” Hanson, who loved the outdoors like an adopted child, had been ailing and apparently fell while walking the grounds he treasured. Because his cabin lies about 10 miles from Mellen, the nearest town of any size, the chances of a visitor finding Hanson before it was too late were slim.
“While not immune to market busts, angel and venture capital should weather the financial crisis”
October 20, 2008
MADISON – The shock waves emanating from the meltdown of the global financial industry are being felt in sectors large and small, but angel and venture capital may stand up to the crushing economic currents better than most.
Wisconsin poised to be personalized medicine leader
October 13, 2008
MARSHFIELD – At last week’s launch of the Wisconsin Genomics Initiative, U.S. Rep. David Obey, the veteran Democrat from Wausau, told a story that illustrated the Marshfield Clinic’s historic penchant for keeping medical records. At one point as a young adult, Obey recalled, he showed up to the clinic for treatment and was asked if he had been a patient there before. “Gee, I think so but I’m not sure,” Obey replied. The doctor promptly found a record of Obey being treated there as a 2-year-old in 1940.
“By combining resources, Wisconsin is poised to be a world leader in personalized health care”
October 13, 2008
MARSHFIELD – At last week’s launch of the Wisconsin Genomics Initiative, U.S. Rep. David Obey, the veteran Democrat from Wausau, told a story that illustrated the Marshfield Clinic’s historic penchant for keeping medical records. At one point as a young adult, Obey recalled, he showed up to the clinic for treatment and was asked if he had been a patient there before. “Gee, I think so but I’m not sure,” Obey replied. The doctor promptly found a record of Obey being treated there as a 2-year-old in 1940.
“The clock is ticking faster for human embryonic stem cell research.”
October 7, 2008
MADISON – One of the speakers at last month’s World Stem Cell Summit in Madison wasn’t a scientist, a patient advocate or a university administrator. She was an investor – an encouraging sign that human embryonic stem-cell research has entered a new and transformative phase.
Linda Powers of Toucan Capital, a Maryland-based investment firm, is like other venture capitalists in at least one major way – she invests to make money. But Powers is different from most other venture capitalists in at least one respect – she thinks she can make money by investing in stem cell companies.
“Reversing the brain drain: How can Wisconsin attract and retain more college grads?”
October 7, 2008
MADISON – At next week’s Badger Career Expo in Minneapolis, several hundred University of Wisconsin alumni in the Twin Cities area will talk with Wisconsin-based companies bent on luring them home. Meanwhile, University Research Park in Madison has launched a campaign to persuade UW grads in the science and technology worlds to expand, relocate or start a new company in the state’s signature high-tech business park. These are two examples of creative efforts to reverse what is often called “the brain drain,” a phrase that describes the net loss of college-educated young people in Wisconsin to other states. It’s a trend Wisconsin must reverse if it hopes to build a stronger economy.
“Let’s hear more from the presidential candidates on the innovation economy”
September 29, 2008
MADISON – It happened so fast during Friday night’s presidential debate that you probably missed it: Democrat Barack Obama said it would be a good idea to invest more in federal science and technology programs.
That was the end of the discussion. Because it was imbedded in Obama’s answer to another question, Republican John McCain never got around to explaining how he feels about federal investment in research and development. (Well, he did mock a $3-million study of DNA diversity among bears in Montana, apparently without knowing farmers, ranchers and Montana Republicans sought the earmarked study to help prove plentiful bears don’t belong on the endangered species list. But that’s another story…)
“Breaking the addiction to coal: Has Wisconsin missed its chance?”
September 29, 2008
MADISON – If the $1.2-billion coal-fired power plant proposed by Alliant Energy for the Mississippi River city of Cassville had been first in line for review by the state Public Service Commission, it might have been an easier regulatory ride. After all, this proposal has a lot going for it – not the least of which is the potential to mix huge amounts of locally produced biomass with coal.
“In Washington, financial markets crisis uncovers a forgotten principle – bipartisanship”
September 25, 2008
WASHINGTON – If the future of the nation’s financial system rested on the opinions of people calling into congressional offices here, the credit markets would be thrown under the bus. Fortunately, the biggest rescue of American capitalism since the Depression won’t be decided by a telephone poll.
It will be decided in a reassuring if somewhat unexpected way: By members of Congress and key White House advisers who are actually working together to resolve a crisis of confidence. With the presidential election less than seven weeks away, this relentlessly political town has taken a brief but necessary holiday from partisan bickering. The question on the streets is not whether the $700-billion rescue plan will be passed, but how soon, and with what safeguards.
“On Wisconsin’s campaign trail, there are some caribou-sized topics worth hunting”
September 16, 2008
MADISON – The presidential campaign is apparently turning on issues such as the meaning of the phrase “lipstick on a pig,” so there’s ample room in Wisconsin’s statewide elections for a discussion about real problems facing the state’s economy, its schools and its workers. That’s not as riveting, perhaps, as a daily dose of news about Gov. Sarah Palin, but it might actually affect your lives.
With control of the state Legislature hanging in the balance Nov. 4, and Gov. Jim Doyle mapping out his ideas for the 2009-2011 state budget, here are a few ideas that should take center stage:
“Wisconsin’s private funding of stem cell research bucks coastal models”
September 9, 2008
MADISON – At this month’s World Stem Cell Summit in Madison, several nations and even a few states will boast they’re relying on public dollars to propel their cutting-edge research in human embryonic stem cells.
Wisconsin won’t be among them. Beyond the federal dollars allocated for basic research on approved stem cell lines, Wisconsin spends remarkably few tax dollars on breakthrough science that has won its researchers worldwide acclaim.
“Kikkoman R&D lab symbolizes ties between agriculture, technology and trade”
September 9, 2008
MADISON – After 35 years of producing soy sauce and related products in Wisconsin, perhaps it was no surprise that Kikkoman Corp. would choose Madison’s University Research Park as the site for its new research and development lab.
No surprise, that is, until you think about the range of global choices available to Kikkoman.
“World Stem Cell Summit will reveal depth of Wisconsin’s R&D effort”
August 25, 2008
MADISON – You need not hold a Ph.D. in microbiology or a subscription to “Nature” to have heard of Dr. James Thomson. He’s the “father” of human embryonic stem cell research, internationally acclaimed for his work and arguably Wisconsin’s most famous living scientist.
But have you heard of Clive Svendsen, Timothy Kamp, Ian Duncan, Jon Odorico, Gabriella Cezar or Alta Charo?
“Building tomorrow’s workforce is vital to Wisconsin’s economic success”
August 18, 2008
MADISON – Wisconsin is a state with an aging population, a below-average percentage of adults with four-year college degrees and wages that are below the per capita U.S. average. How can the state build and retain the workforce its needs to prosper in the 21st century economy?
“Investment Board reinforces confidence in Wisconsin’s venture capital future”
August 18, 2008
MADISON – If nothing else, give the State of Wisconsin Investment Board credit for good timing.
The $87-billion pension fund, one of the nation’s largest, announced Monday it will invest $25 million in a venture capital fund managed by Baird Venture Partners and another $15 million in a fund to be co-invested, on a deal-by-deal basis, with Milwaukee-born Baird and other venture capital firms that have dealt with SWIB since 2000.
“Building a tech-based economy in rural Wisconsin: Finding common strategies”
August 4, 2008
MADISON – It’s hard enough for a medium-sized city such as Madison or a recovering “Rust Belt” icon such as Milwaukee to grow and maintain a tech-based economy, so imagine what it’s like in parts of Wisconsin where the closest thing to a biotech company is an ethanol plant.
“Wisconsin has made progress in attracting investments, but much work remains”
July 28, 2008
MADISON – In the August edition of “Inc.,” anchored by a photograph of Wisconsin entrepreneur Beth Donley, is a story on programs in Wisconsin and a few other states to connect investors to promising start-up companies.
Two weeks before the Inc. story hit, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board issued its first-ever white paper on Wisconsin’s private equity landscape and concluded the state “is closer than ever to forming the critical mass necessary” to grow its venture capital culture.
“The Wisconsin Water Way: Building cooperation around a vital resource”
July 22, 2008
MADISON – A generation ago, then-Gov. Lee Dreyfus predicted clean water would become a global commodity – and even suggested Wisconsin could become the “blue-eyed Arabs” of the world’s emerging scramble for fresh water. While it’s a far cry from an aqueous OPEC, Wisconsin’s assets as a basin of clean water and the technology to manage it are gaining national and even international attention. The potential for state economic growth is enormous – provided that regional water resources and expertise are promoted in a way that reflects well on all of Wisconsin. Two current events help to frame the opportunity and the challenge.
“On the horizon, but not tomorrow, next-generation biofuels offer alternatives”
July 7, 2008
MADISON – At last month’s international biotech convention in San Diego, one of the seminars focused on the work underway at three U.S. Department of Energy laboratories – including the lab in Madison that will be funded with $135-million over five years. With good reason, a description of the seminar included cautionary phrases such as “overcoming cost barriers” and “formidable scientific and technological challenges.”
“The psychology of recession: Can we get our economic ‘mojo’ back?”
July 6, 2008
MADISON – A leading national magazine speculated the public mood might be a greater danger to the economy than black-and-white statistics. If too many consumers postpone purchases out of worry, the magazine story theorized, the drop in sales might turn a slowdown into a full-blown recession.
“Psychology,” said Dr. Arthur A. Smith of First National Bank in Dallas, “is the joker in the economy’s deck of cards.”
Counting my blessings: Reasons to be thankful on Thanksgiving
November 20, 2006
MADISON – Thanksgiving Day is becoming lost in the shuffle. The stores are already decked out for Christmas and the Pilgrims have been downgraded to interloping squatters, if they’re mentioned at all. Heck, even Halloween gets more respect these days than Thanksgiving.
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