New from the Business & Media Institute
Pension Promises: The Death of the American Dream?
More companies are realizing that guaranteed pension benefits arent as
guaranteed as they once thought. As workers live longer, programs are
strained and more businesses are moving toward employee contributions and
away from company-funded plans. The medias conclusion? Well all have to
work at Wal-Mart in our old age, as loyal workers have their pensions
yanked from them by big business.
Herman Cain: Own Your Own Retirement
Despite media skepticism, American workers are capable of
handling their own retirements. They just need the tools available to save
and to take their savings with them from job to job. The decline of the
traditional pension only makes this need more evident. The problem is the
same whether its Social Security or IBMs pension fund you cant rely
on someone else to take care of your future. The good news is, were up to
the challenge.
Media Portray Drug Plan as Boondoggle
The media are correct that senior citizens are getting lost in the new
trillion-dollar Medicare drug plan. If theyd listened to free-market
voices earlier, they might have seen this coming.
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly tracks the best and worst media coverage of
business and economics. Readers are invited to submit suggestions or news
tips to staff writer
Ken Shepherd.
This week: NY Times on how realtors lock the doors of
competition from banks and online brokers; Dobbs sees Red over Chinese
cars in American showrooms; Reporters jump to conclusions on frog
extinction from single study.
Also from BMI:
AP Reporter Hypes Wholesale Inflation
Media Downplay Ideology of Wal-Mart Foes
Media Jump on Study Showing Frogs Dying off from Climate Change
Research, News & Commentary
Pensions
Commentary: TechCentralStation.coms Jim Glassman proclaims Good Riddance to Traditional Pensions in a Jan. 13 commentary celebrating the decision by International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) to replace its pension program with a 401(k). IBMs decision offers a good model for reforming Social Security The U.S. government will have a sounder fiscal future when, like IBM, it stops treating adult American workers like children, argues Glassman.
Wal-Mart
Analysis: Writing on efforts to block Wal-Mart from establishing an industrial loan corporation (ILC) in Utah for the benefit of customers and employees, AEIs Peter Wallison finds that the case against it doesnt hold water.
Commentary: Heritages Policy Blog issues some devastating predictions about the impact of a new Maryland law that requires Wal-Mart to pay 8 percent of payroll expenses in health care.
Taxes
Commentary: Andrew Chamberlain of the Tax Foundation explains why tax simplification is so elusive: simplicity has no political constituency. Given the choice between a concrete targeted tax credit vs. the abstract benefits of simplicity, taxpayers will prefer credits every time.
Eminent Domain
News: Heritages Policy Blog tracks developments in the application of the Kelo precedent on eminent domain in an Ohio court, as well as state laws passed in Alabama, Delaware, and Texas to strengthen the rights of property owners.
Economy
Analysis: Heritages 2006 Index of Economic Freedom is out. As in golf, low scores are more desirable. Hong Kong, Ireland, Britain, the United States, Estonia, Canada, and Switzerland were among the countries sinking holes-in-one while Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela mired their citizens in the sand trap.
Commentary: Comparing the strong U.S. economy to a picnic,Business & Media Institute National Chairman Herman Cain finds the media are focusing on a few pesky flies trying to spoil the potato salad not the sunny economic outlook.
