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Tag: opinion
Business
More reasons not to build toll roads
As a follow up to my earlier post on the Texas SH 130 toll road, I wanted to elaborate on another reason why I think toll roads are a bad idea: elitism. Tolls for me, free for thee Most of the sophisticated toll systems today photograph your license plate or read an RFID transponder in […]
January 19, 2015
Business
Swift change in Ferguson a lesson in leadership: America needs more Andy Griffiths, fewer Jack Bauers
If you blinked you missed it, but yesterday Missouri Governor Jay Nixon gave the country one of the finest examples of leadership we have seen in a long time. If you run a business or any large organization where conflict occurs, it was a valuable learning moment. Nixon traveled to Ferguson, Missouri and put an […]
August 15, 2014
Workforce
Documentary “Tim’s Vermeer” shows how valuable the intersection of the arts and technology is to a nation re-learning how to make things
If you are any kind of craftsman, if you’ve ever had to build your own tools, jigs or fixtures to solve a problem, you’ll get a kick out of the recently released DVD documentary Tim’s Vermeer. It’s a clever technological mystery story that illustrates the oft-ignored relationship between art and technology. Tim Jenison, the subject […]
June 24, 2014
Roadbuilding
Texas has edge over California for high-speed rail
For the last few years, I’ve been critical of California’s attempts to link Los Angeles to San Francisco with a high-speed rail line. Related: California’s high-speed rail could fail to meet required trip time It’s not that I’m reflexively against passenger rail. It’s just that California is such a political zoo, I don’t think they […]
April 7, 2014
Business
UAW defeat in Chattanooga ought to be a wake up call for unions: This ain’t Germany
Last week when factory workers at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, facility voted against forming a union, the headlines characterized it as a “devastating” loss for the United Auto Workers. The vote was fairly close, 712 to 626. If it were a football game this would be more like a score of 21 to 18. Hardly devastating. […]
February 20, 2014
Business
The RINOs charge: Republicans’ return to the middle signals hope for infrastructure funding
With Chris Christie easily winning his second term as governor of New Jersey and Bradley Byrne winning his first election to the House of Representatives from Alabama’s District 1 yesterday, pundits on the left are hailing the resurgence of what they see as moderate republicans. If this is the beginning of a trend, it may […]
November 6, 2013
Business
Government priorities and lack of infrastructure spending are hurting the American economy
Ever since the statistical end of the Great Recession an argument has raged about deficit spending by the federal government. Belt-tightening types (usually Republicans) want to rein in spending because they think government deficits hurt the economy. Their opponents (usually Democrats) say the government needs to spend more to stimulate the economy. Who is right? […]
September 25, 2013
Business
Will recruiting Millennials to the construction and manufacturing industries prove impossible?
Last week we told you about a survey by Associated General Contractors of America in which 74 percent of contractors across the U.S. reported having trouble finding skilled workers. The problem, well-known at this point, is that during the recession many of the most skilled operators and craftsmen in this industry either left for more […]
September 12, 2013
Business
Opinion: If Obama wants job growth, he should start by asking the EPA to calculate how many jobs they’ve destroyed
The president spent an hour last week giving a speech detailing yet another jobs program. During the last election cycle we were promised a new era of green jobs facilitated by the hand of government. Now it’s “infrastructure,” he says. That’s where the jobs are! Obama’s been talking about infrastructure for six years now and […]
July 31, 2013
Equipment
Fossil-fueled vehicles better for environment than electric?
Over the 4th of July weekend—while you were busy polluting the air with your holiday grilling—you might have missed this well-documented piece on the environmental effects of the electric car, called “Unclean at any speed.” It does a good job of eviscerating what is now a lie so commonly told that most people believe it: […]
July 22, 2013
Equipment
Opinion: Why I write about Global Warming on a construction equipment site
A reader from Europe recently asked why I spend a lot of time blogging about global warming and other such environmental topics, as this is a website primarily dedicated to heavy equipment and construction. Since his was a reasonable and well written letter, I did not immediately trash it as one has to with most […]
July 17, 2013
Equipment
Obama budget slashes funding for DERA’s emissions reduction program
Let’s see…Solyndra gets $535 million in government cheese, goes belly up without ever producing a single product or service.  Al Gore-connected Fiskars gets half a billion government  dollars to build $97,000 electric cars in Finland, only 40 of which are being produced. Only movie stars can afford these, and even the New York Times says […]
April 12, 2013
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