Wisconsin economic development’s new boss same as the old boss

By   /  January 30, 2013  /  Accountability, Business, Capitalism, economic development, Economy, Governor, WatchBlog, Wisconsin WatchBlog  /  1 Comment

Reed Hall, a former health care executive and interim leader of the embattled Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., was named WEDC's CEO Tuesday.

By Ryan Ekvall | Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON – Reed Hall, interim CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, apparently performed so well in his four months at WEDC that Gov. Scott Walker decided to remove the word “interim” from Hall’s title.
Walker led a few-city tour Tuesday, introducing Hall in an anticlimactic finish to a nationwide, taxpayer-funded [...]

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WI: Fed dissension – Will aggressive monetary policy hurt recovering economy?

By   /  January 14, 2013  /  Capitalism, Economy, Federal Government, Federal Reserve, Finances, Free Market, News, Wisconsin  /  No Comments

James Bullard, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

By Ryan Ekvall | Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON – Presidents of several regional Federal Reserve Banks have predicted improved economic growth in the United States over the next couple of years.
But there’s some dissension in the ranks, with at least one Fed president offering a different take on the Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary policy and the impact [...]

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WI: Competing with prison wages?

By   /  January 14, 2013  /  Capitalism, Corrections, Economy, Featured, Federal Government, News, public sector, Regulatory Reform, Wisconsin  /  1 Comment

Wisconsin's Badger State Industries manufactures prisoner-made goods. In a tough economy, is prison labor unfairly competing against the private sector?

MADISON – Fiscal year 2012 was another tough year for the convict economy, with the recession’s grip continuing to squeeze prison workers.

But while the wages and vacation plan may be nothing to speak of, the workforce can pretty much count on a job with health care provided.

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Expert says Wisconsin can expect slow growth, no matter the job pledges

By   /  January 9, 2013  /  Business, Capitalism, economic development, Economy, Featured, News, State Government, Taxes, Wisconsin  /  No Comments

Wisconsin faces some tough challenges to economic recovery, according to a Moody's Analytic's economic expert.

By Ryan Ekvall | Wisconsin Reporter
MADISON – Jay-Z doesn’t hang with Scott Walker.
Mr. Z — rapper-record producer-Beyonce’s husband — is an Obama guy.
But if he had a rap for Wisconsin’s governor, it might go something like this:
“If you’re having campaign pledge problems, I feel bad for you, Gov. You said 250,000 jobs, but promises ain’t enough.”
But perhaps [...]

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Bar fight imminent as mom-and-pops battle big chains over booze

By   /  January 4, 2013  /  Capitalism, Featured, Free Market, Kansas, News  /  1 Comment

BOOZE WAR: Mom-and-pop liquor store owners who've dominated Kansas distribution since the state repealed prohibition inspired by Carrie Nation in 1881, now worry Big Retail will force them out.

Kansas, where legendary Emporia newspaper editor William Allen White once said voters “staggered to the polls every two years and voted dry,” is headed for another legislative bar fight.

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