What do Pop-Tarts have to do with economic policy? Everything. It is Presidential election season, and 2024 is the year of so-called populist policy suggestions, which are popular among people who know as much about economics as our Pop-Tart loving children knew about nutrition.
With freedom comes responsibility. Our form of government will survive either one of these candidates, as we are not that fragile. However, the one thing it will not survive is the gross lack of participation.
This is the season to watch the Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol.” We all know the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a businessman who has been consumed by greed. The greediest industry in America, by a large margin, would be the industry of higher education.
How do we know we are doing the right thing? Being ethical is hard, and it takes a considerable amount of self-awareness. There are obvious conflicts in our business, but some are less so. For example, exchange traded funds (ETFs) versus mutual funds.
We just celebrated Labor Day, and that means college football season is upon us. But college sports are in trouble from a disease we know all too well in this business: Greed. The irony of greed is that it ends up killing the goose who lays the golden eggs.
