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Business and Politics
Feb. 12th, 2004 09:24 amI'm recanting my earlier opinion. I think Edwards will get the Veep. He's too nice to generate bad blood with Kerry, especially when Edwards is intelligent enough to know that he's young and has at least four viable election years ahead of him. Dean, unfortunately for the rest of us, is getting a little shrill these days. If he doesn't bolt like Nader and create a third party, Dean is off the national stage for good, at least in a serious sense. Edwards needed a miracle; namely Virginia. He missed, and now the Dems have their candidate even before early March when the big boys of California and New York throw in their muscle. With Edwards on the ticket, a New England Kerry has a chance of making recent history -- since Kennedy, every elected President has been from the South or California (not counting the unelected Ford).
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Disney is in some serious corporate hot water. First, Roy Disney (nephew of Walt) resigns because he hates Michael Eisner, the CEO. Then another board member resigns in support of Roy. Then Disney loses their agreement with Pixar -- maker of Finding Nemo, which will probably be the first cartoon to generate over $1 billion. Now, Comcast is trying a hostile takeover of Disney, and Time Warner has floated the idea of jumping in as well.
Personally, I think Michael Eisner rescued Disney in the mid-80s. Disney would not be the powerhouse it is now if not for Eisner. He revamped and modernized business practices for the whole company, from theme parks to television stations. There were financial flops, like EuroDisney, but there were amazing financial successes, like theme-park Disney Dollars with the characters on the bills.
Now, however, Disney is bloated and unresponsive. It's too big, too management-driven, and Eisner has driven away some big talent in the animation department -- Pixar being only the most public. Prediction at this point: Eisner will be gone by summer, but takeover bids will fail.
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Protectionism and tariffs are the antithesis of a free market economy. They have this short term appeal: "We can save jobs in America by making foreign materials or goods too expensive to compete!" In the long run, however, they always backfire. Tariffs are the most visible example of why government interference in business is almost always irritative.
George Will's latest column has very potent real-world examples of this problem, yet every President still feels the temptation to meddle. What is the saying about absolute power?
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Good Lord, did you actually read all of this? Are you bored or something?
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Disney is in some serious corporate hot water. First, Roy Disney (nephew of Walt) resigns because he hates Michael Eisner, the CEO. Then another board member resigns in support of Roy. Then Disney loses their agreement with Pixar -- maker of Finding Nemo, which will probably be the first cartoon to generate over $1 billion. Now, Comcast is trying a hostile takeover of Disney, and Time Warner has floated the idea of jumping in as well.
Personally, I think Michael Eisner rescued Disney in the mid-80s. Disney would not be the powerhouse it is now if not for Eisner. He revamped and modernized business practices for the whole company, from theme parks to television stations. There were financial flops, like EuroDisney, but there were amazing financial successes, like theme-park Disney Dollars with the characters on the bills.
Now, however, Disney is bloated and unresponsive. It's too big, too management-driven, and Eisner has driven away some big talent in the animation department -- Pixar being only the most public. Prediction at this point: Eisner will be gone by summer, but takeover bids will fail.
------
Protectionism and tariffs are the antithesis of a free market economy. They have this short term appeal: "We can save jobs in America by making foreign materials or goods too expensive to compete!" In the long run, however, they always backfire. Tariffs are the most visible example of why government interference in business is almost always irritative.
George Will's latest column has very potent real-world examples of this problem, yet every President still feels the temptation to meddle. What is the saying about absolute power?
------
Good Lord, did you actually read all of this? Are you bored or something?
