Economics

Down on the Ground with Sibley’s Economics

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By George Sibley

I got raked over the coals by a reader in last month’s Colorado Central (August 2011, p. 20), on my June column complaining about “private-sector capitalism.” It was a thoughtful enough critique to warrant some response this month. (Actually, my first thought was – great! It’s not a black hole; someone is actually reading and thinking about this stuff!)

I’ll start by saying that the main thing I wanted to convey in that column was my confusion and frustration about American economics – a confusion involving corporate cash, job creation, local business destruction, tax policy, tax evasion, investment return, retirement plans, and all the other tangled elements of what passes these days for an economy that we call “free market capitalism.” The reader’s basic challenge: if I don’t like “private-sector capitalism” as practiced by Amazon, the company I was ragging on – what do I suggest instead?

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Another town, another Family Dollar

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by Hal Walter

Westcliffe area residents no longer need to drive far for a selection of inexpensive plastic things made in China. A Family Dollar store opened here in May.

I watched in curiosity for most of the winter as the ground was broken and construction began for the new business. I was intrigued because I had in fact never been inside a Family Dollar. And since I seemed to be doing just fine without anything from there I doubted I’d ever need to set foot in the place.

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A house is a house is a house

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Column by John Mattingly

Economics – May 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

THE FIRST TIME I made a little money farming — back in 1973 when pinto beans hit $60 a hundred and sugar beets were $50 a ton — several old farmers in my area came around to visit when they heard that my wife and I were planning to build a new home.

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Poverty is relative

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Letter from Slim Wolfe

Economics – April 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

Ah, February, the month to strike doom and gloom into the hearts of the Quillen Pundits Society, as reflected in the March issue: Walter on death and depression; Martha on Democracy; Sibley on the Silent Majority; Wolfe the indecipherable.

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Who would determine a fair compensation scale?

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Letter from Laird Campbell

Economics – April 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear Editors:

Martha’s thought that people ought to be paid according to their value to society has one flaw. Who decides? How would you compare the worth of a professor of English at the University of Colorado with that of a football coach? Would the opinion of the president of the university be the same as that of the head of CU’s athletic booster society?

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Giving away the commons

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Column by George Sibley

Economics – December 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

LAST MONTH I was mucking about in the morass where private property and the public interest intersect. A fairly messy intersection in this society that doesn’t like to think about the balance between personal freedom and public responsibility.

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Who pays the most for the view?

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Brief by Central Staff

Economics – October 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine

There’s an old joke that if you live around here, monetary wages may not be all that great, but you get some of your pay in scenery. To which there’s a frequent rejoinder: You can’t eat the scenery.

Edibility aside, how much is a mountain view worth?

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Martha deserves a raise

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Letter from Ed Hawkins

Economics – September 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Dear Martha Quillen:

Well now you’ve done it again. You have set me thinking all over again. I’ve read your Letter From the Editor “Keeping Up is Hard to Do ” which appeared in the July Colorado Central Magazine. In fact, I’ve read it numerous times. Four to be precise. On first reading, I disagreed with a number of things you wrote. On second reading, I agreed with the article as a whole concept. On third reading, it was intensely thought-provoking. On fourth reading, I decided that you are one hell of a writer and thinker. Tell Ed to give you a raise; or better yet, ignore Ed. Give yourself a raise.

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The Wrong Solution

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Letter from Lindell Cline

Economics – August 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Editors:

I generally agree with most of Martha Quillen’s editorials. A good deal more often than with Ed’s. As is the case with most people, I am probably too slow to let people know when I agree with them and too quick to let them know when I disagree. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to respond to Martha’s July opinion that: “The simplest solution to most of our current problems is to increase the income tax on corporations and the very wealthy”.

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An economy based on the youcant

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Letter from Slim Wolfe

Economics – July 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

An economy based on the youcant

Martha and Ed,

I am grateful for those sharp minds who founded our nation. Yet I wonder that our economy came to be based on dollars, when it might be based on yucant. Currency, same root as current, indicates flow between people. The most basic flow is plainly the yucant. The more people, the more yucants, as in yucant park there. The less dollars, the more yucants, as in yucant afford that, but the converse is also undeniable: the more dollars, the more structures people will build, and yucant walk through a wall, or yucant fight that new regulation.

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Mountain Counties: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer

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Article by Allen Best

Economics – May 1998 – Colorado Central Magazine

FOR THE THIRD YEAR, Russell George’s plan to alleviate some of the disparities between the rich and poor counties has failed to make it through the Colorado House of Representatives –killed by a narrow vote in committee.

George, a Republican attorney from Rifle, represents Aspen and Glenwood Springs in the Colorado House of Representatives, as well as Meeker and Craig.

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