Archive for Larry Schweikart
Title IX and the Law of Unintended Consequences
Larry Schweikart teaches history at the University of Dayton.
A recent debate over obesity featured James Glassman, an American Enterprise Institute resident fellow, defending the fast-food industry and Shannon Brownlee, a New America Foundation senior fellow, complaining “not only is your local, state and federal government not doing anything about this disease—anything credible about it—but they [...]
Berry Gordy Jr. and the Original "Black Label"
Larry Schweikart teaches history at the University of Dayton.
Asked to identify prominent people in the music industry, most Americans will name musicians. A few may mention Phil Spector, Herb Alpert, Burt Bachrach, or Quincy Jones–producers, writers, and arrangers, not (essentially) performers. A true “music geek” may even name behind-the-scenes music gurus such as Clive Davis [...]
Opportunity Knocks Late
Larry Schweikart teaches history at the University of Dayton.
Perhaps it is the emphasis on youth in marketing and advertising—aside from a few prescription-drug commercials these days—that creates the impression that the rich are all young or have their career paths set by age 30. In fact, however, America’s business landscape blooms with people who didn’t [...]
Buffaloed: The Myth and Reality of Bison in America
Almost every schoolchild is taught that prior to the arrival of whites, Plains Indians lived in perfect harmony with nature as the ultimate socialist ecologists. According to the common tale, Indians had little private property-and certainly were not burdened by capitalism-and they hunted and killed only what they needed to live. Then Europeans arrived, and [...]
1Dec2002 | Larry Schweikart | 0 comments | Continued"Emeril" Economics
How many times have you gone to a movie and left thinking, "That was fun. I was entertained"? Then you get the newspaper the next day and read what the movie critics have to say about the picture you just enjoyed: "Two stars. Predictable, wooden acting." "Two thumbs down. Don’t producers and directors have any [...]
1Oct2002 | Larry Schweikart | 1 comment | ContinuedNickel and Damned: Barbara Ehrenreichs View of America
When Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America came out last year, I knew it would be the perfect foil to another book I used in my classes, The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas Stanley and William Danko (1996). Don’t ever say that academics don’t have a sense of humor. [...]
1Jul2002 | Larry Schweikart | 0 comments | ContinuedA Tale of Two Tariffs
Although it doesn’t happen often, especially with modern “econometric” tools and the application of computers, sometimes there are questions in recent economic history where those who embrace free markets know something is right but just can’t prove it. We can argue theory endlessly, but some people are never convinced until you show them a little [...]
1Jun2002 | Larry Schweikart | 0 comments | ContinuedRace, Culture, and the Digital Divide
Prior to the September 11 attacks and the stock market slump, one of the hottest policy issues debated by technology scholars was the so-called racial “digital divide,” a term concocted to portray “haves and have nots” in the world of the Internet. The paper “Bridging the Digital Divide: The Impact of Race on Computer Access [...]
1May2002 | Larry Schweikart | 0 comments | ContinuedLead Balloons
The scenario became clear about five years ago: neither the federal government nor the states could hope to raise taxes any further without a major revolt at the ballot box. At the same time, politicians hesitated to take any unpopular steps that might result in fiscal responsibility, especially at the national level. Numerous budget "caps" [...]
1Mar2002 | Larry Schweikart | 0 comments | ContinuedWire and Rails: Comparing the Web and Railroads
Larry Schweikart teaches history at the University of Dayton.
Not long ago the television show Silicon Spin glumly reviewed the latest news of the cellular phone industry. The guests concluded that even if tech stocks, especially telecoms, had hit bottom, it would be 2003 before the experts thought the majority of them could again [...]
Deposit Insurance versus Branch Banking: The S&L Debacle
Larry Schweikart teaches history at the University of Dayton.
Those of us old enough to have parents or grandparents who lived through the Great Depression have probably heard the remark that “Franklin Roosevelt saved the banking system with deposit insurance.” The purported value of federal deposit insurance for keeping banks solvent is assumed, and [...]
How the Computer Emancipated the American Corporation
Larry Schweikart teaches history at the University of Dayton.
It’s pretty common knowledge that we have entered the “information age” and that information technologies have dramatically changed business in America and in the rest of the world. Currently, there is a heated debate raging about the standard of living in the United States—particularly in the middle [...]
The Non-Existent Frontier Bank Robbery
Larry Schweikart teaches history at the University of Dayton.
One of the enduring images of movies and television about the frontier west in America is the bank robbery. In a typical Hollywood scene, several riders, clad (in recent movies) in long coats—despite summertime frontier temperatures of up to 125 degrees!—slowly enter town, conspicuously scanning [...]
Downsizing, 1860s-Style: Lessons from the Pony Express
Larry Schweikart teaches history at the University of Dayton.
No image in the 1990s captured the apparent weaknesses of the capitalist system more than that of mid-level managers “downsized” out of their jobs. Here were successful executives with well-paying jobs and solid retirement prospects suddenly told that they had no place in the company [...]
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The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy–If We Let it Happen
By Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Peter J. Tanous
