The full ignorance of the economics profession was on full display this past weekend at the meetings of the American Economic Association in Philadelphia. According to the Wall Street Journal account, economists are so baffled about what is happening, or not happening, in the American economy that they gravitated to discussing the work of Alvin […]…
About: William Holstein
Author Archives: William Holstein
Mary Barra at GM: What It Really Means
Much of the media coverage of the selection of Mary Barra as CEO of General Motors has focused on the fact that she is a woman. That’s very interesting, but it’s not all of the story. Here are the other elements that are being largely ignored: –She is part of a generation of GM people […]…
The New York Times And Its Weird Take on Japan
Here they go again! The New York Times, for years, has persisted in putting trivialized pieces like this one on their front page. I recall one about farmers in a remote area who couldn’t find wives and I recall another about the high-pitched sing-songy voices of elevator women in Japan, who greet riders when they […]…
Daimler’s Investment in Alabama, and Other Auto Topics
Years go, we at Business Week discovered that Detroit was moving south, resulting in a cover story called Detroit South. Boy, did we get that one right. Major auto plants have sprung up in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi, just off the top of my head. One of the companies that has made […]…
Japan, October 2013
I love flying the polar route to East Asia. On this flight to Japan, it was mostly cloudy but it cleared up over what I believe was Siberia and/or the Kamchatka Peninsula. There were endless white mountains and no signs of roads, villages or any form of human habitation. Completely desolate. It cleared up again […]…
