Carnival of the Capitalists - November 20, 2006 Edition - Edited by Brian Gongol
Editor's Introduction
Welcome to the Carnival of the Capitalists, a weekly compendium of the best in business and economics on the Internet. The world lost a great thinker this week with the death of Milton Friedman, an individual whose importance can hardly be overstated. Several tributes are found below, indicated by a special Milton Friedman icon.
All of the contributions here are cross-posted at CommerceBucket, where comments and voting are open. To be fully honest, some of the contributions below are pretty awful...but others are outstanding. Since the spirit of capitalism is generally inclusive, all of the legitimate contributions this week were included and the best handful are noted as "editor's picks". You may have tastes and preferences that differ mightily, which you're welcome to discuss at CommerceBucket. The list here is presented in a completely randomized order, but the icons are offered to categorize submissions into ten major groups.
As with everything on the Internet, caveat emptor -- several of the sites features in this Carnival offer specific investment advice which may or may not be ethically motivated. A wide range of thoughtful articles are posted daily by the sites included in the Econ Directory. Your comments are welcomed.
| Site | Post/Essay | Category | Summary | Editor's Picks |
| Divided We Stand, United We Fall | Libertarian swing voter backs Chuck Hagel for President |  | Why fiscal conservatives should get behind Chuck Hagel for President (related: Fiscal ratings for the 2008 Presidential candidates) |  |
| Kicking Over My Traces | Click fraud |  | Anxiety about click fraud can be bad for the legitimate website owner | |
| L William Losapio | New concept in live music venue | | How a bar could make extra money by presenting live bands in a new way | |
| StayGoLinks | The ubiquitous Web | | How Web links should follow the user wherever he or she goes | |
| Simple Dollar | The value of personal appearance |  | How to frugally use personal grooming to financial advantage | |
| Making Ripples | The power of a dream |  | How an inspiration became an entrepreneurial movement in Virginia | |
| How Do People Get Rich? | Top 3 easiest ways to make money |  | Save and invest | |
| Big Picture, Small Office | Words to the wise | | Doublespeak in the office | |
| Asymmetrical Information | What would nationalised health care look like here? |  | Four things that a new health-care system can't do | |
| Long or Short Capital | Sometimes the sell-side sucks | | A tirade against analysts | |
| Blog Business World | Business blogs: Entrepreneurial growth opportunity | | Entrepreneurs seem to like writing about what they do | |
| Avant News | Wider Panama Canal makes room for Airbus A380 | | Satirical story about the new super-jumbo | |
| InsureBlog | FSA = failing support abounds? | | Most people are missing the opportunity to let Uncle Sam pay 30% of their medical expenses | |
| Big Picture | Most influential works of Milton Friedman |  | A short list of links to classic Friedman works | |
| Reasoned Audacity | The best company structure in four easy steps | | Forget open doors and wagon wheels; the best firms operate under a pyramid | |
| Stock Reply | REIT delete | | Chronicles unhappiness with REITs | |
| Software Project Management | Micromanagement | | A rant against micromanagement | |
| Marginal Revolution | Milton Friedman: Entrepreneurial economist | | "Friedman did not restrict his genius to the academy, he used economics to forcefully argue for a better world" | |
| Seth Godin | Don't make a bad deal | | 8 rules for setting up a business with a partner | |
| Small Business Buzz | Mompreneurs: Balancing work and motherhood | | Tips on how to be a mother and an entrepreneur at the same time | |
| Brain-Based Business | Money messes with people's minds | | Exposure to cash can actually change a person | |
| Mine Your Own Business | Who's on your board of directors? | | People need personal advisors for the same reason major corporations need boards of directors | |
| Stock Market Beat | Analog Devices conference call review | | Stock advice | |
| Lip-Sticking | Is your fortune made online? | | "Innovation is something you believe in" | |
| SportsBiz | Should judges be art critics? | | Can fine art violate trademarks? | |
| Wordlab | Bond . . . James Bond | | James Bond's namesake didn't spend much time pursuing secret agents | |
| Passion, People, and Principles | I've stopped reading | | Some of the serious consequences of spending more time with the Internet and less with books | |
| The Business of America is Business | Does Wal-Mart hurt mom-and-pop businesses? | | Wal-Mart may not be good for small retailers, but its net impact on the small-business sector may be nil | |
| Personal Finance Advice | 10 easy and pain-free ways to save $100 | | Call the cable company and wash in cold water | |
| Business and Technology Reinvention | What I learned from Hollywood | | Fake pressure from a boss is like "jumping the shark" on television | |
| Instigator Blog | Don't forget to pay yourself when you start a new business | | Taking even a little cash from your new business increases your emotional attachment to it | |
| Capital Speculator | Farewell, Milton | | "Milton didn't preach utopian visions in the hope that the empirical record would lend support" | |
| Greg Mankiw | Milton Friedman | | "Milton and Rose were libertarians--aggressively vocal libertarians--before libertarians were cool." | |
| Trust Matters | A little more outrage, please | | "The options backdating scandal is fundamentally about integrity and honesty, not about the dollar amount scammed" | |
| Economist's View | Money and inflation |  | "There is a close association between inflation and the growth rate in M1 two years earlier." | |
| Searchlight Crusade | The perfect time to buy | | Right now may be an exceptional time to be a homebuyer | |
| Wa Salaam | The French and wine; the Muslims and bread | | Suggests there's something sinister about France's relationship with wine | |
| Five-Cent Nickel | The Social Security tax ceiling | | The self-employed need to make sure they're not overpaying Social Security taxes | |
| The Entrepreneurial Mind | New wealth more generous than old wealth | | The people who actually earned their wealth are more generous with it than those who just inherited it | |
| Existential Hoosier | How the election restored my faith in capitalism | | Election betting markets: Better than polls | |
| Slow Leadership | Industry worst practice | | "Best practices" are a road to mediocrity | |
| Roth and Company | Milton Friedman dies, but his tax legacy lives | | The impact of the economic master on tax withholding, the EITC, and the flat tax | |
| Photon Courier | Exports: Stronger than you might imagine | | Americans are importing more than ever, but we're also exporting more | |
| Econbrowser | The yield curve and the term premium | | Sees slower growth ahead, but less chance of a full-blown recession | |
| Footnoted | An end to the gross goodbye? | | Clear Channel's move to go private may spell some positive signals for honesty in accountancy | |
| Free Money Finance | 301 saving money posts | | A categorized list of money-saving ideas | |
| Queercents | The cost of finding God | | What's a reasonable amount of money to leave in the collection plate? | |
| BusinessPundit | The French: A 35-hour work week but none the happier | | France may have limited the work week by law, but many French are working the same amount as ever | |
| Transparent Real Estate | Title insurance exposed | | Changes are due in the title-insurance industry | |
| Rdoctor | Hip fractures | | What's the real cost of a hip replacement? What about an "imported" hip replacement? | |
| Sox First | United Airlines Flight 93 and whistleblowers | | What Flight 93 tells us about whistleblowers | |
| Execupundit | 7 ways to destroy the effectiveness of a team | | "5. Openly express skepticism about the value of the unit's work" | |
| Time and Money Group | Navigating through a trading fiasco | | An example of how cutting your losses can be a winning market move | |
| Scott on Money | Everything's included . . . except everything else | | If all options aren't included in a deal, then a trademark probably shouldn't suggest that "everything's included" | |
| Debt Free | How to become a millionaire | | Be frugal, work hard, and think long-term | |
| Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis | October housing starts, permits, foreclosures | | "A recession in 2007 is now all but guaranteed." | |
| Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket | Lost: Simple basic yard sale | | It's easy to buy stuff in a store, so why do regulations make it so hard to sell it at a garage sale? |
Guide to Icons
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Law and Regulation |
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General Business |
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Marketing and Sales |
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Technology |
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Health Care and Social Services |
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Entrepreneurship |
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Economics and Finance |
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Education |
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Milton Friedman |
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Personal Finance |
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Editor's Choice |
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