Posts by Gary North
Keep Your Eyes Open
Workers who possess specialized information, as most workers do, trade this information for a salary. But most workers have knowledge beyond the rote performance of their daily services. They understand the industry they are in, the local plant, and the condition of the office. The information sits there. The possessors don’t convert it into additional…
Read MoreStupid Employer Tricks
If I were doing this for David Letterman, my list of “Stupid Employer Tricks” would look something like this: #10: Pay as little as possible, irrespective of the employee’s loyalty. #9: Promote relatives; skip over veterans. #8: Micro-manage middle managers. #7: Avoid talking personally with your customers. #6: Fail to implement a “How was our…
Read MoreCutting the High Cost of College
College is incredibly expensive — and the cost rises steadily every year. The typical Ivy League university charges over 35,000 after-tax dollars a year. The typical private college costs $25,000 a year. The typical state university charges over $9,000. With the typical textbook at $100, it’s easy to understand how bills pile up. And it’s…
Read MoreBuying Used Cars: Is This Really Worth My Time?
“That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.” – Henry David Thoreau On Sunday, as I drove to church, my 1990 Chrysler Town & Country minivan’s odometer rolled over 230,000 miles. I bought it for $8,000 when it had 120,000 miles on it. That was in 1996, I think. I had to…
Read MoreMichael Dell vs. the Red Screen of Death
If you ever start a business, you had better decide early what your business’s USP — its unique selling proposition — is. What is it that your company brings to the competitive marketplace that sets it apart from your main rivals? What is the supreme benefit that it delivers to a customer? You should design…
Read MoreWhy You Need a Career Exit Strategy
“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower When you’re talking job security, hardly anything beats being a Rolling Stone. While nobody understands how the Stones have done it, everyone understands what…
Read MoreBuying Used Cars: Overcoming the Ignorance Factor
“When buying a used car, punch the buttons on the radio. If all the stations are rock ‘n’ roll, there’s a good chance the transmission is shot.” – Larry Lujack Prices of recently purchased new cars fall like a stone. Drive a new car off the lot, and you have just lost at least 10%…
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