Right On Business

In today's entirely unscripted episode, we discuss the moralization and normativization of political language and discourse. Today, right and wrong, black and white, and other false dichotomies, forced binaries, and unhealthy dualisms are tearing our nation apart. How do we navigate the current political landscape where right and wrong are anchored in power not principle, where principles and values are not static, but change for no other reason but to dominate the Other and demonize the opposition? 

In today's episode, we discuss Vice President Biden's path to November, the value Senator Kamala Harris brings to his campaign, the DNC Convention and the mail-in balloting controversy. Like most discussions about the coming election, we acknowledge that there's more to dislike than to like, and wonder if the entire framework of our democracy needs to be rethought for the 21st century to ensure equal justice and liberty for all.

This week, we talk with Rich Hebron, author and podcast host who unpacks his experiences living homeless in Chicago, nearly dying in a tractor fire, and embracing life as an autodidact. In a wide ranging conversation that serves as a natural follow up on last week's discussion on philosophy in business, we discuss everything from philosophy to reading to art to the future of capitalism to the meaning of life. 

In this week's episode, we discuss how philosophy and the humanities can help people excel in business and in life. Despite the focus on STEM and other subjects society perceives to be more practical, philosophy and the humanities can help people become better leaders, better innovators, better managers, and more resilient professionals in the age of automation and Covid.

Today, we walk through some of former Vice President Joe Biden's economic and trade policies as espoused on his website. After diving in for the first time in real-time, we discover that Mr. Biden's policies are not that different from President Trump's on specific issues, such as American manufacturing, foreign trade, and the future of the U.S. economy. Both are largely protectionist, with a hint of nationalism, leading us to believe that this messaging will become more prominent in the final months of the election as Mr. Biden looks to court blue collar independents, the people who elected President Trump and President Obama before him. 

In today's episode, we talk about a wide range of issues related to Covid's impact on the 2020 election. We focus on how controversies like mail-in ballots and President Trump's inaction on Covid might affect the outcome of the election, and make a few predictions that will merit further discussion in future episodes.

In this episode, we dig into doomsday preppers, a now-global phenomenon that's more relevant than ever given the tremendous amount of social and economic uncertainty facing us today. Are preppers nuts or prescient? Why is prepping important today? What are some considerations for those looking to become silent preppers, people who want to be prepared but don't let prepping consume them? We discuss.

In this week's episode, we discuss the global revolt against prevailing institutions and the growing desire to forget, or even outright annihilate, history. Using analogies from the evolution of Christianity, we conclude that the desire to forget the past, however abhorrent, is also because we as a nation don't see a certain future. If we aren't happy with where we are and don't know where we're going, all we can do is be frustrated with where we've been. 

In this week's episode, we discuss the growing popularity of retail stock investing platforms like Robinhood and the heard mentality among retail investors that is driving up the prices of various stocks in ways that are likely unsustainable. This creates a precarious scenario that may lead to large losses for many unsophisticated, inexperienced, or first time investors. Part of the popularity of the digital platforms facilitating this rise in retail investing is due to their gamification elements, which create the dangerous impression that investing is a game. Investing is not a game and not something people should engage in without first educating themselves on the mechanics of investing in public equities, the role of the stock market in society, and the potential consequences of trading stocks.

In this week's episode, we talk with Charles Blain from Urban Reform and The Urban Reform Institute about how free market principles can help address the challenges of inequality and injustice facing America's cities. From gentrification and housing to urban policing and community representation, we cover a wide ranging set of hot button issues that social market economic policies have, for decades, tried and failed to address.

This week, we dispel the myth that conservatives are somehow silent or apathetic on the George Floyd crisis, or that we've been inconsistent in our application of our values. We unpack the murder of George Floyd and discuss the implications that the subsequent protests, riots and police and military responses have on our democracy. We conclude that what we're witnessing is indeed a form of government tyranny and that protest and action are merited, perhaps even required, of citizens who care about the future of this country. 

This week, at the request of a few of our listeners, we're discussing how people can find opportunity in uncertainty and take control of their professional destiny in times of crisis.  Everyone has capabilities, knowledge, talents, and skills that can be applied in other companies, industries, and places. When its time to strike out on your own, how do you put yourself in the right frame of mind? How do you identify what paths are available and which to take? How do you find the support your need to seize the opportunities that present themselves? We discuss in this week's episode. 

In this week's episode, we debate one of the most pressing questions facing governors, mayors, business owners and citizens: to open or not to open. How do we get Main Street economies across the country going again? How do we prevent further transmission of Covid-19 and avoid a second wave? How do we obtain the necessary information to make the right decisions? Who do we listen to? Who do we trust? These are some of the questions we unpack this week as we look to find a balance between individual autonomy, the nation's economy, and public health.

In this week's episode, we explore why reading intentionally and consuming information thoughtfully is critical for a well-functioning society and fulfilling life in the information age. We're constantly gathering information and data from the world around us. In an era of fake news, misinformation, bias, apathy and ignorance, nothing is perhaps more important than being able to systematically collect, understand, interpret and determine how best to act on information. Reading, although increasingly unpopular, is a vital means to being able to do this in a way that equips people to be better professionals, better citizens and better humans.

In this week's episode, we ask tough questions about how the future of society, humans and our cultural institutions will be transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Calling out myopic and biased perspectives on the impact of this crisis on different populations of people, we argue that this may be the Great Pause for some, but it's also a Great Panic for others. Indeed, the coronavirus crisis will affect different people and companies in very different ways. For some, this crisis could actually change how they work and relate to their families for the better. Others, however, may never recover. 

In this episode, we expand on last week's themes of localism and community, proposing that the coronavirus pandemic may help accelerate a shift towards more decentralized government. In one extreme, such a system would abandon political parties in favor of more granular sub-culture based interest groups that would convene and collaborate digitally to effect coordinated change. Although this notion may seem radical to some, these shifts are already emerging and are now being accelerated by the current crisis. 

In this episode, Remington and Keith discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging our understanding of both politics and economics and why capitalism and democracy may never be the same. Far from reinforcing the effectiveness of capitalism and democracy, the current pandemic has demonstrated the flaws and shortcomings of both. With the ingredients for change rising to the surface of society, we wouldn't be surprised if this crisis accelerates the emergence of decentralized and localist models of government and commerce.

After a long hiatus, Keith and Remington return to Right on Business by popular demand to discuss the implications of the Coronavirus pandemic on politics, economics, and society.  In a wide-ranging conversation, the guys discuss the need to focus on preventing, not just treating, coronavirus, as well as the impact this pandemic will have on civil liberties, globalism, and small businesses. 

After taking a week off for the Fourth, Keith and Remington return to discuss the first Democratic primary debate and make predictions for the debates and months to come. Setting aside partisan views, Keith and Remington look at the major contenders from a politically objective perspective. Although the field is bloated, we anticipate a high attrition rate coming out of the next debate, which may see some of the frontrunners like former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders cede more ground to sharper, more energetic candidates like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, both of who emerged victorious from their first skirmish on NBC in June.

Far too often we get it backwards. We think that inequality can only be solved by bringing down the rich. But this is wrong. The way to decrease poverty is to increase wealth. We should be focused on creating wealth. Article referenced: https://mises.org/power-market/economics-101-more-wealth-means-less-poverty-0