Disney World in Florida acquired political resonance late in 2023 and early 2024 when many people (some sensible folks among them) thought the host state's governor, Ron DeSantis a plausible candidate for President of the United States. DeSantis was against Disney in a very loud and litigious way. This is odd because a state's governor usually takes a rather positive view of that state's largest employer. But DeSantis needed an example of what he called the "woke corporations" of the United States. Ideally one that he could kick around a bit as Governor of Florida. Disney served as such. Perhaps because it gives generous health insurance benefits to its employees and their domestic partners, whether or not the partners are lawful spouses, and whether or not they are of the same sex as the employees. Gasp. Horrors. Contemplating this recently, I became curious about Disney World's energy consumption and carbon footprint. Does the power involved merely come f...
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At this time of year I ask myself what were the biggest stories of the past twelve months in business/financial news. Of course, I choose the ones I do largely because they illustrate an important theme, and in the list below I'll spell out and boldface the theme. Yet the theme itself isn't the story. Here are the twelve stories, by month, that especially caught my attention and that in retrospect I recommend to yours. 1. January. Immigration. Well, of course. But I want to highlight a different aspect of the immigration question than the one that has caught the most attention. In the early days of the new year, Reuters appears to have heard from sources that the President elect (as he then was) was in talks with hi-tech employers about the possible overhaul of the H1B visa system. At the end of the month, word leaks out that the now President, Donald Trump, is moving in the opposite direction from what those employers presumably had hoped . This will...
In August 2012, the state house in Massachusetts passed its Health Care Cost Control and Payment Reform, something of a patchwork fix-up of the problems that had arisen under Romney's system. The bill, at heart, created a measure for health care cost containment, Between 2013 and 2017, it was to be the policy of Massachusetts that the health care industry should not grow any more quickly than the state's economy, as measured by the increase in the GSP over the same period. Between 2018 and 2022, the official goal was to be that the health care industry's expansion should be below that of the gross state product. How was this to be achieved? In large part by paperwork. The bill provided that every health care provider group that operated in the state must register and regularly report on financial performance, market share, cost trends, and quality measure. The legislation also established a special commission to track price variations. I wrote a brief story on all...