John Shuey's letter ("Union bashing," Nov. 4) tries to point out the evils of management while vainly attempting to show the virtues of unionism. Let me point out to him that while unions did play an important role during the early 20th century in ridding the many abuses that management was guilty of, this is no longer the case. ...more

November 8, 2009

The Great Depression was not caused by business failure; it was a financial downturn that was mitigated by the government's reactionary and blundering response to the situation. This resembles our situation today. Our government has not learned a thing from history, and it is on the verge of plunging us into another economic disaster because Congress doesn't have enough sense to study in depth and debate the pros and cons of bills that come before them. How will they create another economic disaster for us? ...more

February 3, 2009

The holiday shopping purists among us don't even want to talk about the retail season ahead until the day after Thanksgiving. But with the economy looking bleaker by the day and stock indexes slumping from bad news on sales, all eyes are on holiday projections and that nebulous thing called "consumer confidence." ...more

November 17, 2008

It's here: Christmas creep. Halloween is barely on the minds of schoolchildren, but retailers across the Bay area have begun putting up Christmas displays and piling decorations and other inventory onto the shelves. In some shops, prices on Halloween items already have been cut, and the ghosts and goblins play second fiddle to Christmas trees and Santa hats. ...more

October 6, 2008

Another day, but not just another bailout. This one's a stunning government takeover. ...more

September 18, 2008

Retail sales delivered the weakest performance in five months in July as shoppers shunned autos while they paid more for gas. ...more

August 14, 2008

The country slogged through slower economic growth and rising prices during the summer, packing a double whammy to people and businesses alike. ...more

July 24, 2008