John Allison, chairman of BB&T Corp., will speak on leadership next month at the University of South Carolina Upstate's George Dean Johnson Jr. College of Business and Economics.

According to the Greenville News, the event will be held April 15 at 4 p.m. at the Chapman Cultural Center on St. John Street in Spartanburg.  The event is free but admission must be obtained in advance from Darrell Parker, dean of the business school, at 864-503-5312.

Updated Information about the program     Original  link for information

"Capitalism the Unknown Ideal" contains a section entitled "Are Periodic Depressions Inevitable in a System of Laissez-Faire Capitalism?"  That article refers to an analogy that was described then as "an invaluable metaphor from Alan Greenspan."  According to Greenspan, "if under laissez-faire, the banking system and the principles controlling the availability of funds act as a fuse that prevents a blowout in the economy -- then the government, through the Federal Reserve System, put a penny in the fusebox.  The result was the explosion and Crash of 1929."

If in the 1960's and before there was already a penny in the nation's financial fusebox, the early years of this decade represent the time when the electrical circuity of the financial system finally overloaded.  Today virtually the entire structure of the nation's economic house has burst into flames, and there is no fireman in sight.

While the fusebox metaphor aptly describes the underlying cause of today's turmoil, it is also useful to follow the analogy to observe that once the house has caught fire, simply removing the penny (as desirable as that may be) will not by itself extinguish the fire.  The financial press remains full of commentators who see prosperity returning "right around the corner" based on the belief that borrowing more money can restore the pre-crash state of affairs.  This, however, is akin to trying to send more electrical current down the already-burnt and shorted wiring, and only makes the problem worse.

Decades of misallocation of resources caused by the penny in the interest rate fusebox, and by multiple other govenment-mandated distortions, have created non-productive monstrosities throughout the financia ...

I am a lifelong Republican (age 67) who now advocates voting a Democratic ticket.

The Party

I am outraged at my party:  After decades of minority status and preaching fiscal responsibility and cutting spending, when they finally controlled both houses of Congress and the Presidency they spent money worse than the Democrats ever did.  They were disgusting and non-repentant about it.  For example, Ted Stevens of Alaska and the "bridge to nowhere".
They passed horrible socialist legislation such as the prescription drug program. The size of government increased 40% under their "leadership."
They passed the Patriot Act. This would be okay as a temporary measure during war time. If the war was declared, a definite enemy identified and victory defined so that we know when it is over. But this is an undeclared war which they say will take decades and it will given the war strategy they have chosen. As such the Patriot Act is now a permanent part of our legal structure and a dangerous violation of our individual rights.
They passed Sarbanes Oxley which criminalizes the most productive class of our society - its business men.
Republicans also deserve to be punished for being ruled by religious fanatics who want to destroy the separation of church and state.

The Presidency

Both candidates for President are advocating socialism and both of them will create disaster.

Obama

It is hard to say what Obama stands for he is so unprincipled. Change? To what; from what? But we can deduce a few things:
He is anti-American. He is certainly a socialist but he is more open about it than McCain. Obama's programs if implemented will bankrupt us.
...

The UN's treaty on mining the oceans' minerals has been approved by the Senate sbucommittee.  Objectivist attorney and ARI spokesman Tom Bowden's editorial against this blatantly Marxist-socialist treaty appeared in the 20 November 2007 issue of the Wall Street Journal  --  in a format that implies the Journal's statement of agreement and support!

But better still,  _two_  US Senators have also expressed their own solid agreement as well.  See Senator Inhofe's website, which reproduces the article in full (!), http://www.jiminhofe.com/News/Read.aspx?guid=c11eaa4c-5d9e-4cfb-9a0f-1c6132903467 and also see Senator Jon Kyl's comments at http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272617398.shtml

What can you do?  Help these two senators defeat this junk when the full  Senate votes on it.  Write your two senators a letter, or even an email.  Ask them to help defeat this so we dont' have to face the much more difficult task of rescinding the treaty someday in the future.

Who are your Senators?  How do you contact them?  See http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

This is an easy win  --  We don't have to convince Senators to do anything new  --  simply agree with other Senators, which they may be inclined to do anyway  --  if enough voters  _say_  it is a good idea.

Simple, quick action, big results.  And quantity counts.