Business & Entrepreneurship

WeidenbaumThe economic power of American businesses is playing a key role in the war on terrorism: helping cut off the flow of money to terrorist groups, producing anti-terrorist equipment, screening employees and visitors entering company facilities, manufacturing the medicines to respond to biological and chemical attacks, and making the weapons used by our armed forces in the fight. Nevertheless, such responses often raise the cost of production and act like a new tax on private enterprise, suggests Washington University in St. Louis economist Murray Weidenbaum.

Despite the rejection of a provision to allow prescription drug imports from Canada in the Medicare bill passed by Congress, policymakers are still considering other bills that would allow the drug imports from North of the border. But Jackson Nickerson, a professor of organization and strategy at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, says that allowing the import of drugs from Canada would likely raise prices for both Canadians and U.S. consumers. Nickerson is currently engaged in a major research initiative with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the pharmaceutical industry to improve the manufacturing process for drugs.

Washington University in St. Louis is one of eight U.S. universities selected by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to share $25 million in grants through a program designed to make entrepreneurship education available across campus and transform the way entrepreneurship is viewed, taught and experienced. “Entrepreneurship is not a fad – it’s an enduring American phenomenon that’s as common as getting married or having a baby, said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation.

Dec./Jan. Business, Law & Economics Tip Sheet

Photo courtesy of Tom Paule PhotographyMarrying for love … and money.Becoming wealthy and creating a happy family are two key components to achieving the American Dream, but do marriage and children have any impact on your chances of becoming rich? “Marriage substantially increases a person’s likelihood of becoming affluent,” says Mark R. Rank, Ph.D., professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis and co-author of a study out this month that looks at earnings over the course of a person’s lifetime. “Having children, however, significantly lowers the probability of becoming wealthy for all people,” Rank adds.

Bernstein”The settlement of the grocery strike in St. Louis sends conflicting messages to the parties involved in similar strikes in California, West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky,” says Neil Bernstein, an expert in labor law and legal issues relating to striking workers and a professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “In St. Louis, the Union did achieve an important victory in convincing the employers to eliminate the annual deductibles that they tried to impose for the first time. On the other hand, the contract requires them to make larger co-payments for doctor visits and prescription drugs.”

“The Future of Freedom” will be the topic of “Conversation” when scholars gather Nov. 13 at Washington University for the second of a four-part series of discussions on key issues that will affect the future of the university, the community and the world. Arts & Sciences is sponsoring the four “Conversations,” which are free and open to the public, as part of the university’s 150th anniversary celebration. “The Future of Freedom Conversation” will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in Graham Chapel.

The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, the Whitney R. Harris Institute for Global Legal Studies and the Department of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis will present the conference, “Globalization, the State, and Society,” Nov. 13-14 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser Busch Hall. This event, which is free and open to the public, is planned as part of the University’s Sesquicentennial celebration.

November Business, Law & Economics Tip Sheet

BernsteinNeil Bernstein, an expert in labor law and legal issues relating to striking workers and a professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, analyzes the current state of the grocery strike in St. Louis and discusses the overall effectiveness of strikes with Mike Sampson of KWMU’s St. Louis on the Air on Oct. 27. Listen to the program from the KWMU Web site.