Cronyism in the car industry didn’t start with Chicago’s ongoing attempt to control ride-share companies. In 1982, big car dealerships successfully lobbied to ban their competitors from making Sunday car sales. A generation of car buyers has lost out because of it. The obvious features of the law show that it was conceived of by...
At the beginning of this month, things weren’t looking good for “transportation network providers” such as Uber and Lyft in Chicago. On Feb. 5, Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled a proposed ordinance that would force these services to severely change the way they do business, if not leave the city entirely. That same day, aldermen Ed...
CNN’s Crossfire hosted a Texas vs. Illinois debate on Friday. The debate ranged from health care and fracking to the minimum wage and job creation. A new ad was unveiled that will roll out in Illinois to entice businesses and workers to move down to Texas. This would be nothing new, as Illinoisans have been...
A smaller and smaller percentage of adults are working to support the entire state population. Why does this matter? Because a booming economy provides the benefits of opportunity and upward mobility. But not only that. Growing the number of taxpayers is essential for funding core government services and pension bills. The only other tools legislators...
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, released an estimate Tuesday afternoon saying that the Obama administration’s proposed minimum wage hike would result in 500,000 fewer Americans being employed. The proposal, supported by Democrats in Washington, D.C., and Springfield alike, is to hike the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. Low-wage workers would see a...
Gov. Pat Quinn noted in his State of the State address that “economic growth always starts with more jobs,” and that “we’ve seen progress on this front.” But it’s unclear who is experiencing progress in Illinois. Unemployment rates for youths are at crisis levels and rising, while minority rates are barely better. The Illinois Department...
Illinois continues to shed jobs. The state lost 3,200 nonfarm payroll jobs in December. Now, Illinois is poised to lose an additional 546 jobs from five companies in the next few months, according to the state’s January Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN report. Chicago-based Specialty Foods Group Inc., a meat wholesaler that makes...
Last week, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed an ordinance that would regulate popular ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft in Chicago. Emanuel often claims that he wants Chicago to be friendly to new businesses, innovation and technology. Unfortunately, his proposal is anything but friendly to these “transportation network” services, and would force them to...
The common refrain made against Texas by those who defend the status quo in Illinois is that the jobs being created in the Lone Star State are lower-paying and less-rewarding opportunities. But not anymore. Texas is now unquestionably besting Illinois in providing for the middle class. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2012 the inflation-adjusted...
Following once again in New York City’s tradition of petty nanny statism, a new ordinance proposed by aldermen Edward Burke and Anthony Beale seeks to ban horse-drawn carriages in Chicago. The proposed ordinance would amend the municipal code to prohibit the renewal of carriage licenses, which would bring an end to the industry by the...
Nonfarm payrolls increased by only 113,000 in January, compared with an average of 194,000 per month in 2013 and The Wall Street consensus expectations of 180,000, according to the report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. December’s disappointing payroll number was revised up only to 75,000 from 74,000, leaving the U.S. with consecutive ugly...
Smartphone-based taxi services such as Uber and Lyft have been invaluable for many Chicagoans during the polar vortex and its lingering aftermath. The city’s entrenched taxi industry doesn’t like that fact. They’ve filed suit against the city of Chicago, claiming that allowing the existence of these in-demand services discriminates against people without access to smartphone...
The office of Governor Pat Quinn is claiming victory off a study released Thursday by CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists International. The study shows that Illinois ranked third-highest nationally in the creation of net new business establishments from 2009-2012. An establishment is defined as a single location that produces some form of economic activity, and...
Imagine creating a new solution, devising an innovative new product, providing an effective service or simply doing something well enough that you can build a business. Your dream has come true, and you’re ready to start out on your own. As a small-business owner, you want to utilize the advantages of the Limited Liability Company,...