Wednesday, December 6, 2023 | 
23074..0.jpg

John Hoffmire

It is one thing to cite statistics about the past. It is another to discuss the chances a person has to reach the top fifth in income distribution starting from the bottom fifth.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Inequality in America: More than just a question of where to live and what to study
It is one thing to cite statistics about the past. It is another to discuss the chances a person has to reach the top fifth in income distribution starting from the bottom fifth.
By John Hoffmire
ICRISAT's sustainable farming practices bring innovative solutions to empower farmers and people dependent on agriculture.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Climate change and sustainable farming: one way to address world hunger
ICRISAT’s sustainable farming practices bring innovative solutions to empower farmers and people dependent on agriculture. ICRISAT is developing smart foods and creating diets with low environmental impact that contribute to food security.
By John Hoffmire
"The glass ceiling is real," writes John Hoffmire. "At the same time, it is less of an obstacle than it used to be. One of the reasons for the change is education."
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Empowering women to overcome the continued existence of the glass ceiling
The glass ceiling is real. At the same time, it is less of an obstacle than it used to be. One of the reasons for the change is education.
By John Hoffmire
Journalists surround Ford vehicles at the North American International Auto show, Monday, Jan. 9, 2017, in Detroit.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: How large a role should business play in improving society?
We each play a part in making society imperfect. And like people, institutions (including businesses, governments, churches and civic organizations) also create good and bad for society.
By John Hoffmire
Recently, some psychologists started to consider smartphones as extensions of our personalities. That is, to some extent, the smartphones we buy tend to show our personality traits. But how much can people guess about us from our phones?
Opinion
John Hoffmire: What your smartphone says about who you are
Recently, some psychologists started to consider smartphones as extensions of our personalities. That is, to some extent, the smartphones we buy tend to show our personality traits. But how much can people guess about us from our phones?
By John Hoffmire
With health care costs projected to increase even more in the next few years, a lot of innovation is needed to bring costs down across the board.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Generics are better for the country, but the choice isn’t easy
With health care costs projected to increase even more in the next few years, a lot of innovation is needed to bring costs down across the board.
By John Hoffmire
According to Time, total student debt in the U.S. exceeded credit card debt in 2010. It grew larger than car loans in 2011, and it passed $1 trillion in 2012.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Understanding the student debt situation
According to Time, total student debt in the U.S. exceeded credit card debt in 2010. It grew larger than car loans in 2011, and it passed $1 trillion in 2012.
By John Hoffmire
In East Africa, native tour guides have formed an organization that is transforming the future of African wildlife and Kenyan safari travel.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Turning Kenyan safaris into economic development hubs
In East Africa, native tour guides have formed an organization that is transforming the future of African wildlife and Kenyan safari travel.
By John Hoffmire
Families share the burden of debt, yet it disproportionately impacts children. Educational researchers suggest that 60 percent of a child’s success in school is related to the child's socioeconomic background.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: How family debt can hurt a child
Families share the burden of debt, yet it disproportionately impacts children. Educational researchers suggest that 60 percent of a child’s success in school is related to the child’s socioeconomic background.
By John Hoffmire
Globally, the top 1 percent of the richest own as much as half of all household wealth.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: One way to reduce wealth inequality
Globally, the top 1 percent of the richest own as much as half of all household wealth. Furthermore, it is expected that by the end of 2016, the top international 1 percent will own as much as the rest of people worldwide.
By John Hoffmire
While music is an essential part of our personal lives, it can also be an appropriate tool in the business and academic worlds.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Music is an indispensable part of life and business
While music is an essential part of our personal lives, it can also be an appropriate tool in the business and academic worlds.
By John Hoffmire
FILE - This July 15, 2013, file photo, shows a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange. Global stocks were mixed on Friday, Nov. 11, 2016, and the dollar steadied, as investors sought greater clarity on the upcoming economic policies of P
Opinion
John Hoffmire: The unintended consequences of regulating Wall Street and banking
The law has made it more difficult for smaller firms to compete against the financial giants and brought more non-banks into markets, especially, as of late, into mortgage markets.
By John Hoffmire
The U.S. is on track to break $1 trillion in outstanding credit card debt for the first time in history.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Credit card debt is growing too quickly again
The U.S. is on track to break $1 trillion in outstanding credit card debt for the first time in history.
By John Hoffmire
Disruptive innovation is a theory put forward by Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School. Put simply, disruptive innovation is a type of challenge that creates new markets while upending existing markets in the process.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Embrace the disruption innovation that enters our personal lives
Disruptive innovation is a theory put forward by Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School. Put simply, disruptive innovation is a type of challenge that creates new markets while upending existing markets in the process.
By John Hoffmire
We have written extensively about solar energy in past columns. But we have not approached solar from the same statistically oriented approach that we do here.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: A case for solar energy
We have written extensively about solar energy — both supportively and skeptically — in past columns. But we have not approached solar from the same statistically oriented approach that we do here.
By John Hoffmire
In order to understand coffee’s economic value chain, it’s important to understand the process each bean needs to go through in order to become the final product for the drinker.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Follow the money: Who does well when coffee sells?
In order to understand coffee’s economic value chain, it’s important to understand the process each bean needs to go through in order to become the final product for the drinker.
By John Hoffmire
This small study demonstrates just how hard it is to move the needle on positive educational outcomes in towns considered to be average to above average across the U.S.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: School spending per student: Can academic success be bought
This small study demonstrates just how hard it is to move the needle on positive educational outcomes in towns considered to be average to above average across the U.S.
By John Hoffmire
Grantsville police are investigating a traffic accident in which a 14-year-old girl was struck by a car as she crossed Main Street at Willow Street on Sunday afternoon.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Bringing ambulance service to millions who never had a chance
Aman Ambulance, Pakistan’s first state-of-the-art ambulance network, provides 24/7 emergency medical services with an average response time of eight minutes.
By John Hoffmire
Many Americans plan on Medicare to cover the costs of post-retirement health care needs. But unfortunately Medicare is very particular about what types of long-term care it pays for.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: How to cover the cost of long-term care
Many Americans plan on Medicare to cover the costs of post-retirement health care needs. But unfortunately Medicare is very particular about what types of long-term care it pays for.
By John Hoffmire
In this photo taken on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016, a Kurd Syrian mother gives cough syrup to her child at Ritsona refugee camp north of Athens.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: How we define the word refugee influences what we do to help
What are the repercussions of redefining the meaning of refugee? Some experts worry a redefinition could increase security risks, economic burdens and the threat of deceitful opportunists.
By John Hoffmire
In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes sit in a petri dish at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. The mosquito is a vector for the proliferation of the Zika virus spreading throughout Latin America. New fig
Opinion
John Hoffmire: How about some good news for a change?
Is it true that, overall, more bad things are happening than good ones around the globe? Or is it that only bad news makes it to the headlines?
By John Hoffmire
Instead of asking, “How can we make housing more affordable for the poor?” perhaps the better question is, “How can we assist the poor to help themselves?”
Opinion
John Hoffmire: A holistic view of low-income housing
Instead of asking, “How can we make housing more affordable for the poor?” perhaps the better question is, “How can we assist the poor to help themselves?”
By John Hoffmire
This is an undated photo of novelist Charles Dickens at an unknown location. Among his books are, "Oliver Twist," 1837-9, "A Tale of Two Cities," 1859, and "Great Expectations,"
Opinion
John Hoffmire: The best of times and the worst of times
Sometimes it seems to me that our country has not progressed at all in this decade. Have we given up on each other? Taken steps backwards?
By John Hoffmire
FILE — The HealthCare.gov website, where people can buy health insurance, is displayed on a laptop screen in Washington.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: The Affordable Care Act: Save what works, fix what doesn’t
For the last few decades, medical payments have followed a fee-for-service model, much like a fast food restaurant. You come in, receive a treatment, and are charged for it, regardless of outcome.
By John Hoffmire
Mandatory spending programs, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits, overwhelm the budget. Unprecedented statutory decisions made by politicians over the years have also resulted in tax levels that do not pay for the programs.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Does the U.S. have an opportunity-oriented federal budget?
Mandatory spending programs, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits, overwhelm the budget. Unprecedented statutory decisions made by politicians over the years have also resulted in tax levels that do not pay for the programs.
By John Hoffmire
With the right partners and strategy, growing highly successful and profitable companies can have a significant developmental impact. This is what drives Sarona: building a diversified portfolio of funds and companies to deliver growth that matters.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Sarona: A private investment firm with a heart
With the right partners and strategy, growing highly successful and profitable companies can have a significant developmental impact. This is what drives Sarona: building a diversified portfolio of funds and companies to deliver growth that matters.
By John Hoffmire
This NOAA satellite image taken Monday, August 1, 2016, at 1:00 AM EDT shows monsoon downpours and thunderstorms over the Desert Southwest and the southern Greta Basin. Flash flooding will be possible with these storms. High pressure extends from southern
Opinion
John Hoffmire: What happens if we assume climate change is caused by humans?
So, again assuming that climate change exists and is largely caused by humans, the U.S. would help itself, as well as Bangladesh, by making basic changes — using renewable energy, power-saving electronics, smaller cars and public transportation.
By John Hoffmire
Maybe those of us who own big companies need to acknowledge that any big success we may have had in business has come largely as a result of our employees. If this is true, we may need to reward them with some degree of ownership.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Honoring the dignity of employees includes having them own more of the companies where they work
Maybe those of us who own big companies need to acknowledge that any big success we may have had in business has come largely as a result of our employees. If this is true, we may need to reward them with some degree of ownership.
By John Hoffmire
There is a need for a greater focus on home-grown technology and innovations instead of wild, debt-fueled, investor-vexing acquisitions.
Opinion
John Hoffmire: We want solar to succeed so why are solar firms going belly-up?
There is a need for a greater focus on home-grown technology and innovations instead of wild, debt-fueled, investor-vexing acquisitions.
By John Hoffmire
One of the easiest ways to reduce drug prices is by replacing more brand-name drugs with generic drugs, or generic substitution (GS).
Opinion
John Hoffmire: Replacing big pharma’s products: how good are the generic options?
One of the easiest ways to reduce drug prices is by replacing more brand-name drugs with generic drugs, or generic substitution (GS).
By John Hoffmire
Load More