The American Magazine: Excellent Reading

One of the great things about the Internet is the huge volume of information that is available in virtually every area under the sun. It is also one of the biggest problems with the Internet, creating a massive recycling of content and quite difficult to find anything remotely original.

With that, I was thrilled to stumble on the new American Magazine. The writing is sharp and concise and (more importantly) the thought is very original. It doesn't bore you by acting smart (long and laborious), but by being smart in the way it approaches problems and polices.

One of my favorite sections of the magazine is "The American Scene," which provides windows of what is going on in the economy. Recent articles included:

* The Venti Effect. This article examines the positive impact that Starbucks Coffee has had on smaller competitors. Who would have guessed that a big chain like Starbucks would do the necessary market research to tell smaller competitors where to place stores? Because of Starbucks pricing model, this smaller stores can typically compete quite well when it comes to pricing. This is a very contrarian view of large businesses.

* The Myth of Offshoring Pollution. Extreme environmentalists are continually arguing that the sky is falling, and if there has been any reduction in pollution in the US it is because the manufacturing jobs have been exported. A telling article from the American points out that in areas where there have been higher manufacturing production in this country, there has been a decrease in polution. What is the real cause of reduction? New technology.

* In Ease of Paying Taxes, We're #76. We hear many platitudes about the great free enterprise system in the United States. There is no doubt about it, the US is wildly successful by world standards, but a recent report from PriceWaterhouse and reviewed by the American shows that we are ranked 76 in terms of ease of payment of taxes. We are successful in spite of our system and not because of it.

There are other great articles through out the magazine and it will certainly become "must reading" in preparing for my radio show and writing in this blog. On its excellent website you will also find great audio programs with some of the finest minds in business, politics, and culture today, like this interview with author Tyler Cowen (author of Markets and Cultural Voices).

I suggest spending time with American today.

For a copy of the free report, "Why Your Marketing Isn't Working," email Info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "marketing" in the subject line.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.