John S. Wolfe

An acquaintance of Hispanic descent shared his opinion about Arizona’s new immigration law: “Pedro” said he is not concerned about the racism or profiling aspect. He believes there won’t be profiling. He is more concerned about the economic impact on the state. He related that his friends south of the border will no longer seek [...]

Speaking at the Economic Outlook event at the April 22 Economic Club of Phoenix luncheon were, from left, Arizona State University professors Dr. Lee McPheters and Dennis Hoffman and John Arnold of the Arizona Governor’s Office. If the challenge of improving Arizona’s economy was analogous to a hike, we would all be at the bottom [...]

The title of this post is consciously inflammatory. The motivation is to get Americans of all backgrounds to reject the rhetoric and theatrics of political “leaders” and acknowledge that, while racism may still exist in some forms, most maltreatment of individuals by other individuals is based on a slew of other factors. Let’s look at [...]

The signing by Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona’s new immigration law is one group of lawmakers’ action to confront a festering issue in the state. As could be predicted, a different set of lawmakers and activists is criticizing it, shouting racism, condemning law enforcement and urging a boycott of Arizona business and tourism. What’s going [...]

When we were little, how many of us were encouraged by our parents to “share,” “care about others’ feelings,” “put others’ needs ahead of our own” and “don’t be selfish” as we played with other children in the sandbox? Yet, as adults, if a stranger approached us and asked to share our car, we would [...]

Traveling from Chile to Peru presents an incredible juxtaposition. Santiago, Chile is refined, isolated, modern, and architecturally beautiful. Lima, Peru is scrappy, noisy, dusty and crowded. Santiago has subways; Lima has private minivans stuffed with workers. Santiago has a hillside park with a funicular, a zoo, an amphitheater below a towering statue of the Virgin [...]

How has Peru changed over the years? One man who could offer a credible explanation spoke to Arizona State’s Executive MBA class during a visit to ESAN University in Lima. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former prime minister and economic minister for the nation, has seen it all in his 71 years. The son of a [...]

As much as everyone agrees healthcare needs reform, dishonest discussion helps no one. The gimmick of comparing six years of costs (benefits starting in 2014) against 10 years of tax increases (starting in 2010) to make things “balance” reflects contempt for voters. Where is the change we can believe in?

One of my favorite classes at ASU was Managerial Economics, taught by the incredible Bill Boyes. A self-proclaimed libertarian, Professor Boyes projects a “free market” paradigm on every issue, asking students to consider “what if” the usual “solutions” — i.e. government involvement — weren’t in place. One can list items like national defense, environmental protection, [...]

First, he did apologize. “(The banking industry) made a lot of mistakes,” U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis told the Feb. 25 Phoenix Economics Club luncheon crowd at the Arizona Biltmore. “The industry failed you.” Banks gave out loans they shouldn’t have and lost sight of their customers, he said. Those December bonuses were a bad [...]