Carolina Journal Print Columnists
Articles by Dr. Karen Y. Palasek

(8.12.05) No. 849: Tax-Free or a Taxing Fee?
Thanks to Gov. Mike Easley's tax-free weekend, the Internet looked even more appealing for consumers who wanted to save.

(8.09.05) Tax-Free or a Taxing Fee?
Next time state officials say they are doing you a favor with tax-exempt sales, do what Santa does: check it twice. North Carolina officials promoted the recent tax-free weekend for school supplies as a boon (or bone?) to families of school-age children.

(8.03.05) Is We Is Or Is We Isn't
The Barbed Wire Choir said it best, even if they didn't say it first: give us criminals—we need the prison jobs. Prisons, and by implication crime, can be desirable engines of economic growth, according to some. And now, Governor Easley has gotten into the prison act.

(7.28.05) Higher Costs are not Inflation
A recent newspaper headline, "Inflation delays road projects," bemoaned the fact that repairs and construction projects on North Carolina highways might not occur on time, due to rising construction costs. Many people call this inflation. But, inflation is an economy- wide issue; it doesn't occur in one market or one industry alone.

(7.14.05) Internet Junction, What's Your Function?
Along with the countless innovations in consumer products and services, there has been a steady growth in the market for information about those products and services, including the companies that provide them. This is significant, since consumers now have access to markets literally all over the globe.

(7.11.05) The Sands of Time and Fortune
Sometimes the market isn't all that's at work in the price-equalizing process. Note the rapid transformation of the once-sleepy residential and fishing community of Oak Island, N.C., into a hectic real estate market, complete with soaring property prices and bumper-to-bumper traffic.

(7.06.05) No. 839: Dangerous Consequences of Politically Correct Math
As political correctness enters mathematics, Dr. Karen Palasek fears a nightmare scenario for a once-pure scientific field.

(7.05.05) Labor's Rumplestiltskin
What do early retirement buyouts at General Motors, IBM and Progress Energy have in common with the state of North Carolina's temporary worker tempest, and the 35-hour European work week? All are cost-cutting measures, and the result of past compensation packages too high for current market conditions.

(6.20.05) The Magical Means to Keep the Kingdom Clean
Streets clean enough to eat off of? Not quite, but close. Trashcans are strategically placed, but no more so than in an ordinary city. Hundreds of thousands of people travel the streets of Disney World, generating tons of trash daily. But
why no litter, no food debris, no castaway diapers, on these city streets?

(6.09.05) Cuke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Cannoli Battle Darth Tater
Now playing on the World Wide Web—and at your local grocery—"Store Wars," an organic documentary in which Cuke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Cannoli (assisted by the speech-challenged ChewBroccoli) battle Darth Tater for the ultimate prize: consumer loyalty.

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