Author Archives: Bill Hobby

Recently President Clinton took two steps that affect our trade with Japan. He announced a 100 percent tariff on 13 models of Japanese luxury cars, effectively banning imports of those popular vehicles. And he vetoed the budget-cutting bill which contained … Continue reading →

The Houston Post is dead. Newspapers are special institutions. the death of a newspaper is not like the death of a grocery store or a bank or a movie theater. However noble grocery stores are, they do not entertain, enrage … Continue reading →

“Affirmative action” seems to be a bad word these days. Its opponents say it’s unfair, that it excludes the qualified in favor of the less qualified, that it is discrimination in reverse. The complaints center around hirings, promotions, and college … Continue reading →

Hooray for the new Congress. They promised to take government off our back, and they’ve put it in our living room. They promised to free us from regulation, and they’ve concocted one that can deprive some unwitting computer nerds of … Continue reading →

Whatever television touches it destroys–the President, the Congress and now the courts, author and journalist Richard Reeves remarked recently after a lecture at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He was referring, of course, to the national addiction, … Continue reading →

It is the age of the knowledge worker. Our high speed electronically connected information age economy demands new skills. Today’s jobs require more formal education, the ability to acquire and apply theoretical and analytical knowledge and a habit of continuous … Continue reading →

It looks like a good year for Texas. The economy is healthy, if not booming. We learned from our mistakes in the 1980’s and pretty much got out of the oil business. Our new economy is diverse–semiconductors, software, biotechnology and … Continue reading →

Are you unhappy with the way your legislators spend money? Now you can write your own state budget with your own computer. The Texas Budget Simulator (TBS) is new software developed by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs … Continue reading →

DHAKA, Bangladesh — When Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan in 1971 Henry Kissinger called her “the basket case of the world.” Kissinger said that because Bangladesh is: Poor. Per capita Gross National Product is $155. Only one-third of its … Continue reading →

Another election year is ending and with it, another debate about public schools. We’ve heard a lot in recent months about vouchers and charter schools, privatization and local control. The basic issues are the same ones that have preoccupied Texans … Continue reading →