Opinion

U.S. economic expansion, year three

The U.S. economy is about to enter the third year of an economic expansion that began in May 2020, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research’s business cycle dating…

While student loan debt grabs spotlight, medical debt looms large

As the debate swirls around the potential for student loan debt forgiveness, a lesser-recognized but nonetheless persistent form of debt — medical debt — is getting a lot of attention…

Data exhaust(ion)

Megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, petabytes, exabytes, zettabytes … yottabytes. New COVID-19 subvariants? Not at all. These are the measuring sticks of our digital lives. Humans are creating data at an exponential…

ABCs to rid yourself of PMI

Buying a home with less than 20% down puts many people, who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it, into a house. But there is an often forgotten aspect of…

Unlocking rural broadband

Statewide, the consensus is that broadband is the tool to transform the economies of rural Arkansas, but the issue has been how to cost-effectively deploy it. A perception exists that…

Essential things to understand about working with a bank

I have had several businesses and worked with many banks over the years. I always tried to see my banker as a business partner. We had the same interests. The…

The progression of cryptocurrency

On March 8, President Joe Biden directed federal agencies to coordinate their efforts at drafting cryptocurrency regulations in a first-of-its-kind executive order. According to a fact sheet accompanying the order,…

Make the process of starting a business less paralyzing

As entrepreneurs and advocates for small business growth in Northwest Arkansas, we talk daily with other entrepreneurs and aspiring ones, especially in historically underserved communities. One comment that we hear…

Are you getting lost in your mind?

The adage “It’s lonely at the top” often popped into my mind when I ran my larger company. In times of uncertainty, it can be hard not to feel the…

Arkansas Medicaid worked as designed in pandemic, faces challenges coming out of emergency

I’ve read a lot of columns recently that begin with the phrase, “If there’s one hard lesson we’ve learned from the pandemic ….” Well, this is not one of those…

Let’s keep investing in Jonesboro’s bright future

Nearly three decades ago, my life began at St. Bernard’s Medical Center, and I have been living in Jonesboro ever since. I have been blessed with two children, also born…

A second chance

This time, says Jerry Morgan of the Jonesboro Advertising and Promotion Commission, it is going to happen. It is the construction of a multi-sports complex in Jonesboro, the largest city…

Lessons from a conman

Notorious conman Victor Lustig was inspired for his next great con while passing through France in 1925. Lustig read a local Parisian newspaper article that noted the ever-increasing cost burden…

Remain open to change

Most everyone understands homebuying and building got more complicated than usual over the past couple of years as labor, supply and inventory shortages became commonplace. In many ways, those shortages…

Riff Raff: The dumb cycle

The television ad for an Arkansas GOP candidate for a federal office blasts, “Babies, Borders, Bullets.” The complex is oversimplified because, you know, don’t think; be enraged. Be alarmed. And…

It’s time for our communities to make a power play

Over $8 million is headed to Arkansas in 2022 under the new National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program to build a national electric vehicle (EV) charging network. Now the scramble…

Those days are gone

In the days when the Arkansas General Assembly met in regular sessions only every other year, I was obligated by the news outlets that employed me to ask local legislators…

45 is the new 50 (for colorectal cancer screening)

I’ve got a date this summer. It’s not a date about which I’m terribly excited. In fact, I’m not looking forward to it at all, but I know it’s my…

Arkansas poised to lead on the future of mobility

Electric vehicle adoption is not a question of “If it will occur”, but “How fast it will occur?”, which is becoming blatantly apparent from product buzz on both the public…

Prepare for the unexpected

Across America, but particularly in Northwest Arkansas, we are in an unprecedented boom period of growth and expansion. Everything looks good. The Northwest Arkansas metro unemployment rate is only 1.5%….