The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Transformation Economy

In the glorious tradition of afternoon naps and Taco Tuesday, we are fast approaching the last Friday of the month which can only mean one thing…Free-Rider Friday! As many know, our typical show is “topic” driven. We dive deep into one subject for the length of the show, usually with a guest or two. Free-Rider Fridays are designed to be “event” driven, whatever issues are in the news that we (or you) find worthy of commentary. In economics, free riding means reaping the benefits from the actions of others and consequently refusing to bear the full costs of those actions. This means Ed and Ron will free ride off of the news, and each other, with no advanced knowledge of the events either will bring up.

Ron and Ed are thrilled to welcome Dr. Keith Smith co-founder of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma and the Free Market Medical Association. Dr. G. Keith Smith is a board-certified anesthesiologist in private practice since 1990. SCO is owned by over 50 of the top physicians and surgeons in central Oklahoma. Dr. Smith serves as the medical director, CEO and managing partner while maintaining an active anesthesia practice. In 2009, Dr. Smith launched a website that displays SCO’s all-inclusive pricing for various surgical procedures. This move garnered national, and even international, attention. Not only do many uninsured or underinsured American patients take advantage of this cash pricing, but many Canadians have traveled to The Surgery Center to receive care.

Karl Marx wrote that “The final phase of a historic political system is comedy.” Did the telling of jokes tumble the old Soviet system? George Orwell wrote that “Every joke is a tiny revolution.” Jokes were the communist system’s jazz, the music of the oppressed. Jokes eased psychological pain; helped forge trust between contemporaries; helped make sense of their lives. Join Ed and Ron for a rollicking look at Communist Humor, and some of the better jokes that were told during its reign.

Is it possible for family physician to operate under a subscription-based business model, priced below what you pay for your mobile phone service? What about services not covered by the subscription? Could those be priced with full certainty and transparency? Join Ed, Ron and Dr. Paul Thomas, Founder of Plum Health DPC (Direct Primary Care), to discuss this new revolutionary business model in medicine. Is this the cure for our broken healthcare system?

In the glorious tradition of afternoon naps and Taco Tuesday, we are fast approaching the last Friday of the month which can only mean one thing…Free-Rider Friday! As many know, our typical show is “topic” driven. We dive deep into one subject for the length of the show, usually with a guest or two. Free-Rider Fridays are designed to be “event” driven, whatever issues are in the news that we (or you) find worthy of commentary. In economics, free riding means reaping the benefits from the actions of others and consequently refusing to bear the full costs of those actions. This means Ed and Ron will free ride off of the news, and each other, with no advanced knowledge of the events either will bring up.

We are excited to welcome back on the show Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy in the UK. Rory has delivered several TED talks, along with many others, including our favorite, a Zeitgeist talk he delivered to Google. They are all incredibly thought-provoking, and rooted in behavioral, and Austrian, economics. In his spare time, Rory collects self-aggrandizing job titles. He was President of the Direct Jury at Cannes in 2007, and was elected President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising in 2009 for two years, where his message was that advertising agencies needed a better understanding of how humans behave, not just how advertising works. Be sure to join us for what will be an exciting and exhilarating exchange of ideas. This show originally aired as a bonus episode for our Patreon subscribers, and now we are making it available to all listeners.

Join Ed, Ron and special guest Reginald Lee, author of Lies, Damned Lies, and Cost Accounting as well as Strategic Cost Transformation as they discuss the sessions they delivered at the Ohio Society of CPAs' 2019 Cleveland Accounting Show.

We’re excited to speak with Tom Hall, a millennial (we say that tongue-in-cheek) from the UK, studying economics and political science at the University of Bristol, UK. He produced a report on the billable hour and timesheets. He sent us a list of questions, which were excellent, so we are happy to have the chance to speak with him about his findings.

In the glorious tradition of afternoon naps and Taco Tuesday, we are fast approaching the last Friday of the month which can only mean one thing…Free-Rider Friday! As many know, our typical show is “topic” driven. We dive deep into one subject for the length of the show, usually with a guest or two. Free-Rider Fridays are designed to be “event” driven, whatever issues are in the news that we (or you) find worthy of commentary. In economics, free riding means reaping the benefits from the actions of others and consequently refusing to bear the full costs of those actions. This means Ed and Ron will free ride off of the news, and each other, with no advanced knowledge of the events either will bring up.

Andy Armanino started his career with Arthur Young as an auditor and joined Armanino LLP in 1989 where he built a full-service audit offering before becoming, at 29, the youngest partner in the firm’s history. In 2005, he was elected to Managing Partner where he served until his retirement from Armanino in 2018. Andy’s leadership helped propel the firm to be one of the fastest growing and best managed firms in the US, earning awards and accolades from the profession for its entrepreneurial spirit and innovation. Under Andy’s leadership the firm developed new services, expanded technology offerings, grew a full-service consulting department and strategic acquisitions extended capabilities and geographic locations. His most gratifying accomplishment was launching the Armanino Foundation in 2016. Join Ed and Ron for what’s sure to be a dynamic interview.