Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of a cancer cell, not a sustainable business. Yet, the myth of growth and market share persists. Grow market share! You must be scalable! We are told over and over, and profits will follow. Horse hockey! as Col. Sherman T Potter would say. This week Ron and Ed will share their thoughts on why this pernicious myth does far more damage than good especially in the professional service space.

What does the future hold for accounting/ERP systems? There is no one better on the planet better to answer this question than Aaron Harris, Sage's Global CTO. Aaron is responsible for Sage’s technology strategy and software architecture. He has more than 20 years of high-tech engineering experience in business applications and software development strategies. Previously a founding leader of Sage Intacct, acquired by Sage in 2017, Aaron led the company’s product vision and technology direction, establishing Sage Intacct as the innovation leader in cloud financial management solutions.

Inspired by an article by former TSOE guest B. Joseph Pine II, and James H. Gilmore, Ed and Ron will explore how businesses--including professional firms--can stop wasting the customer's time. Strategies for helping customers save time, and invest it well will be explored.

America was once the world’s dream factory. We turned imagination into reality, from curing polio to landing on the Moon to creating the internet. But as we moved into the late 20th century, we grew cautious, even cynical, about what the future held and our ability to shape it. Too many of us saw only the threats from rapid change. What caused this to happen? More importantly, what can we do to change it? Ron and Ed are thrilled have someone who has squarely addresse these questions. Jim Pethokoukis is the author of The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised. Jim is a senior fellow and the DeWitt Wallace Chair at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he analyzes US economic policy, writes and edits the AEIdeas blog, and hosts AEI’s Political Economy podcast. He is also a contributor to CNBC and writes the Faster, Please! newsletter on Substack.

Unfortunately, our Guest fell ill, and could not join us, but don't worry pros play hurt, so Ron and Ed have called an audible, and will be punting to a pine on some stuff in the stacks.

On this week's episode Ron and Ed welcome Colin Grabow of the CATO Institute's Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies to talk about the Jones Act (aka Merchant Marine Act of 1920) which regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports, oh, and, makes stuff more expensive for all of us while benefitting a select few. You will learn the main reason why food and other sundry items are more expensive in Hawaii and Puerto Rice; why the Northeast US imports natural gas from Russia instead of getting it from the US; and many more insanities.

What does it mean to say I have a right to something? In this thought-provoking episode, Ron and Ed will delve into the distinct realms of negative and positive rights, exploring how they shape our understanding of individual liberties and societal obligations. Join us as we unravel the philosophical, practical, and even business implications of these two concepts, challenging preconceptions and fostering a deeper appreciation for the complexities of rights discourse.

In the second of our annual beginning of the year episodes, Ron and Ed will recap their best books of 2023. Many listeners considers this the most expensive episode of the year as their anti-libraries tend to grow while listening. If you have a best book to share, please email us at asktsoe@verasage.com or hit us up with a X post @asktsoe.

During this annual favorite Ron and Ed will look back on the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2023 including there favorite episodes, news events, pop-culture, business trends, and in memorium.

Waaay back in Episode 22, Ron and Ed detailed the ideas behind Joel Waldfogel's book, Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays. Waldfogel makes the case that the deadweight loss to the economy from gift giving, in 2007, totaled $12 billion, out of approximately $66.5 Billion spent (about 12%) and that we should all give cash rather than presents. In this episode, we will speak with Professor Tony Gill about his ideas around Rethinking Scroogencomics and some of his other writings.