Balance Sheet

Jeff Taylor from the December 2004 issue

Assets

Cereal Killer

General Mills switches to whole grains for all its breakfast cereals, the latest case of a big food retailer giving its customers what they demand in the absence of federal mandates. The Trix Rabbit is now very regular and less silly.

Letter Imperfect

A federal judge nixes "national security letters" that compel the production of personal information without a court order. Judge Victor Marreo notes that the recipient of such a letter is barred even from consulting a lawyer about its legality.

Elephant Men

The Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington may have found a way to test for the geographic origin of ivory. Such a test could help pinpoint where African elephants are being poached and direct anti-poaching efforts to those places.

Output Inputs

The U.K.'s Economic and Social Research Council finds that labor productivity is the key to long-term income growth. The bad news for Britain is that it appears to trail France, Germany, and the United States on the productivity front, fully 40 percent behind the U.S. in output per hour worked. Output is high where there is product market competition and access to physical capital.

Armed Defense

Two former New Jersey police officers shot by a felon see their lawsuit against gun maker Sturm, Ruger & Co. tossed out by a judge. The perpetrator of the January 2001 shootings used a gun that had changed hands four times before it reached a pawnshop, making the gun maker far removed from the triggerman.

Liabilities

Standard Deviation

Multiple hostile deployments wear on the armed forces, forcing the Army to relax recruiting standards and mull reducing combat tours of duty below 12 months.

Idea Police