The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Transformation Economy by THRESHOLD

Why do tall people make more money? Why do dry cleaners charge less for men's shirts than for women's? Do companies really plan for obsolescence? Why is the population of the USA getting fat? Why do men spend less on health care than women? Join Ed and Ron for a fascinating look at these and other everyday economic questions in this new series: Economic Puzzles and Paradoxes. We will strive to follow the wisdom of the great economist Frederic Bastiat: "There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen."

The last Friday of every month Ed and Ron will do "Free-Rider Friday." Most of our shows are "topic" driven, where we dive deep into one subject. 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. If you'd like to call-in during the live show, the listener line is: 866-472-5790. You can also participate on Twitter at #ASKTSOE, or email us at asktsoe@verasage.com.

Join Ed and Ron as they explain the Trading Game, where participants learn the subjective nature of value, how increasing the availability of goods and services your company offers leads to prosperity, happiness, and a higher standard of living for all; and why the trade deficit doesn't matter. The real wealth of nations is in the availability of goods and services, and by trading with the world there's more abundance to choose from. You'll come away with a deeper understanding of how business is a serious moral enterprise, not the simplistic idea it is based on greed, and that cooperation is far more prevalent than competition.

We will interview Mark Koziel, Vice President – Firm Services and Global Alliances at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He oversees the development, ongoing improvement and delivery of services to members in PCPS/Firm Practice Management as well as International relations with various CPA related groups. Mark will give us his take on the future of the accounting profession, as well as the Richard and Daniel Susskind book, The Future of the Professions (see our show from January 8, 2016, interview with Daniel Susskind).

Are the professions going to be dismantled in the next two decades? In "The Future of the Professions" Richard and Daniel Susskind argue that they will. This was the best book Ron read in 2015, as we discussed on our December 4th show. On this episode, we are honored to interview Daniel Susskind, one of the authors. If you are a professional of any kind, you will not want to miss this thought-provoking, evocative, and challenging discussion on the future of the professions.

Are there any business lessons embedded Charles Dicken's famous Christmas classic? Tune in to our show on Friday, December 18 as Ed and Ron explore the economics of Ebenezer Scrooge.

The last Friday of every month Ed and Ron will do "Free-Rider Friday." Most of our shows are "topic" driven, where we dive deep into one subject. 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. If you'd like to call-in during the live show, the listener line is: 866-472-5790. You can also participate on Twitter at #ASKTSOE, or email us at asktsoe@verasage.com.

Best Business Books of 2015

As you may know Ron Baker is a founder of the VeraSage Institute, a think tank for professional firms; and that Ed Kless is a senior fellow. The Institute holds a biennial conference during which the fellows and some friends are invited to gather share their knowledge in a symposium atmosphere. The latest of these events took place in Boston in October 2015. This episode is a recording of a session during which Ron and Ed as well as VeraSage Fellows, Kirk Bowman and John Chisholm, had a conversation about the future of the professional firm. In addition, they took questions from other Fellows and Friends. We hope you enjoy this peak into the gathering.

Comedian Louis CK has a great routine which ends with him saying to his daughter Just shut up and eat your french fries. While this bit is hysterically funny, it is sadly repeated by some business leaders to people within their organizations. In his book, A More Beautiful Question, Warren Berger writes, Great products, companies, even industries, often begin with a question, yet few companies actually encourage questioning in any substantive way. There are no departments or training programs focused on questioning; no policies, guidelines, best practices. On the contrary, many companies — whether consciously or not — have established cultures that tend to discourage inquiry in the form of someone's asking, for example, Why are we doing this particular thing in this particular way? In this episode Ed and Ron tackle the idea of asking more effective questions and will introduce you to the idea of the Mother of All Questions.