PA in the WSJ

This is a list of articles regarding Pennsylvania in this week's Wall Street Journal. Chances are I missed something, but these are the articles that caught my eye.

It should be noted that I routinely do not read the editorials in the WSJ. So any discussions of the state, its elected officials, businesses, or citizens, in editorials will not be mentioned here.

PA Politicians

Okay, he’s not an elected pol, but he has some power nonetheless. From “Rate cut has foes on main street,” by Greg Ip (9/18):

The Fed must allow “necessary corrections in asset prices,” Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said in a speech earlier this month. “To do otherwise would risk misallocating resources and risk-bearing, as well as raise moral-hazard problems. This could ultimately increase, rather than reduce, risks to the financial system.”

PA Businesses

Is this business we want? In “U.S. farmers rediscover the allure of tobacco,” by Lauren Etter (9/18) we read:

In big tobacco-producing states like Kentucky, and in smaller ones like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, many tobacco farmers are enjoying renewed prosperity. Tobacco production in Pennsylvania has more than doubled since 2004.”

“Free IBM software is bid to challenge Microsoft Office,” by William M. Bulkeley (9/18) Amy Wohl an office-software consultant in Narbeth is quoted as saying “This is the moment, if IBM ever wants to do this.”

Radius, Inc of Kutztown makes dental floss infused with cranberries, according to “Can cranberries treat bacterial infections?” by Laura Johannes (9/18)

One of my favorite Pennsylvania businesses, a company whose products are present and often used in my house, K’Nex, located in Hatfield, gets some good press in “Toy makers make it hard to miss what’s U.S.-made,” by Nicholas Casey (9/19). Seriously, go buy some of their stuff. Especially, but not only, if you have kids.

Brief mentions: Amerisourcebergen (Valley Forge, on 9/18)

Other PA

A mine tunnel cave in in Wilkes-Barre in June 1919 is mentioned in “It was ‘safety first,’ but critics worried folks were going soft,” by Cynthia Crossen (9/17)

A variety of PA MBA programs are included in ranking lists and charts accompanying “Recruiter’ top schools,” by Ronald Alsop (9/17)

A company, Dial Directions, Inc., is offering a service that allows you to call a set number, state where you are going, and receive directions. Philadelphia is listed as one of the cities to be added to the service in the next month. (“Directions are a cellphone call away,” by Walter S. Mossberg, 9/19)

A bishop in Pittsburgh is quoted in “Episcopal church dissidents seek authority overseas,” by Andrew Higgins, 9/20.

A soldier from Harrisburg (and some time recruiter in Philadelphia), is a pivotal character in “How a base in Iraq went to the dogs,” by Yochi Dreazen (9/20)

Kleenex alert! “A beloved professor delivers the lecture of a lifetime,” by Jeffrey Zaslow (9/20) tells the story of Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch, given just a few months to live, delivers a “last lecture.”

Pennsylvania comes out in well in the charts accompanying “Late mortgage payments continue to climb,” by Ruth Simon. The mortgage delinquency rate for the state as of Aug. 2007 was between 2.01% and 3.5%. The change in delinquency rate for the 12 months preceding through August 2007 was .51% to 1%. Not bad.

Two residents of Freedom, PA, are trying to get the entire country to do a “towel wave” next July 4th. Read more in “How two guys plan to unite America on July 4,” by Clare Ansberry (9/21)

H J Heinz of Pittsburgh purchased HP Sauce, as noted in “Foreign owners may be secret of U.K’s success,” by Jason Singer and Alistair MacDonald (9/21)

Tory Burch of the Philadelphia area is mentioned as a working heiress in “Heiresses get down to business,” by Robert Frank (9/21)

Pennsylvania is one of the states the AFL-CIO will be targeting in election year 2008, from “Unions bolster election budgets,” by Kris Maher (9/22)

Former Philadelphia resident and University of Pennsylvania Law School grad Howard Gittis is memorialized on 9/22

Other Interesting Tidbits

A quick lesson in political “bundling” in “Donors’ records stir questions about bundling,” by Brody Mullins and Ianthe Jeanne Dugan, 9/20). I’ve never understood why you wouldn’t want your contributions to stand alone, instead of making someone else look good.

Using military service as a pathway to citizenship is the focus of “Dream solution to recruiting?” by Miriam Jordan (9/21). Excerpt:

”The military would love to recruit more qualified noncitizens,” says Beth Asch, a Rand economist who specializes in military manpower. “This is a potentially very recruitable group.”

This just seems kind of slimy to me.

Sen. Barack Obama’s primary foreign policy advisor is in the Naval Reserves and has been called up for active duty. “From the campaign to the battlefront,” by Monica Langley (9/22)