Longtime St. Louis ad executive Tim Arnold has some unsolicited advice for Inbev, the Belgian brewer that will soon own the King of Beers. In an essay for Advertising Age, Arnold urges the King’s conqueror to “turn its marketing upside…

It’s not exactly a gusher, but oil is flowing from the Missouri oil find that we took note of last winter. MegaWest Energy of Calgary announced that the first sale of oil from its Missouri well, which it now calls the…

Blackstone Group, a major U.S. private equity firm, is emerging as a possible bidder for Anheuser-Busch’s theme parks, according to a report in the London Telegraph. The parks, which include Busch Gardens and Sea World, are being sold to help pay…

June marked the fourth straight month of year-over-year employment declines in metro St. Louis,  according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of jobs in the metro area fell by 6,600, or 0.5 percent, between June 2007 and June 2008. That’s…

Show-Me Institute intern Matt Simpson won’t win any popularity contests in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He’s written an article pointing out that while helping flood victims is the humanitarian thing to do, it also sets people up for bigger losses in the…

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an advisory last week pointing out the pitfalls of using a debit card to tap your 401k. I had no idea that any employers were offering such a dangerous add-on, but it seems that Bruce…

It’s time for me to clear out of here for a summer vacation. I plan to spend most of it away from the computer, so you may not see any posts in this space for a couple of weeks. Before…

Anheuser-Busch has filed a transcript of a conference call with distributors, and one of the more interesting questions comes from a Florida wholesaler who says he’s “very, very worried” about a backlash from people who think Anheuser-Busch “will not be an…

University of Missouri economist Joseph Haslag opposed the state’s “mega-project” tax credits from the start. Now that the largesse has failed to lure a Bombardier aircraft plant, Haslag is getting in a few more licks against the state’s strategy. In…

Pensions & Investments is reporting that the St. Louis Public Employees Retirement System turned aside a request from Mayor Francis Slay to vote against the takeover of Anheuser-Busch by InBev. The publication quotes Mary Lou Mullen, employee benefits manager, as saying:

We hire managers…