A reader called me recently, and we had an enjoyable and useful conversation that needs to be shared here.

Industrial Heating readers live and work in the most energy-consumptive manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy, so it is useful to examine the worlds of energy price and supply. But let us first look at natural gas and a business opportunity you may have missed.

This column has recently addressed U.S. problems with China. Now we’ll discuss things closer to home – with some similar but more benign and resolvable issues.

When my grandson was not admitted to several colleges this spring, I started wondering why, after all the wonderful awards and accolades he had received from the public school he attended. Then I reread “The Conspiracy of Ignorance: The Failure of American Public Schools.”

In this space two months ago the topic of entrepreneurship, citing several examples, prompted some (but not enough) reader interest.

David Goldman, a scholar and writer for Asia Times, provides fascinating insights into growing American problems with China, which are unknown and misunderstood by Americans.