Friday, December 31, 2010
Obamacare, the Constitution, and the Original Meaning of the Commerce Clause
"Several lawsuits over the health-care reform’s individual mandate hinge on interpretations of the constitution’s Commerce Clause. This clause is widely believed to grant Congress broad power over national markets. But that isn’t what the founders had in mind."
Obamacare, the Constitution, and the Original Meaning of the Commerce Clause: Newsroom: The Independent Institute
John Stossel
"Politicians are so arrogant that they think they can make people wealthier just by mandating it."
Minimum Wage Hurts Workers (Tonight on Fox News @ 10pm ET) « John Stossel
The Politics of 'Nudge'
"Watch out for any attempt to use your inertia to steer you. Freedom should be the default."
The politics of 'Nudge'
Eight Botched Environmental Forecasts
"What's the track record of those most worried about global warming?"
FoxNews.com - Eight Botched Environmental Forecasts
Tariffs and Freedom
"America’s impressive economic growth during the nineteenth century was in fact the result of free trade—trade unhampered within the expansive boundaries of a country that was huge, growing, and diverse in both its geography and its population."
Tariffs and Freedom | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty
Government Costs More Than You Think
"If you seek to measure the cost of a government, its budget is a good place to start. But your search won’t end there. Only some of the costs imposed by government in any given year show up in its operating budget."
John Hood's Syndicated Weekly Column | Government Costs More Than You Think | John Locke Foundation
Looking into the Crystal Ball for Tax Policy in 2011
"As we get ready to ring in the New Year, it is fun to look into the crystal ball and see what 2011 will bring us in the world of tax policy."
The Tax Foundation - Looking into the Crystal Ball for Tax Policy in 2011
Minister Warns on Mortgage Regulation
“The problem is that, at the moment, it [the mortgage market] is not competitive enough.”
FT.com / Companies / Property - Minister warns on mortgage regulation
IRS 2010 Milestones
A not very scientific list of 10 highs and lows we taxpayers saw in 2010, mostly from the IRS, but some from our elected representatives in Congress.
IRS 2010 Milestones - Robert W. Wood - The Tax Lawyer - Forbes
Spending Cuts, Student Revolts, and the Debt Crisis
"Prospective university students are a fairly small and powerless group which is probably why they were among those targeted for these relatively minor cuts. Given the considerable amount of disruption this small group has caused after being asked to contribute more for their subsidised education, it is disturbing to contemplate the public disorder that would likely erupt should more drastic cuts occur down the road. "
Spending Cuts, Student Revolts, and the Debt Crisis » The Cobden Centre
Fox News Makes You Stupid?
"Beware pranksters disguised as pollsters trying to suggest Fox News viewers are dumber than most Americans. It is somehow 'misinformed' if you don't support Obamanomics."
Bozell Column: Fox News Makes You Stupid?
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Freedom Trumps China's Economic Model
"While the 'American Consensus' has run off the rails in recent years, that does not mean its model of economic liberalization and freedom has failed. The problem is that America has fallen off the free-market wagon and is acting more like China - not the other way around. Both nations need more free-market economics and less Chinese-style 'consensus'-directed solutions."
Freedom Trumps China's Economic Model | The Heritage Foundation
Reason.tv's Greatest Hits in 2010!
"Attack ads, TSA follies, Beck/Stewart rallies, dramatic Olbermann vs. dramatic chipmunk, and more."
Reason.tv's Greatest Hits in 2010! - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
The Five Worst Op-Eds of 2010
"For my last column this year, I'd rather tap into my inner Scrooge for a list of the worst op-eds of 2010."
The Five Worst Op-Eds of 2010 | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary
Constitution In Focus
"When Republicans take over the House next week, they will do something that apparently has never been done before in the chamber's 221-year history:
They will read the Constitution aloud."
Constitution is focus of new GOP House rules
Assessing 2010’s Economy and Looking Ahead
"It was the year that the economy started to recover and then slid back into a slump — only to offer reason for renewed hope in the final weeks."
Assessing 2010’s Economy and Looking Ahead - David Leonhardt - NYTimes.com
Government Is Creating Another Bubble
"It is hard to believe, but it looks like the government will soon use the taxpayers' checkbook again to create a vast market for mortgages with low or no down payments and for overstretched borrowers with blemished credit."
Articles & Commentary
Book Review: When Money Dies
"Images of kindling currency and economic chaos are an essential element in our understanding of the rise of Hitler. Mr. Fergusson adds valuable nuance to a familiar story. His tale begins not, as would be popularly assumed, in the aftermath of Germany's political and military collapse in 1918 (by which point the mark had halved against the pound) but in the original decision to fund the war effort largely through debt—a decision with uncomfortable contemporary parallels (one of many in this book) tailor-made for today's end-timers."
Book Review: When Money Dies - WSJ.com
End Of American Era? Don't Count On It
"The current debt, recession, wars and political infighting have depressed Americans into thinking they soon will be supplanted by more vigorous rivals abroad. Yet this is an American fear as old as it is improbable."
End Of American Era? Don't Count On It - Investors.com
Beyond the Start-Up Nation
"Israelis tell a joke about a Jew who takes to reading Arab newspapers. A friend, puzzled, asks him why. If I read the Israeli papers, all I hear is bad news about the Jews, he replies; but the Arab papers constantly claim we are all rich and successful, and rule the world."
Schumpeter: Beyond the start-up nation | The Economist
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Copernican Revolution Coming to Economics
"...the whole idea of macroeconomics is a fraud"
Fact And Comment - Forbes.com
Bastiat Society Meeting - January 5th
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Doug Walker from the College of Charleston Economics Department.
Dr. Walker received his Ph.D at Auburn in Economics in the Spring of 1998. His research focuses on economic and social effects of gambling. Walker published the book titled The Economics of Casino Gambling in 2007 and has been published in numerous journal articles on the economic impact of gambling. He currently serves on the editorial board of the Annals of Tourism Research, the UNLV Gaming Research and Review Journal, and is a member of the Bastiat Society.
His talk is entitled:
'Is Legalized Casino Gambling Good for the Economy?'
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Where We Stand and Where We Must Go
"I would argue that the Austrian school of economics, long forgotten amongst the elite is the only school that has consistently explained why economies grow and why they collapse, and how it is government intervention, primarily through the central planning of money and credit in a bank like the Federal Reserve that sows the seeds of ultimate collapse; and secondarily through intervention in confiscatory taxation, subsidization, protectionism, incessant regulation and redistribution of wealth that ends up bankrupting nations and has done so historically, with the central bank as the trusty aid of the politicians who perpetuate this system by helping pay off chosen constituents."
» Where We Stand and Where We Must Go - Big Government
The Power Politics of the Prize
"Vargas Llosa’s politics are libertarian: He supports free trade, opposes drug prohibition, and frequently quotes Milton Friedman."
The Power Politics of the Prize - Reason Magazine
Local Government Stupidity Contest
"This post could be entitled, “So many bad decisions, so little time"
Local Government Stupidity Contest | Cato @ Liberty
Undoing College
"These students, however, are not exhausted from “working on” anything. Rather, their state of mind is akin to how someone looks at a second slice of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving dinner after he has already downed 5000 calories of turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, green bean casserole, and that first slice of pie. "
NAS - The National Association of Scholars :: Articles and Archives Undoing College Jason Fertig
Follow Our Leader
"American business leaders, most of them, will continue to follow their leader, together with their enemies, the liberals and the left."
Capitalism Magazine - Follow Our Leader
How Government Failure Caused the Great Recession
The interaction of six government policies explains the timing, severity, and global impact of the financial crisis.
How Government Failure Caused the Great Recession — The American, A Magazine of Ideas
Political End-Runs
"Progressives consider the Constitution, and our elected representatives, disposable nuisances."
Political End-Runs - Thomas Sowell - National Review Online
Monday, December 27, 2010
Government as Placebo
Perhaps science has explained, unwittingly, why so many people think well-intentioned government policies work better than they actually do.
Even Knowingly Taking A Placebo Seems To Help : NPR
Dead End Work
Definition: what happens when government policies encourage people to acquire the skills used in an already troubled industry.
Persistent unemployment and the jobless: The New Yorker
Sunday, December 26, 2010
The Abiding Faith Of Warm-ongers
No matter what the weather, it's due to global warming.
The Abiding Faith Of Warm-ongers - Investors.com
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
The Top 10 Economic Myths of 2010
Journalists' tall tales included praising GM for 'keeping faith' with taxpayers, comparing soda to cocaine, and attacking the Chamber of Commerce over baseless 'foreign money' claims.
The Top 10 Economic Myths of 2010
Vinod Khosla: Searching For The Radical Solution
"Environmentalists have been very good at identifying the problems we need to solve. They are horrible at picking the answers. I believe most environmentalists most of the time are getting in the way of answers that make economic sense. Economic gravity always wins. That's why I have the mantra about unsubsidized market-competitiveness."
Vinod Khosla: Searching For The Radical Solution: Scientific American Podcast
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The Economics of Seinfeld
Why is collecting cans in New York, then redeeming them for deposit in Michigan a form of arbitrage? How can a local chicken restaurant produce negative externalizes? Find the answers on this website, which is making the dismal science a little less dismal.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Why Do Firms Exist?
from the Economist:
FOR philosophers the great existential question is: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” For management theorists the more mundane equivalent is: “Why do firms exist? Why isn’t everything done by the market?”
Happy 100th birthday to Ronald Coase.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Austerity: Word of the Year
Function:noun
Inflected Form:plural -ties
Date:14th century
1 : the quality or state of being austere
2 a : an austere act, manner, or attitude b : an ascetic practice
3 : enforced or extreme economy
Let's hope that our leaders actually read the definition...
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Sunday, December 19, 2010
Wealth and Cruelty
"Wealth in pagan Rome was necessarily something cruel; it's not any more."
Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited
College Shopping Guide
Here's a statistically proven college strategy that will deliver more ROT (Return On Tuition) for parents and high school seniors: get accepted to an elite college, then go to a cheap one.
Going to an Elite College Won't Get You More Money; Being Good Enough to Get Accepted at One Will - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
Friday, December 17, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Where Americans Earn The Most
There's gold in that there swamp!
Where Americans Earn The Most - Forbes.com