A Tree Falls in a Forest

Power: The Currency of Washington

2009-12-21T15:29:00.003-05:00

The New York Times published this letter of mine on Thursday:To the Editor:David Segal writes that “at bottom, Washington’s social economy is based on a currency all its own: power and the proximity to power.” He’s only partly right. Washington’s social scene is indeed based on power, but one achieves that power by the ability and willingness to spend other people’s money. In short, the currency

The Tree Fell...

2009-12-05T21:05:00.001-05:00

They're Men, Not Children.

2009-11-18T22:21:00.004-05:00

Back in October, we all had the privilege of watching Congress haul members of the NFL up to Capitol Hill so they could grandstand and take up for the poor, helpless, grown men who make millions of dollars voluntarily playing a sport they know is violent. The congressmen were addressing the prevalence of head injuries, specifically concussions, in the sport of football. Commissioner Roger

Leaving Out a Few Details Doesn't Strengthen Your Case

2009-11-13T17:25:00.008-05:00

Below is a letter I sent to The New York Times:Discussing job losses, Paul Krugman writes that the United States, where “employment has fallen more than 5 percent, and the unemployment rate has more than doubled” has something to learn from Germany, where “employment has fallen only half a percent, and unemployment is only slightly higher than it was before the crisis (“Free To Lose,” November 13

Neal Boortz's Irrational Religious Profiling

2009-11-06T23:45:00.003-05:00

We'll certainly have some discussion on this today. Suffice it to say for these notes ... when I went to bed last night (after a particularly fun party) I didn't know the name of the [Fort Hood] shooter. I told my wife that it was my guess the shooter would turn out to be a Muslim. Well .. this morning we're treated to the name ... the shooter was Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan. Doesn't sound like

Interesting Ultimatum

2009-11-05T12:49:00.002-05:00

Via Greg Mankiw's Blog, Ed Glaeser presents an interesting challenge to the Democrats: If you are really worried about global warming then you should not extend the life of the first time home-buyers tax credit and you should support ending the mortgage interest deduction. According to Glaeser, the credit and deduction encourages families to buy less energy efficient homes and the resulting

Auburn Football Mid-Season Review

2009-10-26T13:41:00.002-04:00

Stolen Valor

2009-10-13T12:54:00.003-04:00

What this man did is certainly objectionable but should it really be a crime? As far as I can tell he never stole anything and never physically harmed anyone. He simply lied about who he was and embarrassed and infuriated quite a few people. But if this is a crime, shouldn't this be a crime?

The Economics of Nature

2009-10-12T13:12:00.001-04:00

When I took my Econ courses in college (WAR EAGLE!!!) and in high school (GO TREES!!!), I enjoyed them thoroughly, but now that I teach Econ (GO HOUNDS!!!) I notice it in all sorts of things. I recently finished the book Why Evolution Is True by Jerry A. Coyne. As the title would suggest, the book gives evidence that helps to prove evolution. In one section, Coyne explains that reproduction is

It is Not From The Benevolence of Google or IBM...

2009-10-12T09:14:00.002-04:00

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.This is one of the most famous passages in Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. Smith was pointing out that individuals (people or firms) act in their own self-interest and we benefit from this. A story in today's New York Times illustrates this principle.

Those Darn Spend-Thrift Politicians!

2009-10-09T14:49:00.004-04:00

Here is a letter I sent to The New York Times in response to Paul Krugman's op-ed from today:Paul Krugman laments that “for the past 30 years our political scene has been dominated by the view that any and all government spending is a waste of taxpayer dollars” and chastises the “penny-wise, pound-foolish behavior that passes for ‘fiscal responsibility’ in Washington (“The Uneducated American,”

Is It The Community Service or The Studying That Only Takes Two Weeks Out Of The Year?

2009-10-08T18:54:00.003-04:00

While I was listening to the radio today I heard a commercial involving two female college roommates. One roommate busts into the other's room and begins pleading with her to forget the studying for a few hours and have some fun. "C'mon, it's game day," she says. The other student replies that she has to keep up the studying in order to get a good job, otherwise she will have a hard time

If We Call It "Trade Enforcement" Then It Really Isn't Protectionism

2009-09-26T13:50:00.003-04:00

I sent this letter to The New York Times today:Senator Sherrod Brown, (D-OH), claims that “legitimate government actions, like trade enforcement, are not acts of protectionism (“Global Economic Forum to Expand Permenantly," September 25).” Trade, as most people understand it, is a mutually beneficial exchange between a buyer and a seller. This is true no matter if the trade is

Kennedys Still Pull the Strings

2009-09-24T12:46:00.003-04:00

Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts has tapped Paul G. Kirk, Jr., a long-time aide and adviser to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, to replace Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. According to The New York Times:Mr. Kirk said he was grateful the family chose him “to be a voice and a vote” for the late senator’s causes.I guess it's still politics as usual in the Bay State.

Screwed Up Priorities

2009-09-21T18:16:00.002-04:00

Max Baucus, D-Montana:“Affordability — that, I think, is the primary concern,” Mr. Baucus said. “We want to make sure that if Americans have to buy insurance, it’s affordable.”Why not:America: A country where if you don't want to buy insurance, you don't have to.

The Economist Forgets Economics

2009-09-20T21:14:00.005-04:00

I may have just read the stupidest sentence to ever make it to the print edition of The Economist. In their leader on Barack Obama's health care speech they list as one of the good ideas "a tax on insurance companies that offer 'Cadillac' plans to richer individuals." Why is this such a good idea?Since this will inevitably be passed on to consumers, it is a useful step towards making

Obama On Race

2009-09-19T02:27:00.003-04:00

It is rare that I have kind words to say about President Obama so when I find something he has done that I agree with or admire him for, I like to post it. Reading this article, I think he has spoken very admirably about the issue of race as it pertains to the current health care debate. Hopefully, he is being sincere.

Yglesias Misses The Point

2009-09-19T02:11:00.005-04:00

Matthew Yglesias, a liberal blogger at Think Progress digs up an article by John Cochran from 2007 and then smugly attempts to discredit Cochran's entire career. Yglesias quotes from the article:In the recent turmoil in financial markets over the failure of subprime mortgages, investors should remember “caveat emptor,” or let the buyer beware, said John Cochrane, Myron S. Scholes Professor of

Here It Comes

2009-09-13T20:00:00.002-04:00

China is already deciding how it will respond to the president's tariffs on Chinese-made tires. An all-out trade war with China could be very harmful to economic recovery.Over at Cato, Dan Ikenson has a good policy briefing on the issue. It was published before the presidents final decision.

President Obama Imposes Tariffs on Chinese Made Tires

2009-09-11T23:06:00.004-04:00

President Obama has decided to impose a punitive tariff on imports of Chinese tires because, according to the president's press secretary:“The president decided to remedy the clear disruption to the U.S. tire industry based on the facts and the law in this case”Interesting. He'll remedy this supposed disruption to the U.S. tire industry by disrupting the market for tires. This is blatant

Racism: That's The Anthem

2009-09-11T13:31:00.003-04:00

According to Jay-Z, if you criticize the president, you are a racist. Well, maybe not an overt racist but:"I don't think it's straight racism, but they're talking to a racist audience, which is dangerous," he said of the President's critics. "But they're doing it for ratings. It's sensationalism, right? They're doing it for this type of attention."I'm genuinely confused. Some of the president's

Clearing Things Up

2009-09-08T17:23:00.003-04:00

Concerning the "public option" Paul Krugman writes:Most arguments against the public option are based either on deliberate misrepresentation of what that option would mean, or on remarkably thorough misunderstanding of the concept.The public option is a plan to offer health insurance that is subsidized by the government. I am opposed to it because it is forcing one group of people to pay for the

A Laborers Theory of Her Value

2009-09-08T17:11:00.003-04:00

Today, I was waiting to cross University Blvd. when I overheard this exchange:Girl 1: So are you going to stay on and get your masters or are you going to teach and then go back for your masters?Girl 2: I'm not sure if I even want a masters. Someone pointed out to me that having a masters makes you less marketable because they have to pay you more.I didn't follow her logic. Presumably, having a

Into Thin Air: Mountain Climbing and Economics

2009-09-04T14:56:00.004-04:00

I just finished reading Into Thin Air, John Krakauer's gripping account of the horrifying 1996 Mount Everest disaster. This is one of the best books I have ever read and is certainly the best non-fiction adventure story I've ever read.Krakauer was employed by Outside Magazine to summit Mount Everest with a commercial climbing expedition. The article was supposed to be about the

The Economics of Low Pay

2009-09-02T14:28:00.004-04:00

An article in today's New York Times discusses a recent study that finds that many low-wage workers are often denied the pay and benefits they were expected to receive. According to the reporter:In surveying 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries, including apparel manufacturing, child care and discount retailing, the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week

The Scariest Thing About Swine Flu Isn't The Swine Flu

2009-09-02T13:14:00.004-04:00

It is the steps the government is taking to "protect" us from the flu. A Massachusetts Bill that has already passed the State House of Reps. allows law enforcement officials to forcibly enter your home without a warrant if government officials announce a health emergency. Fear is the driving force behind laws like these that are built on good intentions. The Cyber-Security Act of 2009 is another

Auburn Gets Some Love From Herbstreit ...Kinda

2009-08-31T16:12:00.003-04:00

The annual Herbie Awards are out and, as expected, Auburn has an extremely minimal presence. That is to be expected though. There isn't much to be excited about right now. There are simply too many questions still to be answered and no one knows how this team is going to play.Auburn did get two mentions though. Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn is listed as a potential head coach in waiting.

How Do Investors Know?

2009-08-28T15:21:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I read an article in USA Today that essentially said the improvement in stock market growth is slowing because traders and investors are waiting to see if the growth is "real." How do they, the reporter and the investors, know this? Before the financial crisis last year the stock market's value was through the roof but we are now told that it was largely due to a bubble. Just a

George Washington's Public Choice Lesson

2009-08-24T15:56:00.004-04:00

I am currently reading The End of Alliances, by Rajan Menon. The book is a few years old but as vital today as it ever was. Menon thesis is that the United States is slowly facing the need for a shift in its foreign policy away from the Cold War alliances that have characterized U.S. policy since the end of WWII. He argues that abandoning these alliances will help the United States face future

Health Care and the Word "We."

2009-08-22T18:56:00.003-04:00

I reference the blog Cafe Hayek and the podcast series EconTalk quite a bit in my blog posts. Both of these resources have had a profound effect on how I think about economics, politics, and philosophy. The lesson that I think has effected me most is the meaning of the word "we." What does "we" mean in a political context? For instance, what does it mean to say "we went to Iraq" or "we passed

One Size Fits No One

2009-08-21T15:12:00.003-04:00

In yesterday's USA Today, there was an interesting exchange between Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel about the spirited town hall meetings that several congressmen and senators had the guts to face during the congressional recess. The entire article is interesting but one statement made by Beckel caught my eye. He wrote:Seriously, I know it's not possible to conduct government business across this big,

Sen. Julio Jones, WR-Tuscaloosa

2009-08-19T18:08:00.004-04:00

I think this story at AL.com shows how useless student governments are, even at the collegiate level. Julio Jones, one of the University of Alabama's star receivers, won a senate seat without even campaigning or registering to run. He received enough write-in votes to win, though and initially accepted the job. He has since declined. I guess he realized that he already gets illegal kick-backs

Intentions, Meet Reality

2009-08-19T15:22:00.002-04:00

Russ Robert's has a must-read post on the unintended consequences of government intervention. Actually, I'll just post the entire thing:But I love this quote from the White House: White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki says the program, which got a $2 billion boost Friday, will have a “negligible” effect on charities. Psaki says the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) was created to provide a “timely,

More Vindication

2009-08-18T15:30:00.001-04:00

For me, that is. See here.

What is Krugman's Point Here?

2009-08-17T15:47:00.002-04:00

From Paul Krugman:The other Bush bubble Reading this piece about the dismal state of Florida, I found myself remembering this: Governor in ChiefJeb Bush’s remarkable eight years of achievement in Florida.by Fred Barnes … In a state with a surging population, Bush has presided over a booming economy with the highest rate of job creation in the country and

Voters Is Unsmart

2009-08-17T15:43:00.002-04:00

Bill Maher on the intelligence of the electorate. Hilarious. (HT: Marginal Revolution)

I Think I Just Threw-up In My Mouth A Little Bit

2009-08-16T20:34:00.003-04:00

And now I am a little dizzy. (HT: Arnold Kling)

How To Dismantle a Band That is Completely Full of Themselves

2009-08-15T14:50:00.005-04:00

David Byrne criticizes U2's elaborate and expensive tour. From his blog he writes:Those stadium shows may possibly be the most extravagant and expensive (production-wise) ever: $40 million to build the stage and, having done the math, we estimate 200 semi trucks crisscrossing Europe for the duration. It could be professional envy speaking here, but it sure looks like, well, overkill, and just a

Bush Tried to Kill Social Security? Good!

2009-08-14T16:45:00.002-04:00

Matt Yglesias and Paul Krugman are both writing about the differences between conservative opposition to the Democrat's health care plan and liberal opposition to the Republican plan to privatize Social Security. Both are claiming that George Bush and the Republicans did, in fact, try to kill social security and that Liberals were not being shrill when they made these claims.I think both of them

Health Care Debate Home Run

2009-08-12T17:12:00.003-04:00

Kids Prefer Cheese links to this excellent article on health care. His enthusiasm is not overblown. One interesting criticism:The U.S. is gigantic; many of our states are bigger than whole European nations. The bureaucracy required to institute and manage a nationalized health system here would be Byzantine beyond belief and would vampirically absorb whatever savings Obama thinks could be made.

Rationing: Prices v. Directives

2009-08-11T13:18:00.002-04:00

Megan McArdle on the importance of letting prices ration goods.The opening paragraph:Robert Wright notes that "we already ration health care; we just let the market do the rationing." This is a true point made by the proponents of health care reform. But I'm not sure why it's supposed to be so interesting. You could make this statement about any good:"We already ration food; we just let the

Does Preventative Care Actually Lower Costs?

2009-08-11T10:24:00.004-04:00

Apparently, univeral preventative care isn't all it is cracked up to be according to a new CBO analysis. The analysis points out two things to me. First, private insurers have already figured out what preventative care is the most effective (by looking at costs and profits!) and offer it to their customers. Second, this univeral preventative care will simply add to the shortage of services by

"Keep your government hands off my Medicare!!!"

2009-08-07T23:02:00.005-04:00

I continue to hear claims that because Medicare works, then a public health insurance option will work too. This claim is usually justified by some statistic about the satisfaction rate (usually very high) that seniors have with Medicare. Well, duh. How many people do you see complain about a gift, even it is not a very good one? The fact is that Medicare will go bankrupt soon if there are not

Cash for Clunkers II

2009-08-06T18:20:00.001-04:00

A good article from All Thing's Considered on the "Cash for Clunkers" and a similar program that has been devised in Germany.

Just Look At The Postal Service

2009-08-05T23:25:00.005-04:00

Those of you who think the government can run an insurance plan efficiently should take a look at the US Postal Service. They are predicting a $7 Billion loss this year. The postal service competes with two major corporations (UPS and FedEx). Do you think that the Postal Service will shape up and cut the budget significantly to get closer to breaking even? My guess is no. Instead, we will keep

Economic Growth and Aesthetics: Markets vs. The State

2009-08-04T17:45:00.004-04:00

While I was preparing to move late last month I came across a few magazines and newspapers I had saved over the years. One magazine I saved was the April 2006 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. I saved it because of an article entitled "Double Blind: The Untold story of How British intelligence infiltrated and undermined the Irish Republican Army" (which is a fascinating read) but as I was leafing

Cash for Clunkers

2009-08-01T20:03:00.003-04:00

Congress is really patting themselves on the back with the overwhelming "success" of the Cash for Clunkers program. According to Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee:The program kicked off Monday, and it has already officially received 40,000 requests for reimbursement, worth about $160 million in rebates. A survey done by the National Automobile Dealers

Naked Positions

2009-07-30T21:57:00.003-04:00

Imagine you are at a horse race and you decide to bet against a certain horse. If that horse looses, you could clean up. But did your bet cause the horse to loose? Of course not. The horse lost because he wasn't as good (on that particular day) as the other horses in the race. Perhaps others placing bets knew about your knowledge of the horses in the race and the particular track on which

The Amazing Theorist

2009-07-28T13:15:00.002-04:00

The abilities of Paul Krugman are simply astounding. In this recent blog post he is able to separate the effects of government policy and private markets on health care and conclude that the part the government provides works and the part provided by private markets does not.At risk of turning this into a Krugman-bashing blog I think I'll bite my tongue for a while. Plus, I have to clean my

Misguided Trade Policy

2009-07-28T11:23:00.001-04:00

"The rebuilt American economy must be more export-oriented and less consumption-oriented"That's Lawrence Summers, President Obama's top economic adviser on how he thinks the new American economy should be structured. He is quoted by this report from yesterday's All Things Considered, which attempts to place part of the blame for the current recession on how much Americans import from China.This

Anti-Trust: Wasteful Destruction

2009-07-28T03:58:00.004-04:00

It is an ironic position for the search giant to find itself in. [Eric] Schmidt [CEO of Google] not only campaigned enthusiastically for the very Obama administration that appointed Varney, but also was one of the most devoted opponents of Microsoft in the mid-'90s, eagerly helping the government build its case against the software firm. Today, he is facing some of the very arguments he once

Why Can't Markets Cure Health Care?

2009-07-26T20:51:00.003-04:00

Paul Krugman's recent post claiming that "markets can't cure health care" has caused quite a stir (see here, here, here, and here). As usual, Krugman writes that markets don't work for health care because it is expensive and complicated. Furthermore, Kenneth Arrow wrote about this many years ago and since the paper agrees with Krugman's position it should be considered law and anyone who

Wine "Too Full-Bodied" for Alabama

2009-07-24T20:48:00.003-04:00

The State of Alabama never ceases to amaze me. The Alabama Beverage Control Board, the state's legalized beverage monopoly, has deemed the label on Cycles Gladiator wines to be too inappropriate for the eyes of Alabama wine drinkers and has instructed all store and restaurant owners to pull the wine from their shelves. I guess it was banned to protect the children. The label, pictured below,

The National Mall Is A National Disgrace

2009-07-23T09:47:00.002-04:00

I have been out of town for the past two and a half weeks on vacation and attending soccer camps with Pope's soccer team so I haven't been around to do too much blogging. This week, I am in Washington DC. Needless to say, I have been checking out all the museums and memorials up and down the Mall. My first impressions of the Mall is it is dirty, dusty, and pretty ugly. I cannot believe how bad it

When Regulations Ruin Lives

2009-07-23T03:01:00.004-04:00

Libertarians are fond of describing excessive taxation or excessive regulation as state-sponsored violence against private citizens. Essentially, government agents put a gun to your head and force you to pay, obey, or go to jail. Whenever I use this description to make a point I am often met with disbelief or I am accused of grossly exaggerating the issue.Well, John Stossel points us to an

The Fallacy of Neutrality

2009-07-20T14:08:00.003-04:00

Greg Mankiw has an excellent post on the absurdity of "deficit neutrality" as it relates to the health care bill before Congress. The idea that congressional Democrats has in mind is that the health care bill will be expensive but through taxes it will at least be deficit neutral. Mankiw rightly asks:Shouldn't the healthcare reform bill be more than deficit neutral? Shouldn't it reduce the

The Selective Theorist

2009-07-20T14:04:00.002-04:00

I sent the following letter to The New York Times on Friday:Paul Krugman writes that the “financialization” of our economy would be fine “if financial firms made money by directing capital to its most productive uses, by developing innovative ways to spread and reduce risk. But can anyone, at this point, make those claims with a straight face ("The Joy of Sachs," July 17)?" I am surprised that

Don't you talk that way about space!

2009-07-17T13:29:00.003-04:00

Wow. Don Boudreaux at Cafe Hayek posts a letter to the editor making the simple point that NASA's space exploration is funded by theft and that the unplanned market process that gets us fed everyday is perhaps more of a marvel and people go bat-sh*t crazy. John Stossel posted the letter over at his blog and the reception was the same. People are reading past the message and focusing solely on

U.S. Sanctions and the Iranian Air Crash

2009-07-15T11:54:00.003-04:00

One top story today is about a plane crash in Iran that killed 168 people. The plane was a commercial airliner operated by Caspian Airlines. According to the BBC's John Leyne: Iran has a notoriously bad air safety record. Because of sanctions imposed by the United States, Iran relies on an increasingly ageing fleet of airliners, and has trouble buying spares.

Health Inspections: Round II

2009-07-15T10:06:00.003-04:00

Saw this on Lew Rockwell's website: Writes a friend from Mississippi:I own and operate two restaurants. Today, the health inspector came through for our semi-annual inspection. It reminded me it was the seven year anniversary of our opening this week. We pay the county health department $100 at this time each year. I made a comment to him, that he was here to collect and he said “That’s

Alabama Real Estate Blog

2009-07-15T10:00:00.003-04:00

Here is an interesting blog on real estate in Alabama. It is linked to by Calculated Risk, a very popular and influential economics and finance blog.

Is Obama Doha's Only Hope?

2009-07-11T11:55:00.001-04:00

Could Obama be the president who finally pushed through the Doha Round? It would be ironic. Then again, they say only Nixon could have gone to China.

Just Relax, and Let the Government Work Its Magic

2009-07-11T00:05:00.005-04:00

Matt Miller of The Center for American Progress, thinks American businesses "should let go of health care." By this he means they (and presumably all Americans) should abandon their unfounded fears and biases regarding government-provided insurance and just let the government do its thing. Most of his article is utter nonsense and, in my opinion, isn't even well-written. I usually enjoy and

The New GM

2009-07-10T15:04:00.004-04:00

Reading the official press release from the "New General Motors Company," I couldn't help but be cynical. Here is one example:"Today marks a new beginning for General Motors, one that will allow every employee, including me, to get back to the business of designing, building and selling great cars and trucks and serving the needs of our customers," said Fritz Henderson, president and CEO.What

Humanitarian Aid, Toothpaste, and Incentives

2009-07-09T01:40:00.003-04:00

In his most recent New York Times op-ed, Nicholas Kristoff proposes the following hypothetical:It’s the Group of 8 summit in Italy, and world leaders are strolling along when they spot a girl floundering in a pond, crying out and then dipping beneath the surface. There are no cameras around. The leaders could safely rescue the girl, but they would get drenched and risk damaging their $600 shoes.

Sick Burn

2009-07-08T15:44:00.003-04:00

Arnold Kling lays it on Lawrence Summers in this post. This part is my favorite:Also in the Post, we have an article on the stimulus that features this priceless quote:"It is clear from the data that there needs to be more fiscal stimulus in the second half of the year than there was in the first half of the year," White House economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers said. "Fortunately, the stimulus

A Tale of One Economist

2009-07-08T03:00:00.002-04:00

Krugman 2009:The paradox of thrift is one of those Keynesian insights that largely dropped out of economic discourse as economists grew increasingly (and wrongly) confident that central bankers could always stabilize the economy.Krugman 1997:If you want a simple model for predicting the unemployment rate in the United States over the next few years, here it is: It will be what Greenspan wants it

(Not) An Immigrants Life For Me

2009-07-07T00:44:00.003-04:00

A story in the New York Times about the unnecessary hardships that many immigrants face while trying to build their lives in the United States. I often hear and read opponents of open immigration attempt to qualify their fear of immigrants by saying "I don't have a problem with the ones who come here legally." Well, it is extremely difficult to work in the United States if you are deemed "

A Leisurely Drive Through Paris

2009-07-07T00:19:00.003-04:00

A driving tour of Paris. Unconventional, to say the least. (HT: Marginal Revolution)

Independence Day Readings

2009-07-04T08:25:00.003-04:00

Great Independence Day readings from The Cato Institute.Celebrating Independence Day by Roger PilonandWhat is An American by Edward L. Huggins

Cap and Trade Exemptions Lead to a Worthless Bill

2009-07-03T00:59:00.007-04:00

I have mentioned in several previous posts that the Cap and Trade plan for reducing CO2 emissions has several HUGE flaws. One of those is the fact that exemptions are given to those businesses lucky enough or rich enough to know the right legislators. Now this comes via Greg Mankiw. Turns out that the exemptions will lead to the bill generating almost $600 billion less than it would without

Business Men, Free Markets, and Rent-Seeking

2009-07-01T19:07:00.005-04:00

ABC correspondent (and the loneliest man in network news) John Stossel and health care analyst Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute both bring us the story that Wal-Mart now supports mandated employer-provided health insurance. In short, the speculation is that Wal-Mart's executive committee supports this, not because they are concerned about the well-being of working Americans, but because

SEC Stadiums

2009-07-01T15:42:00.003-04:00

As Heath said in his welcoming post, we will occasionally discuss Auburn football on this blog. One reason we haven't blogged too much about this is 1) it's the off-season and 2) there isn't too much good news to report on the Auburn front these days. But the silence will finally be broken. Chris Low, who runs the SEC blog at ESPN has listed his favorite SEC stadiums. Here is the list:1. LSU:

How To Kill A Revolution

2009-06-30T18:46:00.004-04:00

Hamid Dabashi, a professor at Columbia University offers some excellent commentary on the possible harm that American funding to Iranian dissident movements could cause. He writes: This financial aid is not only a waste of taxpayer money under these severe economic circumstances, but is in fact the surest way to kill that inborn and grassroots movement. It mostly will be abused by expatriate and

Tom Palmer Puts The Honduran Coup In Perspective

2009-06-30T17:09:00.002-04:00

Here at Cato @ Liberty.

What Is A "Non-Economic Objective?"

2009-06-29T17:15:00.005-04:00

Ask risk of turning this into a Paul Krugman hate-fest, I have to take issue with yet another one of his blog posts. Dr. Krugman supports imposing "trade penalties (which aren't necessarily tariffs)" on countries that do not cut green house gas emissions to a level that the United States government deems acceptable. In support of this idea Krugman cites a paper written by Jagdish Bhagwati, a

Competing With The Government

2009-06-28T12:25:00.006-04:00

I like to watch all the Sunday Morning Talk Shows and I am a big fan of Bill Mahar on HBO. While I don't agree with basically anything Bill or his guests have to say about economics, I am generally with him on most foreign policy and social issues. The Sunday morning talk shows' and Bill Mahar's guests have all been pressing the issue about private insurers being able to compete with a public

Which Side is Practicing Voo-Doo?

2009-06-27T21:20:00.003-04:00

Paul Krugman laments the "Great Ignorance," which, to him, is that some economists refuse to believe that the answer to the current recession is a double dose of Keynes and fiscal stimulus.A thought about macroeconomics Brad DeLong and I have been sort of tag-teaming the Great Ignorance which seems to have overtaken much of the economics profession — the “

Political Hedging

2009-06-27T17:40:00.002-04:00

I hate it when conservative politicians say they want to enforce current immigration and border security laws before they vote for immigration reform. This is obviously a cop-out because the current system is mistakenly broken. Do they really expect the border patrol to eliminate all illegal immigration first? This makes as much sense as saying that you would support drug legalization as soon

Happy Birthday Bar Code

2009-06-27T17:35:00.002-04:00

I use to jokingly say that I wished I had patented the bar code, that universal series of lines and numbers that one finds printed or attached to almost all consumer goods. I would say this, briefly think "I wonder who actually invented it?", and then forget about it. Well, The New York Times brings us the full story, on the bar codes birthday, no less.

When State Subsidization Goes Awry

2009-06-24T15:28:00.004-04:00

Marketplace had an interesting story yesterday about the state of Florida's hurricane insurance woes. The state subsidizes hurricane insurance through the Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, or Cat Fund, which, according to Marketplace, made property in Florida more affordable and helped contribute to Florida's housing boom. The Cat Fund, though, is in trouble because it can no longer borrow as much as

Back Where We Started

2009-06-24T14:25:00.004-04:00

According to Reuters (HT: Drudge), Barney Frank and Anthony Weiner sent a letter to Fannie May and Freddie Mac CEOs asking them to relax mortgage standards for condominium buyers. Did Barney Frank black out when he asked the two mortgage giants to relax lending standards with regular housing loans throughout the last 10-15 years? He must have suddenly awakened around the end of 2007 just in time

Hazlitt's Take On Inflation

2009-06-20T22:14:00.005-04:00

As I stated in a previous post, I have been reading Henry Hazlitt's Economics In One Lesson. The book has taken me way too long to complete, but I am finally almost finished. In the chapter covering inflation, Hazlitt mentions how dangerous it is and explains how inflation amounts to a tax on those who can least afford it in the long run. Many Austrian and classical economists have mentioned

Milton Friedman on Health Care

2009-06-20T12:57:00.003-04:00

The late Milton Friedman discussing health care expenditures, insurance, and the role government plays in all three (HT: Greg Mankiw). A few things jump out at me from the essay. In medical care, government has come to play a leading role in financing, producing, and delivering medical service. Direct government spending on health care exceeds 75 percent of total health spending for 15 OECD

The War On Drugs

2009-06-18T12:28:00.003-04:00

Many letters in today's New York Times about drug legalization, with most being supportive. One letter, though, written by Robert Weiner, who was the spokesman for the White House National Drug Policy Office from 1995 to 2001, saw things differently. Weiner writes:With a comprehensive anti-drug strategy in place, involving foreign policy, enforcement, education, treatment, prevention and media,

Did Paul Krugman Support the Housing Bubble?

2009-06-16T22:03:00.002-04:00

According to this post from Arnold Kling at Econlog, the answer may be yes. In 2002 Krugman wrote:To fight this recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that, as Paul McCulley of Pimco put it, Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble.When you actually read the article by

Bonnaroo: Reducing their carbon footprint one smoke ring at a time

2009-06-16T01:25:00.002-04:00

I was at Bonnaroo over the weekend. I loved the music and had a lot of fun but I was repulsed by the promoters attempts to treat this as an environmentally friendly festival. For example, there were smoke rings like this one being made every few hours or so every single day.

Deluded Morons II

2009-06-11T00:10:00.007-04:00

CNN brings us the story about a police officer and a fire fighter who meet, fall in love, have two children, buy a "seven-bedroom, five-bathroom plantation-style home with a pool" and finance it with an interest-only ARM, and are surprised when it all comes crashing down.

The Positive Side of Failure

2009-06-10T23:33:00.004-04:00

Every day, the hotel where I work issues what is essentially a daily bulletin with customer satisfaction metrics, service standards, and important information that employees need to get them through the day. Usually there is a daily quote and today's came from Henry Ford:Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.If we want markets to work efficiently then we have to allow for

How Will Public Health Insurance Work Out?

2009-06-09T17:35:00.005-04:00

I sent this letter to The New York Times a few days ago: According to Paul Krugman, creating a public health insurance option would give us “a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep the insurance companies honest ("Keeping Them Honest," Opinion June 5)Currently, our system of education works in a similar way: parents have the choice of sending their

What is "The Market?"

2009-06-09T16:59:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, while reading Thomas Sowell's classic Knowledge and Decisions I came across a paragraph that all libertarians and free-market advocates should keep in mind. Sowell writes:'Society' is not the only figure of speech that confuses the actual decision-making units and conceals the determining incentives and constraints. 'The market' is another such misleading figure of speech. Both the

All Hell is About to Break Loose

2009-06-09T12:51:00.002-04:00

A detainee from Guantanamo is on U.S. soil.

Your Right to a Car Dealership

2009-06-08T12:10:00.003-04:00

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, now thinks keeping GM car dealerships in his state is a government-protected right. Here is the link. (HT: Doug Bandow at Cato@Liberty)

The Social Costs and Benefits of Voting And Good News For Billy!

2009-06-07T01:03:00.003-04:00

As far as voting goes, no one is more cynical than Billy. This, of course, is just my opinion. Billy would certainly disagree with my assessment, and then begin spouting off a bunch of economic talk about how the benefits of voting simply do not outweigh the costs since the candidates Billy chooses never stand a chance in most general elections. (By the way, I use Billy as an example for

How Is GM Like Our Blog Title?

2009-06-06T23:51:00.005-04:00

When a tree falls in a forest, how should we react? Some would consider it a tragedy, because the tree was once a great, old, and powerful thing. They might argue that would could have saved the tree by adding extra fertilizers or clearing space around it so that its roots could better soak up nutrients and water. We could have prevented other trees from springing up around the old tree and

When Tyler Cowen Links to Your Blog

2009-06-06T22:48:00.004-04:00

Matthew Roglnie, a student a Duke University, has been blogging since 2006 at Does that make any sense. According to his site meter, his daily visit average has been in the single digits since his blog was started. On June 5th, a comment he makes on Matt Yglesias' blog gets a mention by David Henderson at Econlog. On June 6th, Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution posts a link to his blog along

"It Seems My Hypocracy Knows No Bounds."

2009-06-06T22:13:00.003-04:00

Below is the latest post by Paul Krugman on his blog Conscience of a Liberal:They think we’re idiots By and large I’ve long been inured to the deliberate stupidity of much political discourse. But for some reason the vision of Republicans whining, “where are those 3.5 million jobs Obama promised” — less than four months after

Wal-Mart Opposition in Chicago

2009-06-05T18:27:00.004-04:00

How would most people react to the following headline:Local Government prohibits poor residents from shopping at local supermarketDisgust, right? Well, M.J. Perry at Carpe Diem tells us this is exactly what is happening in Chicago, as the city government is still trying to oppose the building of a Wal-Mart on the South Side. Except in this case, many residents, union workers, and people who

Why Are Health Care Costs So Out Of Control?

2009-06-05T12:39:00.005-04:00

Paul Krugman writes that "health reform will fail unless we get serious cost control." And cost control will not happen without serious reform of the insurance industry. Arnold Kling, though, points us to another reason that health care costs are so high. In a letter to the Washington Post Kling writes:In 1960, 50 percent of personal health-care spending was paid for by patients out of pocket.

GM Will Become a Political Tool

2009-06-04T18:28:00.004-04:00

Many journalists, commentators, and political and auto industry analysts are calling the plan to nationalize General Motors a “bold step” for the Obama administration. Bold because it challenges the very foundations of American capitalism. Bold because the president may be seen as bringing economic devastation to the same states that helped propel him to a crushing defeat last November. These