I’m posting this for discussion. I plan to use as the question in our Energion political debate in April. Right now the participants are discussing the budget. From the middle of March (March 21) into April they’ll be discussing the role of government and why they take the position they do. Then starting April 18…
I found this video enlightening. I like to note that I read von Mises before I met (encountered her writings) Rand. Rand is a cultural phenomenon, but von Mises is a deep thinker. In any case, this is an interesting interview. The more libertarians pay attention to this, the better, in my view. I’m a…
I’ve often wanted to write something about externalities, but I’ve never gotten the time. Specifically, I’m interested in how these relate to regulations and in turn to economic freedom. I lean libertarian, and many people who know that are surprised that I’m not always opposed to environmental regulations. Why is that? Well, Ed Brayton has…
Sometimes one finds more truth in comedy than in the regular medai. The Daily ShowGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook Of course, if you think about it, we, the American people, would thus be our own worst enemy. And regarding the 77% who think our leaders…
A few weeks ago I saw a political ad supporting the budget proposal by Congressman Ryan. One of the points made in support of his plan in that ad was simply that nobody eligible for Medicare now, or if I remember correctly, becoming eligible in the next ten years, would be impacted by the plan….
Mark at Pseudo-Polymath links to this post on Rand Paul’s ideas for cutting the budget, using the line: “Someone is forgetting that the left prefers social entitlements to science programs.” I think Mark has a good point, but not the best point. This illustrates one of the reasons I oppose across-the-board spending cuts. Some argue–and…
If this surprises you, then you must not have been dealing with bankers and credit card companies that much. Might this also be part of the reason that regulations tend not to work all that well? You have to think of everything, but if you really plug all the loopholes, the result will be tightened…
In Preserving Democracy, Elgin Hushbeck quotes Alexander Fraser Tytler: A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public…
Keith Olbermann, regularly angry about many things, is angry about the bank bonuses. (I blogged some about this here.) His answer? Break up the banks. Regulate the financial industries, to within an inch of their existences. Roll back corporate legal protections. Make liable the officers of corporations, for their debts, and for their deeds. Resurrect…
. . . consider this note. Many of these corporations don’t actually pay the rate specified, for the very good reason that there are many special loopholes. This is redistribution, but in which direction and for what purpose? Yet we’re “redistributing” even more via bail-out money. And to those Republicans who will blame this on…
