Think about the government’s case against Microsoft and, just as importantly, it’s implications for our liberty. Let’s ask a general question just to get started. If there’s an act we all agree is immoral and unacceptable when done by an individual, does that act become moral and acceptable when done collectively, namely by government? You [...]
Archive | December, 2000
Global Economic Freedom Continues to Gain Survey Shows
Staff Report (2000.12.30 ) Politics
More countries expanded economic freedom during the past year than curtailed it, The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal report in their annual “Index of Economic Freedom.” The survey showed 70 of the 155 countries rated granted their citizens more economic liberty, while 52 imposed new restrictions. There has been a net increase in [...]
The End of Montgomery Ward
Thomas Sowell (2000.12.30 ) Politics
The passing of a once-great business is often a time for nostalgia and regret, so the announced closing down of Montgomery Ward has provoked much media comment along these lines. But both the rise and the fall of Montgomery Ward illustrates the dynamic adjustments of a free market economy and the prosperity that it makes [...]
Ignoring A “Hate Crime” in D.C.
Michelle Malkin (2000.12.29 ) Crime, Politics
Here in the land of pontificators and tolerance preachers, a hateful crime goes unpunished. President Clinton, our lame duck lip-biter, is nowhere to be found. Neither are the chest-beaters at the New York Times. And the rainbow coalition of loud-mouthed minority leaders, always on the ready to exploit racial divisions, seems to have vanished into [...]
U.S Should Not Use Trade Agreement to Hold Chile Hostage
Ana I. Eiras and Denise H. Froning (2000.12.29 ) Politics
On November 29, the United States and Chile came one step closer to achieving (in the words of President Bill Clinton) a “mutual commitment to advancing free and open trade and investment in the Americas.” Chile received this long-sought invitation to trade more freely with the United States during Chilean President Ricardo Lagos’s recent visit [...]
Listen to Venus Williams Advice on Taxes
Edwin Feulner (2000.12.28 ) Politics
Basically, the tax system is designed to punish success. Work harder than the next guy, innovate, invest wisely, or get lucky–and the government will put the squeeze on you. Almost every argument made by liberals against tax cuts, it seems, comes down to a familiar charge: It would help the rich. Whether it’s being made [...]
Feminization of Gun Debate Drowns Out Sober Analysis
Michelle Malkin (2000.12.28 ) Guns, Politics
WHEN IT COMES to talking about guns, responsible women should adopt Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Shampoo pledge: No more tears. No more mom-in-tennis-shoes proselytizing. No more irrational NRA-bashing. No more maudlin sermons. Alas, the sopping feminization of political debate continues to drown out sober analysis of gun-control laws. In the wake of the Los Angeles-area [...]
The OECD Vision: One Big International Welfare State with High Taxes Across the Globe
Walter Williams (2000.12.27 ) Politics, Social Security
The Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) is comprised of 29 industrial nations, mostly in Western Europe, the Pacific Rim and North America. They’ve recently released a report titled “Towards Global Tax Cooperation” that should worry all of us. The report concludes that low-tax nations are bad for the world economy and identified 35 [...]
Tax Competition: Harmful to Whom?
Daniel J Mitchell (2000.12.27 ) Politics
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based institution with 29 member nations from the industrialized world, has launched a project seeking the elimination of “harmful tax competition.” In a report titled “Towards Global Tax Co-operation,” the OECD calls on member nations to eliminate “harmful tax practices” — low-tax policies that attract foreign [...]
Global Warming Hot Air Courtesy of the U.N.
Angela Antonelli (2000.12.26 ) Environment
How strong is the U.S. economy? One telling sign is that months of climbing gas prices have produced only grumbles from American motorists. But let’s say prices start soaring again, until they surpass $3 or $4 a gallon. Would the complaints grow louder? Of course they would. Which is why consumers ought to be glad [...]