A Balanced Budget Amendment: A Bad Idea
With federal budget deficits rising, pressure is on once again to enact a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. On June 25, a discharge petition was initiated to force a vote in the House on H.J. Res. 22, the latest in a long line of legislative efforts to...Insider Trading and Asymmetric Information
Some of us know more about some things than others, and we often exploit that advantage. I know more about my driving habits than my auto insurance company. Borrowers know more about their repayment prospects than lenders. The seller of a car knows more about the...Who’s Rich?
Congressman Patrick Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat, recently declared to fellow party members at a Washington night spot, “I don’t need Bush’s tax cut” and added that he had never worked a day in his life. A number of other rich people have...Stocks Can Mean Cash
The stock market has been rising impressively, but practically all I hear these days are complaints about low interest rates. Readers lament that they can make only three-quarters of a point in a money-market fund such as Merrill Lynch Ready Assets, or just 1.3...Principles for Peace in the Middle East
In our quest for peace with the Palestinians, three imperatives unite Israelis: Terror must end, our borders must be secure, and the Palestinians must abandon the goal of destroying Israel. That is why we insist that the terror organizations be dismantled, that we not...Numbers Can Be Deceiving
Let’s dig deeper into the bull-versus-bear debate that has dominated my last few columns. I’ve taken the bullish position — but I’m not rabid about it, and I’ve discussed the things that worry me, too. I’ve gotten tons of email from...An Air(wave) of Confusion over Censorship
The First Amendment chains the government, not the individual.
