Q: I need the spirit of optimism in daily news analysis. Is there something wrong with me that I need to hear good things from other people? A: Not at all. A news commentary should tell you that there’s hope, if there is hope. At the same time, a news commentary...
POLITICS
The Economic Effects of the Minimum Wage
Ladies and gentlemen, it is understandable to want to help out poor families, and toward that end it has been suggested that Congress increase the minimum wage, from the current $5.15 an hour to $6.65 an hour. Well, I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news...
Judicial Activism and Crime: Half a Century After Brown, Part 3
Although Brown v. Board of Education dealt with race and with schools, its judicial philosophy spread rapidly to issues having nothing to do with race or schools. In the half century since Brown, judges at all levels have become unelected legislators imposing the...
Why Nick Berg was Executed
According to AOL News, a video posted Tuesday on an Islamic militant Web site showed the beheading of an American civilian in Iraq, and said the execution was carried out by an al-Qaida affiliated group to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers. To...
Blacks and Education: Half a Century After Brown, Part 2
The landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education was immediately about schools, even though it quickly became a precedent for outlawing racial segregation in other government-controlled institutions and programs. What was the basis for that landmark decision and what...
The Beheading of American Nick Berg in Iraq
The slaughtering of Nick Berg is one small step for terrorists and a major leap for the West’s encounter with Jihadism. The videotape, posted on the Ansar website, is one of many horrifying acts perpetrated by the followers of Osama bin Laden. It has also become...
The Iraqi Prison Scandal — Time for Some Perspective
Scandal! Shocking! Shame! A public relations setback for the war! The world no longer trusts America with her loss of the moral high ground! Yes, the pictures at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad show coalition American soldiers taunting, humiliating and apparently...
Half a Century After Brown v. Board of Education
May 17, 1954 — half a century ago — saw one of the most momentous decisions in the history of the Supreme Court of the United States. Some observers who were there said that one of the black-robed Justices sat on the great bench with tears in his eyes. The...
The Media Frenzy Over Abu Ghraib Military Prison in Iraq
The American Civil War was not about conditions in Andersonville prison and the war in Iraq is not about conditions in Abu Ghraib prison. Terrible things happened in both military prisons but that was a small part of both these wars. When our troops are putting their...
Federal Spending Creates Few Jobs, Less Value
During the recent debate on legislation to reauthorize the federal highway system, many supporters of the program claimed that it would create 2 million jobs. But as decades of research demonstrate, such claims are questionable given the mixed findings of the many...
Make Tax Cuts Permanent
The roar of good economic news is getting louder. Our economy expanded 4.2 percent in the first quarter of the year. That follows 4.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter, and 8.2 percent growth in the quarter before that. Over the last three months alone, our economy...
Random Thoughts for May 2004
Random thoughts on the passing scene: Australian economist Wolfgang Kasper has figured out the day on which the average citizen has earned money enough to pay his taxes, so that he can then begin earning money for himself instead of for the government. For Singapore,...
Outsourcing: Threat or Menace?
Speech by Donald L. Luskin to the Corporate Finance Council of San Diego. Tonight I’m going to be talking about the controversy over “offshore outsourcing” in the context of a book I’m writing. My book is about the intersection of the science...
Outsourcing: Threat or Menace?
Speech by Donald L. Luskin to the Corporate Finance Council of San Diego. Tonight I’m going to be talking about the controversy over “offshore outsourcing” in the context of a book I’m writing. My book is about the intersection of the science...
The Moral Bankruptcy of the U.N. Human Rights Commission
The re-election of Sudan to the U.N. Human Rights Commission–chaired by terrorist-sponsoring Libya in 2003–demonstrates once again the total moral bankruptcy of the United Nations. The list of atrocities and violations of human rights in Sudan is endless....
No-Cost Decision-Making
Those who imagine that collective decision-making by government officials is better than individual decision-making in a market economy should have been present at a recent meeting of the Planning Commission for the city of San Mateo, California. A man who has been...
The Curious Lack of Curiosity About WMD
“Week after week after week after week,” said Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., about President Bush’s rationale for going to war with Iraq , “we were told lie after lie after lie after lie.” Were we? Jordan recently seized 20 tons of chemicals...
The Investing Philosophy of Philip A. Fisher: Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
When Philip A. Fisher died last month at the age of 96, it suddenly struck me that being a wise and patient stock market guru may be the best route to a long life. “His career spanned 74 years,” wrote his son, Kenneth Fisher, in a column in Forbes....
The Economics of the Military Draft
Last year, Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) introduced bills calling for reinstatement of the military draft. A far more descriptive term for the military draft is government confiscation of labor services, but keeping with the spirit of...
What’s Left to Go Up? No Doubts About the Dow
After a year in which every stock market in the world has risen handsomely, real estate has gone through the roof, and bonds and commodities have soared as well, the witty and bearish Jim Grant, editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, has titled his spring...
The “Cost” of Medical Care
If you ask most people about the cost of medical care, they may tell you how much they have to pay per visit to their doctor’s office or the monthly bill for their prescription drugs. But these are not the costs of medical care. These are the prices paid. The...
“Repositioning” Reality: The World of Non-A in Fallujah
The press has done its usual fine job of reporting on the siege of Fallujah–which is to say that it is impossible for the public to figure out what is going on there. The difficulty isn’t all a matter of bad reporting, though. The important thing to...
“Progressive” Education and Taping Kids to Dumpsters
In an op-ed back in March, syndicated columnist Walter Williams slammed public schools for their absurd policies. One of the examples he cited was of Metro Nashville Public School administrators’ decision to stop posting honor rolls or displaying academic...
Faith-Based “Freedom”
Q: Why do you think President Bush is making Constitutional opposition to gay marriage such a priority? I’m much more concerned about lowering taxes further and cutting the role of government in our lives. What gives? A: I blame it all on religion and...
Frequently Asked Questions about Education in America
1. How many students are enrolled in public and private schools in the United States? According to U.S. Department of Education estimates, there are 47.6 million students in public schools and 5.9 million in private schools.[1] As many as 2 million children are...
Rich Liberals
John Kerry and his wife, Teresa, are worth an estimated $500 million. Along with a $35 million private Gulfstream V jet and an $800,000 boat, they own five homes in the U.S. (Source: MSNBC.com) Just what we need: more guilty liberals. Much is made about...
Random Thoughts for April 2004
Random thoughts on the passing scene: A reader has suggested that elections be held on April 16th — the day after we pay our income taxes. That is one of the few things that might discourage politicians from being big spenders. Just before France surrendered to...
Buddha Bad for Business
Recently 115 corporate executives paid $100 each for advice from that repository of business acumen, the Dalai Lama. The Nobel Peace Prize winning Buddhist spiritual leader addressed the execs in Irvine, CA. Granted, attendees were probably attracted more by his...
J.F.K.: Jiggy Fly Kerry
Gotta give it to Democratic presidential contender John Kerry. He knows how to keep it real. In an MTV interview, the host asked, “Well, are there any trends out there in music, or even in popular culture in general that have piqued your interest?” Kerry...
Failure Looms at Fallujah
A turning point in what President Bush has called the War on Terrorism is at hand. How and whether the American military handles enemy confrontations in Iraq during the coming weeks will tell Islamic terrorists and their state sponsors everything they need to know...
Bait-and-Switch Media
Readers sometimes ask why I am seldom seen or heard on television or radio. Mainly it is because I turn down 90 percent of the invitations I get. A recent radio interview shows why. I was invited on as a guest to talk about my new book, “Affirmative Action...
Poor Education Prognosis
Drs. Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom’s new book “No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning” shows that the government education whites receive is nothing to write home about, but for blacks, it’s no less than a disgraceful disaster....
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