The British Broadcasting Corporation has made itself look ridiculous by issuing orders that its reporters are not to refer to Saddam Hussein as an ex-dictator. Apparently using the word "dictator" would compromise the BBC's neutrality and call its objectivity into...
Literally hundreds of readers informed me that in last week's column, "Some Things I Wonder About," my reference to a Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City -- who set his 32-foot Winnebago on cruise control, left the driver's seat to brew a cup of coffee, crashed, then sued...
Many of my readers can't understand why, as an investment strategist, I write so much about politics and government policy. Politics doesn't have anything to do with investing! Well, unless you slept through 2003, now you know that they do. The year 2003 was a...
Byron Wien, the veteran Morgan Stanley strategist, is one of my favorite market seers. Annually since 1986 he has sent clients a list of "ten surprises" he expects for the year ahead. The list for 2004, released this morning, is wonderfully optimistic, and it includes...
Last month, The Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation severely repudiated a board which, a year ago, had judged The Skeptical Environmentalist, the best-selling book by Bjorn Lomborg, "objectively dishonest" and "clearly contrary to the standards of...
The Bush Administration is declaring victory now that the dictator (or for the BBC, "Leader") of Libya, Moammar Gadhafi, has agreed to let in United Nations Weapons Inspectors and to dismantle all Weapons of Mass Destruction programs. To "reward" Gadhafi for his...
One of the most powerful museums in Washington, D.C., is the Holocaust Memorial Museum. It's the one site I always recommend to people visiting the city, even though it takes a couple of days to shake off the malaise that settles in after you've seen it. It's a...
Think the Mutual-Fund industry's "late trading" and "market timing" abuses are scandalous? Well, I never quite saw what all the fuss was about. But now the mutual-fund industry is doing something that's really scandalous. It's engaged in a campaign to put America's...
Consider yourself blessed if you, like myself, grew up with parents who taught personal responsibility through leading by both word and deed. Yet lacking an in-home role model or role models — my father grew up as an out-of-wedlock only child — does not necessarily determine one’s fate or destiny. Sometimes one must become one’s own role model, a responsibility made easier by following this prescription, originally printed in my first book, “The Ten Things You Can’t Say in America.”
If you wonder what has gotten California in such an economic mess, here is a recent sample: The state legislature has passed a law requiring landlords to give tenants 60 days' notice, instead of 30 days, before evicting them. In other words, if you are renting to a...
Early in our marriage, 40-some years ago, Mrs. Williams would return from shopping complaining about the unreasonable prices. Having aired her complaints, she'd then ask me to unload her car laden with purchases. After the unloading, I'd ask her: "I thought you said...
I've been a vigorous defender of the investment-banking and mutual fund industries against over-reaching shakedowns by regulatory vigilante Eliot Spitzer. But now, in at attempt to deflect attention from the scandals raised by Spitzer, the funds business has done...
"Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse or omission." -- Isabel Paterson, "The God of the Machine" Now that we're in the thick of the holiday season, we're again being warned to be wary of the commercialization, corporatism...
Nationally, Police agencies are stepping up enforcement of seatbelt laws, and in the case of Nevada this means that if you're pulled over for something (you can't be pulled over for not having a seatbelt on) and aren't wearing your seatbelt you will be given a ticket...
In a hugely complex world, there is no way for the average person -- or any person, for that matter -- to be knowledgeable about even half the things that affect their lives. Most of us are necessarily ignorant of many fields, from botany to brain surgery. We can...
Moonie, my neighbor's cat, sits predictably outside my front door every morning at 7 a.m. Moonie expects breakfast, and if unhappy with that day's selection -- fish, chicken, beef -- Moonie sniffs indignantly and walks over to the front door and meows for his...
If the products and effects of commercialism suddenly vanished, people would find themselves sitting on the cold ground naked, wondering where everything went.
Those who rail against profits and "greed" seldom stop to think through what they are saying, much less go check the facts. Most of the great American fortunes-- Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie, etc. -- came from finding more efficient ways to produce a product or service...
Profits are certainly without honor among the intelligentsia. The very word produces negative reactions, even from people who cannot give you a single reason why money carrying that label is worse than money called by other names. Many professional athletes and...
Why are we a rich nation? It's tempting to suggest our wealth is a result of bountiful natural resources. However, if bountiful resources were the source of wealth, South America and Africa would be rich instead of being mired in poverty. Hong Kong, Japan and England,...
The discovery of Saddam Hussein in a crypt-like hole, hidden by bricks and dirt, in a farmhouse in a small town near Tikrit brings to mind the story of another Iraqi who also hid from the authorities by literally going underground. That Iraqi is Jawad Amir Sayyid, 45,...
One of Feulner's Laws of Public Policy reads: "There are no permanent victories in Washington." These days, we're seeing that law borne out over Internet taxation.This looked settled years ago. Congress has voted twice--in 1998 and 2001--to ban any taxes on Internet...
The news last month that police had arrested Sajid Badat at his home in Gloucester, England, shook many Britons. The charges against him concerned his training with al-Qaida in Afghanistan and his possessing PETN explosives, the same substance would-be shoe bomber...
The solution to the high cost of prescription drugs, we are told by Democrats and Republicans alike, is more government intervention. Well, if we're going to use government muscle to lower our medical expenses, why not go all the way? Thus my proposal: Outlaw...
Latest pro-Capitalism goodness sent weekly to your email box.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.