Socialism is dead in the former Soviet Union, but if you live in New England, it is alive and well in your grocer’s dairy case. The price you pay for a gallon of milk is not determined by competition and the free market. It is set instead by a cartel called the...
POLITICS
The basic and crucial political issue of our age is: capitalism versus socialism, or freedom versus statism. For decades, this issue has been silenced, suppressed, evaded, and hidden under the foggy, undefined rubber-terms of “conservatism” and “liberalism” which had lost their original meaning and could be stretched to mean all things to all men. – AYN RAND
Self Objectivity
Q: You often write that it’s a good idea to identify your objectively positive behaviors each day, so that your morale and self-esteem will build. How can you practically go about doing this? A: The single most effective method I know of is to simply summarize,...
Alan Greenspan: Maestro or Meddling Menace?
Yesterday the markets thumbed their collective nose at the “Maestro.” At Tuesday’s close, all the broad indices — every one of them: the NASDAQ Composite, the S&P 500, the Russell 2000, and the Wilshire Total Market — were all...
Kids and Guns
Every time there’s a school shooting, there are demands for greater gun control measures that range from longer waiting periods and mandated gun locks to stricter licensing and restricted sales. With all the political posturing and demagoguery that follows, a...
Advanced Investing: Strangle with SOX
If you’re a tech investor and you’re feeling a little whiplashed right about now, here’s an idea for you: strangle on SOX. I don’t mean you should strangle yourself with your socks — although I admit it’s tempting sometimes —...
Laws Versus Values
During the ’40s, when I attended primary and secondary school, one didn’t hear of school shootings. Why? Did we have better laws banning guns in and around schools? Or hadn’t guns been invented? Many of today’s youngsters begin the school day...
Free Trade: Why Think Local When You Can Go Global?
If Bush administration officials think they have their hands full shepherding the president’s tax-cut package through a closely divided Congress, wait until they turn their full attention to reviving a moribund U.S. trade policy. As U.S. Trade Representative...
Dressing Down Environmental Fashion at Patagonia
Patagonia, maker of “environmentally conscious” sportswear and enemy of conventional agriculture, has issued a “chicken little” alert to its customers over genetically modified crops. Employing the usual bad science and scare tactics, the...
Pol Pot’s Cheerleader
The death of Pol Pot, 23 years to the week after he and the Khmer Rouge seized control of Cambodia, occasioned long backward glances at one of the 20th century’s most horrific genocides. It was noted everywhere that the communist reign of terror in Cambodia...
Now What?
Great. Now what. The NASDAQ has logged the best two weeks in its history. All the major market indexes have reinstated back above the long-term trendlines that they broke last month. The Fed has lowered interest rates for the fourth time so far this year. We’ve...
Let There Be Free Trade
Leaders of 34 American countries are meeting this weekend in Quebec City at the Summit of the Americas to discuss the establishment of a free trade zone extending from Canada to Chile. A Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is a top priority of the Bush...
Is Racial Profiling a Fact in Cincinnati?
The shooting of a 19-year-old black, unarmed man by a Cincinnati police officer brings the number to 15 — 15 black males killed by the Cincinnati police since 1995. The latest death occurred on April 7, when a police officer chased and shot Timothy Thomas, a...
Rosie vs. Reality: What Every Woman Must Know
Suppose a Hollywood star or a political figure publicly announced that he or she favored making all women and families helpless and defenseless against vicious thugs. Would women cheer and vow their undying support for that person? Yet if you believe the published...
P.C. vs. B.C.
Have you read the comics lately? They’re not your father’s funny pages, anymore. The superheroes and silly creatures of old have taken a back seat to more politically correct characters — such as single working women (“Cathy” and...
Poisonous Politics: Arsenic in the Water
The latest political alarm is about arsenic in our drinking water. Yes, Virginia, there is now, has been in the past, and may forever in the future be arsenic in our drinking water. Obviously not a lot or I wouldn’t be writing this and you wouldn’t be...
Lessons From Luber’s Beige Book of Investor Psychology
Last night I found myself absent-mindedly singing a snippet of a song from Meredith Wilson’s song from The Music Man, “The Sadder But Wiser Girl For Me.” Only to my surprise, the words came out differently…..”A slower and stealthier rally...
Stop Looking for Catalysts — This Isn’t Chemistry Class
One of the bear market arguments I read this weekend stated that last week’s Nasdaq rally was a false rally because there was no catalyst to drive the rally. Well here’s another perspective. Every false rally in the Nasdaq over the past six months has been...
Recent Warming is Not Historically Unique
Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,Now green in youth, now withering on the ground:Another race the following spring supplies:They fall successive, and successive rise–Homer, Iliad, Book VI, Line 181 Recent news coverage portrays the twentieth century...
America’s Problem with Prejudice
America faces the threat of a widespread, corrosive prejudice. I am not talking about racial prejudice — though racial politics has something to do with it. The prejudice I am talking about is aimed at something much broader, much more important than any racial...
The Next Interest Rate Cut Counts
From one perspective, this week’s rally in the Nasdaq seems incredible. Although pummeled by a barrage of bad earnings and earnings warnings from technology companies last week, the Nasdaq managed to rally for four consecutive days — the first time this...
The Case of Dell: Does a Company Own Its Customers?
What criteria do you use to decide whether or not to invest in a company? P/E ratio? PEG ratio? Price to book ratio? Earnings growth? Revenue growth? Market share? All of these criteria have their appropriate use, but I would like to submit for your consideration...
Cincinnati Under Siege: Yawning at Black-On-White Violence
Cincinnati is burning. Does anyone care? This mid-Western city has been under siege since Monday, its downtown and surrounding suburbs overrun by black demonstrators targeting innocent white bystanders and businesses. Roving thugs have looted dozens of white-owned...
A Lower Debt Should Not Come Before Lower Taxes
Lowering the debt is a good idea–President Bush would reduce it to $818 billion by 2011–but a lower debt shouldn’t come before lower taxes. Can you feel the beat? It’s the sound of Washington liberals banging the national-debt drum to drown out...
Putin’s Choice Over the Future of Russia
The expulsion of Russian intelligence officers and diplomats by the Bush administration did not kick off a new Cold War, but it is a symptom of deteriorating U.S.-Russian relations. Moscow stands to lose much more than Washington if the relationship goes sour. Senior...
Warning, Congress! Look Before You Leap Into Internet Privacy Thicket
House Majority Leader Richard Armey this week provided some sound advice to his colleagues intent on passing privacy restrictions for the Internet — Let’s look at government privacy practices first. Armey noted a litany of abuses by federal agencies, from...
Learning from the Money Masters
Last week I noted in this space that while many Internet companies have crashed and burned, the Internet itself is soaring to new heights. Some 100 million new users worldwide are coming online each year, e-mail traffic continues to explode, and people and companies...
The Charter/HSA Connection….How Charter Boradband Went From Bad To Worse
Today, I’m going to share some information with my readers that I have known unofficially for some time regarding Charter Communications’ broadband services infrastructure. I’ve not shared it before because my previous conversations with Charter...
The Bankrupt Reparations Movement
The reparations for slavery movement got an airing on a recent “60 Minutes.” America, argue several “black leaders,” owes reparations to blacks for the enslavement and forced labor of black ancestors. America’s “black plight,”...
The Facts vs. “Campaign Finance Reform” Fictions
To crusaders for “campaign finance reform,” as with many other political crusaders, the facts simply do not matter. What matters is their vision — and winning. Facts can be left to others. Most of the arguments for campaign finance reform cannot...
China Should Apologize To The U.S. Over the Aircraft Collision
China is so obsessed with making the United States apologize for the recent collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a U.S. Navy plane, one would think it was the Miss Manners of international diplomacy. But the situation involving 24 American servicemen held on...
How Arafat Killed The “Peace Process”
The election of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in February prompted much hysteria in the Arab world — and hand-wringing in Washington — over Sharon’s “commitment” to the “peace process.” Ever wonder why the same standards...
Not A Good IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Buried in President Bush’s liberal-spending, $44.5 billion education budget is a little-noticed proposal to increase funds for special education. The budget item intends to help states and school districts comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education...
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