If you live in Albuquerque, N.M., and you have teen-agers who might be inclined to raid your wine, beer or whiskey cupboard while you are away, rent your housing, don’t buy. The city council has recently passed a law [September 2000] that lets the city seize...
POLITICS
Dangers Lurk in War on Crime
The war against crime is getting out of hand and needs to be reassessed before the Constitution is torn to shreds. Both lawmakers and law enforcers have forgotten that the ends don’t justify the means. In the determination to pursue crime — drug-related...
Brace Yourselves for Floridation
One of my favorite bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, recently penned an ode to “Californication.” The term refers to the spread of the Golden State’s worst attributes: smog, strip malls, drive-bys, and celebrity worship. “It’s understood...
Separating the Wheat From the Chad: Election 2000 Facts versus Myths
Elections are supposed to be decided by voters on election day, not by judges later on. But once state and local courts inject themselves into post-election controversies, without any legal justification, the only institution that can get rid of their interference is...
The U.S. Supreme Court Puts An End To The Florida Vote “Count” Farce
If the Supreme Court of the United States had not stepped in to stop the endless re-re-recounts in Florida, George W. Bush might have won a presidential election more times than Franklin D. Roosevelt — and all in one year. What has been even worse than all the...
Men Are Not From Mars and Women Are Not From Venus
Q: I observe much “male-bashing” in today’s America, and I also observe that it has become widely acceptable. (The “Lifetime” channel on cable TV provides one poignant example of this). I don’t mean the usual, superficial...
Confessions of a Venture Capitalist: Inside the High-Stakes World of Start-up Financing
I referred to the magic of Silicon Valley. That magic-an intoxicating mix of money, imagination, and inspiration-had its origin in the semiconductor boom of the 1970s, when dozens of companies seized on possibilities made ripe by Intel’s development of the first...
No Stinkin’ Badges: The Case Against Judicial Activism
In the old movie classic “The Treasure of Sierra Madre,” armed men confront Humphrey Bogart, claiming to be police. “If you’re policemen,” he asked, “where are your badges?” “We don’t need no stinkin’...
The Real Grinches are Environmentalist Luddites Who Stand In the Way of a Free-Market For Electricity
Windmills and candles and warm woolen mittens. Staticky sparks from the fur of small kittens. Campfires and solar panels and thermal paddings. These are a few of the favorite things that radical environmentalists would rather rely on for warmth, light, and electricity...
Law and Economics
Rather than my usual fall schedule of teaching in the Economics Department at George Mason University, I taught “The Economic Foundations of Legal Studies” at the university’s School of Law to first-year law students. Economics is no stranger at...
Is Microsoft a Hypocrite?
I was saddened to see the lead article in last Tuesday’s (12/5/00) Wall St. Journal “Microsoft Tries to Lob Monkey Wrench Into AOL-Time Warner Deal.” In the story, reporters alleged Microsoft might be cooperating with the Federal Trade Commission to...
Crazy Double Standards
The Federal Trade Commission has released its year-long study showing how Hollywood’s film industry, the music industry and the video-game industry have been deliberately targeting and marketing all manner of filth and violence to America’s children. No...
Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else
Some books are good, some are bad, but very few are real gems. One of these few gems is the recently published book “The Mystery of Capital” by Hernando de Soto. The subtitle tells what it is really about: “Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and...
Tyranny is Creeping Up On Us
Tyranny is creeping up on us. If you don’t believe it, consider the most prominent hallmarks of the Nazi and Communist regimes, which sought to supplant democracy in the 20th century. In National Socialist Germany and the Soviet Union, there were no First...
Cracking the Value Code: How Successful Businesses Are Creating Wealth in the New Economy
The following is an excerpt from the book Cracking the Value Code: How Successful Businesses Are Creating Wealth in the New Economy by Richard E.S. Boulton, Barry D. Libert and Steve M. Samek: How much does the New Economy weigh? Answer: A lot less than you might...
How Leftist’s Ignore Statistics When The Numbers Contradict Their Political Vision
A recent Census Bureau study of incomes in the United States not only reveals some interesting facts about the economic well-being of Americans, it reveals even more about the mindset of our times, especially among the intelligentsia. Amid pages and pages of tightly...
The Eng@ged Customer: The New Rules of Internet Direct Marketing
The following is an excerpt from the book The Engaged Customer: The New Rules of Internet Direct Marketing: It may sound odd, but the Holy Grail of Internet commerce and marketing is to provide the same kind of service that merchants and storekeepers did about a...
UNICEF Kills the Little Children…
“Breast is best.” No, it’s not the new slogan for Hooters restaurant. It’s the mantra of breast-feeding advocates who promote their cause with a cult-like fervor around the world. Their extremism must be condemned. I have nothing against...
Singapore Should Not Be Condemned By Its Neighbors, Rather Its Economic Practices Should Be Copied By Them
While Americans were home enjoying our Thanksgiving bounty of political controversy, Indonesia’s President Wahid Abdurrahman decided to raise a political ruckus of his own in Asia. At a recent meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Wahid...
The Amish Against The Feds
Everything I learned about the Amish, I learned from the old Harrison Ford movie, “Witness.” Members of this pacifist religious community don’t use electricity or listen to music. The women wear bonnets. The men drive black buggies. Thanks to...
Anecdotal Economics: Leave Crane Hunting in China To Bird Watchers
Crane hunting is the craze for foreign investors traveling in China. Seemingly every morning an American wakes up bright and early in his five star hotel built in the coastal cities expressly for the purpose of pampering foreign investors with expense accounts. He...
Moral Inversion in the Middle East
Israel should never have engaged in peace talks with a man who has repeatedly called for its destruction, and who has actively planned, led and participated in terrorist attacks that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of its citizens.
How Encyclopedia Britannica Was Blown To Bits
The following is an excerpt from the book:Blown to Bits : How the New Economics of Information Transforms Strategy A Cautionary Tale In 1768, three Scottish printers began publishing an integrated compendium of knowledge — the earliest and most famous...
Where are the Bloodhounds?
Is the media coverage of the election fiasco biased in favor of Gore? Many small instances of bias show up in reporters’ choice of words. When Democrats take to the streets, for example, they are always described as “demonstrators” or...
Amazing Politics
AMERICAN POLITICS, the only thing more amazing than the Democrats are the Republicans. How are the Democrats amazing? Let me count the ways. Whether it is petroleum, housing or teachers, Democrats restrict the supply and are then astonished at the inevitable bad...
Napster is About Freeloading, not Freedom
Conservatives have been at the forefront of defending Microsoft’s intellectual property rights, but are reluctant to criticize Napster for fear of seeming anti-technology and pro-government. Don’t be intimidated by the cyber-mob. Napster is about...
Letter to the Greek Government Condemning Conscription
Dear Sir, The policy of military conscription followed by the Greek government is an absolute and unmitigated outrage. At the beginning of their adult lives, young Greek men are enslaved into the military, with their formative years, career plans, and even their lives...
Conspiracy Theories
Q: What are your thoughts on assertions of a conspiracy by Republicans to steal the presidential election — made by Democrats and the mainstream media? It seems “conspiracy theories” abound today, by both the left and the right. What’s at the...
Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa
Before my arrival in Africa, I had spent four years reporting from southeast Asia. What I found in Asia was a region of amazing economic dynamism, a place largely defined by more than a decade of steady growth and development, vastly improved living standards, and...
The Solution to Africa’s Problems is Not Socialism But Freedom
Tidjane Thiam, writing in Newsweek’s recent special edition, says democracy is vital to economic growth. As minister of planning and economic development of Cote d’Ivoire, Thiam says: “Africa has paid too little attention to political modernization....
Wading Through the Gore Camp’s Shameless Lies
Florida has now given us the most famous dimples since Shirley Temple and the most famous long count since Tunney and Dempsey. Meanwhile, the Gore camp has given us the most shameless lies since Bill Clinton. Lie number one is that there are “uncounted...
Let the Sun Shine on the Supremes: Open up the Courts to America
When will the high and mighty hermits on the U.S. Supreme Court get over themselves and get with the 21st century? Unlike the judiciaries in 47 states, the highest court in the land still refuses to allow its hearings to be televised. Thanks to snooty traditions,...
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