Deflation is not falling prices. Deflation is not economic contraction. Deflation is when the Fed screws up. The idea of deflation has gotten more play in the press over the last two weeks than it has over the last ten years -- thanks to unusual negative readings in...
POLITICS
Phony Victims of Freedom in Academia
One of the most shameless frauds in academia today is the claim that a new "McCarthyism" is threatening academic freedom. According to this new cry of victimhood, conservative groups are "drawing up enemy lists" of professors who are opposed to the current war against...
Stupid Accounting Tricks: Extreme and Foundry By the Real Numbers
Remember back in high school algebra when you were first introduced to the concept of imaginary numbers? That's a good way to describe quarterly earnings reports these days -- as imaginary numbers. In the old days, when a company reported quarterly earnings, you had a...
Hostile Fire from Eco-“Extremists”
Which is more important: Well-trained Navy pilots or well-rested toads? Increased military preparedness or increased antelope populations? Improved bombing facilities or improved fairy shrimp habitats? The choice of environmental "extremists", no-growth activists and...
Where Were You on December 7, 1941?
Because of the September 11 terrorist attacks, December 7, 2001, the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, became especially significant. Many children never bothered to ask their parents and grandparents, "Where were you on December 7, 1941?" -- the date that will "live...
Enron and Social Security Reform II
Today I'm going to revisit a theme that I believe is the most important of all -- the revolution in the empowerment of the individual investor to make his own decisions and take his own risks. It's critical that we look at this now, because with the recent volatility...
Enron and Social Security Reform
Everyone with an axe to grind is using the example of Enron to grind free markets. And Paul Krugman is doing no less in a December 4, 2001, New York Times op-ed, "A Defining Issue." Krugman is using Enron to demonstrate the terrible dangers of "defined contribution"...
What is Economics?
To know what economics is, we must first know what an economy is. Perhaps most of us think of an economy as a system for the production and distribution of the goods and services we use in everyday life. That is true as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough....
What About the War Against Chutzpah?
As we undertake the War against Terrorism, President Bush should simultaneously announce a "War against Chutzpah." New York Rep. Nita Lowey, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairwoman, stands near the top of the Most Wanted List in our new War against...
Reducing Expenses in a Down Economy
Most of the people I know are looking for ways to reduce expenses, either because they have lost most of their net worth, lost Wheir job, or feel they are about to lose their job. Not a very happy way to begin this column on personal finance,?but those are the cold...
The Right To Know What the Government is Doing
With America immersed in a war against terrorism, journalists are beginning to face longer FOIA reply periods, and official data on government Web sites disappearing from public view for security reasons.
Investing Lessons from the Collapse of Enron
Leafing through a recent edition of the Value Line Investor Survey, an excellent research service with a track record for prudence and accuracy, I ran across what looked like the perfect company. Its profits were rising strongly and consistently. It had a solid...
Grave Matters for America’s Vets
Arlington National Cemetery, Va. -- On a cold gray day, the fierce colors of the American flag cloaked Johnny "Mike" Spann's coffin and warmed the air with patriotic incandescence. Nearby, the clip-clop of a riderless horse's hooves and the rat-a-tat-tat of a solo...
Stop Throwing Money at CDC
Dr. David Satcher, the nation's lame duck surgeon general, wants taxpayers to cough up more money for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This irrelevant bureaucrat's last-ditch money grab is one of the more distasteful examples of exploiting the Sept. 11...
Will eBay Survive?
With the death of Napster, eBay is the closest thing we have today to a broadband killer internet application. Since its inception, eBay has grown rapidly to its position of domination in the on-line auction market. It has been so successful that it's stock has been...
The Ruthless Grip of Logic
Memo to the world: Reality cannot be cheated. Politicians and diplomats like to pretend that you can cheat the laws of logic, that there is no need to commit to absolutes, and that there is something to be achieved by "constructive ambiguity." The past week has been a...
Stennis Families React to World Trade Center Flag
On Thanksgiving, the Aircraft Carrier USS John C. Stennis learned the story of how Sgt. Karl Hagstrom recovered the flag from the rubble of the World Trade Center and had shipped it to them to carry into battle. Karl has since learned the flag was received safely...
Cigarette Nazis on the March
Maryland's Montgomery County Council passed a measure whereby smokers whose neighbors are offended by the odor of cigarette smoke wafting from their homes would be fined up to $750. After the measure passed, County Executive Douglas Duncan promised to sign the bill...
In Defense of Missile Defense
"No progress on ABM Treaty," blared the headlines as President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin departed the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas. Those of us who want America to build a missile-defense system as soon as possible missed out on what would have been a...
Should Classes Be Smaller…or Simply More Orderly?
While there is much debate over the cost, wisdom, and effectiveness of different strategies for increasing the amount of learning time available in the average school year--such as increasing attendance rates, lengthening the school day, cutting out recess, and...
Tolerance for Terrorists?
How many times in the last several weeks have you heard or read sentences that begin, “If we’ve learned nothing else since Sept. 11, we’ve learned …?”
Banking on American Stupidity
Some American banks just don't get it. Here we are, at war with deadly foreign terrorists who exploited our lax immigration policies, and what are these U.S. financial institutions doing? Making it easier for illegal immigrants to do business inside our borders....
Defend the United States By Allowing Israel to Destroy the PLO
It is time that the United States recognize the true nature of Yasser Arafat and his regime. The PLO has been engaged in a terror campaign against Israel for decades, and today supports fanatical suicide bombers, who deliberately target and murder innocent civilians....
Shallow Hollywood Double Standard
So, here's the movie pitch: There's an average-looking guy seeking a lifelong female companion, who adamantly adheres to one rule -- no cigarette smoking. He meets, however, an attractive, smart, witty, vibrant person of good character with one flaw: she smokes. What...
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