“We [the Iranians] have a right to have nuclear technology. We are a nation with an ancient civilization and rich culture. I think it’s really hypocritical of Mr. Bush to criticize Iran for having nuclear technology while Pakistan, India and Israel have...
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
Tax Cuts: A $70 Billion ‘Giveaway’ to the Rich?
Republican and Democratic big government advocates whine about President Bush’s proposed tax cuts, particularly cuts in the capital gains tax. They say it’s a $70 billion giveaway to the rich. Listening to demagoguery about the rich, I’ve sometimes...
Education: Then and Now
Recent news that school children in Charlotte, North Carolina, had the highest test scores among children in big cities across the country had a special impact on me. Back in the late 1930s, I went to school in Charlotte and, while I don’t know what the test...
Curing Poverty or Using Poverty
“China is lifting a million people a month out of poverty.” It is just one statement in an interesting new book titled “The Undercover Economist” by Tim Harford. But it has huge implications. I haven’t checked out the statistics but they...
Green Lies and “Open Spaces”
Not often do Rush Limbaugh and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman agree on anything but recently both of them pointed out the same pattern in the prices of housing — and both were correct. The pattern is this: Despite hysteria over high home prices, in most...
The Poverty Hype
Despite claims that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, poverty is nowhere near the problem it was yesteryear — at least for those who want to work. Talk about the poor getting poorer tugs at the hearts of decent people and squares nicely with the...
Serious or Suicidal: The Intelligentsia’s Approval of the Iranian Nuclear Program
When you are boating on the Niagara River, there are signs marking the point at which you must go ashore or else you will be sucked over the falls. With Iran moving toward the development of nuclear weapons, we are getting dangerously close to that fatal point of no...
Imposing Your Preferences On Others Through Government
Philosopher David Hume warned that, “It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.” That’s why we should guard against any encroachment on liberty, no matter how small. Let’s look at a couple of instances where, at our peril,...
Some Thoughts on Career Politicians
I don’t make a million dollars a year but I think every member of Congress should be paid at least that much. It’s not because those turkeys in Washington deserve it. It’s because we deserve a lot better people than we have in Congress. The cost of...
Court Victory Against “Intelligent Design”
There was a significant defeat for the whole Intelligent Disguise–excuse me, Intelligent Design (ID)–movement today, when a Harrisburg, PA judge ruled against its being taught in the schools of a local school district. CNN reports: HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania...
The Limitations of the Marxist Approach to Writing History: David R. Roediger’s The Wages of Whiteness
Ever since Karl Marx wrote about communism as “the end of history,”[1] there have been historians fascinated by his suggestions on how they should be working towards that end. Many have studied and taken up his methods of looking at the past, implicitly...
Merry You-Know-What
It was just a small thing but I was taken aback when I received a memo saying that the offices at work would be shut down during “winter closure.” Then it dawned on me that “winter closure” was what we used to call “Christmas...
The Consumer Rip-Off
Since allegations of oil company price-gouging have become topical, let’s look at real price manipulation. Suppose a dairyman wants to sell a gallon of milk for 25 cents less than his competitors, would you want him fined or jailed? Federal Milk Marketing Orders...
Universal Freedom: The Only Hope for Health Care
“Universal Health Care” is the increasing drumbeat of advocates who want Americans to place all responsibility for their health care in the hands of government. They say health care needs require us to put aside such considerations as personal choice and...
McCain’s Compassion for Evil
“We’ve sent a message to the world that the United States is not like the terrorists,” McCain said earlier as he sat next to Bush in the Oval Office. “We have no grief for them, but what we are is a nation that upholds values and standards of...
Will the Pope Steal this Christmas?
Okay gang, only a few shopping days left to make this the biggest grossing holiday in the history of capitalism. And so far, so good. Running the numbers in mid-December, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, predicted this year’s Christmas...
Betrayal of the Struggle
Last month, when Rosa Parks was laid to rest in Detroit, her eulogy contained well-deserved praise for her brave defiance of segregation laws that led to the 1955 Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott and later the 1956 Supreme Court ruling that banned public transportation...
The Media’s War
The media seem to have come up with a formula that would make any war in history unwinnable and unbearable: They simply emphasize the enemy’s victories and our losses. Losses suffered by the enemy are not news, no matter how large, how persistent, or how clearly...
Leave Our Borders Open!
It is impossible to seal America’s 19,857 miles of borders. But to gain a few votes and look “tough,” politicians today have no qualms against throwing money at an impossible task. But it would be wrong to seal our borders, even if we could, beyond a...
The “Windfall Profits” Smear
Politicians and pundits claim that oil companies’ recent quarter of higher profits is mostly a “windfall”–which should be “given back” to society via a proposed $20 billion tax. As Representative Dennis Kucinich and others say, they...
French Jacques Chirac’s New World Order Crumbles
A year ago, French President Jacques Chirac set out the core of a new strategic vision that would exclude the United States in favor of a European realignment with China. “Reasons of international balance justify strengthening links between Europe and China,...
Heavyweight Books
Too many people don’t read any books at all and some read only books with lots of pictures and simple words. However, at the other end of the spectrum, there are people who think nothing of digging into books that run into multiple volumes. This column is for...
Mind-Changing Books
From time to time, readers ask me what books have made the biggest difference in my life. I am not sure how to answer that question because the books that happened to set me off in a particular direction at a particular time may have no special message for others...
Gas Prices and Price Controls
With all the recent hype and demagoguery about gasoline price-gouging, maybe it’s time to talk about the basics of exchange. First, what is exchange? Exchange occurs when an owner transfers property rights or title to that which is his. Here’s the essence...
Christmas Reading
My annual list of books to recommend as Christmas presents is led by the clearest front-runner in years: “1776” by David McCullough. There was a time when the very mention of 1776 struck a responsive chord in Americans, as the year in which their...
Oil Company Profits and The Senator From Windfall
Of all the politicians complaining about the profits and practices of America ‘s wicked oil companies, few can top Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). Among her latest ventures is a demand that the oil company executives who testified Nov. 9 be brought back to the...
The Unlearned Lesson of Enron–4 Years Later
Four years ago this month, Enron Corporation–number 7 on the Fortune 500–filed for bankruptcy, culminating a collapse that shocked America. It is commonly believed that Enron fell because its leaders, eager to make money, schemed to bilk investors. The...
How To Prevent Confiscatory Taxation: Cut Spending to Save Needed Tax Cuts
If you say, “I have good news and bad news,” people usually ask for the good news first. So here’s the good news: Our economy is growing, easily outpacing the tepid performance of other industrialized nations. Unemployment, according to the Labor...
Random Thoughts: November 2005
Random thoughts on the passing scene: Bumper sticker in Berkeley: “Animals are little people in fur coats.” My tastes must be behind the times. When I see women in “before” and “after” advertisements, I often think they looked...
McJobs: Dead End Jobs?
Certain jobs are derisively referred to as “burger flipper” or “dead-end” jobs. I’d like someone to define a dead-end job. For example, I started out as a professor of economics at California State University, Los Angeles and then at...
What’s in a Name?
People have always sought distinctions but the ways they have tried to distinguish themselves have varied widely. Some have let their achievements speak for them but others have let their clothes, their tattoos, their pierced body parts, or just their loud and...
Senate Hearings on Energy Prices: Putting the Squeeze on Big Oil
Who can resist good theater? Certainly not American lawmakers. All the pieces were in place on Nov. 9, as the Senate held hearings about the soaring price of energy. The CEOs of the five largest oil companies were the guest stars, called in to endure lectures from a...
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