The December of 1989 marked the end of one of the most extraordinary six months of the century....
March 6. 2009 -- Republicans and conservatives are not synonymous, nor are conservatives and friends of freedom. But after the 2008 Republic
October 12, 2008 -- Important truths about human nature and morality have been on display in the 2008 presidential campaign. Voters are angry as they watch the stock market and their retirement accounts collapse. They are angry as they see CEOs of collapsed financial institutions walking away with huge compensation packages, seeming rewards for their failures. And they are angry at Congress and the Bush administration further rewarding them with a $700 billion bailout.
May 1, 2009—Republicans can both boo and cheer Sen. Arlen Specter’s switch to the Democratic Party. It’s a heavy blow for them to lose their
April 22, 2005 -- Today is a religious holiday that should make us all into atheists. April 22, 2005, marks the 35th anniversary of Earth
Entertainment celebrities with leftist political views are hardly anything new. What is unusual, however, is for one to reveal the deep
Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter’s sudden change from the Republican to the Democratic Party has left Republicans with mixed feelings: rag
So much has been written about the 9-11 terrorist attacks that it is difficult to add much that is new or enlightening...
June 2, 2011 -- Oral arguments in the back-dated options case of Greg Reyes (pictured below) were conducted on May 10 and can now be heard on-line— here . To recall the facts of the case: During part of the time when Greg Reyes was CEO of Brocade, the company’s SEC filings failed to follow a commission rule in accounting for options issued to employees. (The rule is known as APB 25, and I have explained elsewhere why it is utterly absurd .) But Reyes was not charged merely with violating the SEC’s technical accounting and bookkeeping regulations. He was prosecuted for committing a criminal fraud. The prosecutors’ argument was that Reyes had purposely violated the APB 25 accounting regulation in order to avoid treating employee stock options as an expense, thereby inflating Brocade’s apparent earnings and deceiving investors about the worth of the company’s stock, which of course he held.
December 20, 2002 -- "Drop the candy cane, step away from the punch bowl." Is that the order we’ll hear some day from armed food cops trying to prevent us from committing holiday health crimes against ourselves? Before you emit a "Ho ho ho" of derision, take a sip of your eggnog (360 calories per cup) and consider the ghost of Christmas future that might haunt us if we’re not careful. Here’s how the criminalization of Christmas goodies might come about. The first contributing element is the "war on fat." Some groups and agencies claim that 65 percent of Americans are overweight and 30 percent are obese. While many Americans do have serious weight problems, by the questionable standard used to generate these stats, athletes like Barry Bonds and Michael Jordan should go on diets. It’s also alleged that 300,000 die each year from weight-related problems. Never mind that the New England Journal of Medicine stated, "that figure is by no means well established. Not only is it derived from weak or incomplete data, but it is also called into question by the methodologic difficulties."
February 1, 2001 -- One consequence of the U. S. defense of Western Europe during the Cold War was that it made possible an unprecedented level of peaceful cooperation among West European nations. That cooperation has now culminated in the creation of the European Union (EU), a quasi-federal system that is in some ways like America's. Many of the Union's goals have been laudable: the elimination of protective tariffs between member states; the imposition of substantial budgetary-deficit- and national-debt restrictions in anticipation of monetary union; and monetary union itself, with its increased ease of price comparisons throughout Europe and the imposition of "Greenspanesque" monetary discipline on historically inflationary countries. We are even beginning to see movement toward Europe's assuming responsibility for its own military defense, which would reduce the burden borne by American taxpayers.
August 28, 2009--A few days before the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), better known as the “Cash for Clunkers” program, was brought to an end on Monday, August 24, President Obama said that it had been “ successful beyond anyone’s imagination .” With rebates of either $3,500 or $4,500 up for grabs, approximately 700,000 gas guzzlers were traded in for more fuel-efficient models. While there has been some noise about the U.S. Department of Transportation being slow to reimburse car dealers, and some protectionists complaining about purchases of foreign vehicles, supporters are nonetheless hailing the program’s results as a boon for the environment and for the economy.
March 6, 2009 - There is little good news for free market enthusiasts in President Obama’s first budget, unveiled last week. One of the exceptions is his proposal to rein in farm subsidies by cutting off one type of payment to farms with sales over $500,000 per year. The President actually deserves some credit for following through on this laudable campaign promise, and I certainly hope he succeeds in facing down the opposition.
February 2, 2009 – One of the things economists across the political spectrum agree on is that protectionism is bad. It is clearly bad for foreign companies being excluded from domestic markets, but it is also bad for domestic companies using foreign inputs, and bad too for domestic consumers who must pay more for goods and services. Bad for everyone, in short, except the specific domestic industries targeted for special privileges. Oh, and the politicians who cater to those industries and can expect votes and contributions in return.
February 11, 2009 - The press has made much of the announced closing of the military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But what about the rest of the island, still ruled by the Castro regime that has ground the nation of 11 million beneath its boot heels for 50 years now? Why do the Cuban people suffer so? The short answer is: they suffer because they live under a communist regime that has largely outlawed free enterprise, not to mention the free movement of people and the freedoms of speech, assembly, and the press.
September 23, 2009—Something only rarely addressed during the acrimonious debate on health care is why we take such poor care of our health
March 26, 2009 -- The Drug War has been in the news again this week. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed off to Mexico on Wednesday...
October 14, 2009—Is it just a coincidence that celebrity documentarian Michael Moore’s latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, hit theaters
April 3, 2009 -- I nearly fell off my chair when I read that President Barack Obama had fired the CEO of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, last weekend. Granted, his dismissal was just a condition of continued government assistance to the troubled carmaker. GM could have walked way from the deal and retained its independence. Still, the move does set a disturbing precedent. Now, one might ask, why wouldn’t government money come with strings attached? Recipients of taxpayer funds should be held accountable for spending those funds wisely, shouldn’t they? And who better to hold them accountable than taxpayers’ representatives in government, who doled out this largesse in the first place?
May 28, 2009 — First, they came for the banks, and a few people spoke out, but nobody listened because banking is mysterious and people hate banks. Then they came for the car companies, and again, a few people spoke out, but still nobody listened because there were so many well-paying jobs at risk. Now, they’re coming for the newspapers. But if they get those, will there be anybody left to speak out when they come for you? Of course, governments have been messing with banks forever. They supported fractional reserve banking, giving birth to the so-called “business cycle” of booms and busts. They created central banks like the Federal Reserve, loosing inflationary policies upon their populaces and making possible a Great Depression unlike any the world had seen. And they abandoned the gold standard, severing one of the final tethers that had kept monetary policies tied to economic reality. The quasi-nationalization of the financial industry is only the most recent intervention, needed to stave off the unintended consequences of previous interventions.
The December of 1989 marked the end of one of the most extraordinary six months of the century....
March 6. 2009 -- Republicans and conservatives are not synonymous, nor are conservatives and friends of freedom. But after the 2008 Republic
October 12, 2008 -- Important truths about human nature and morality have been on display in the 2008 presidential campaign. Voters are angry as they watch the stock market and their retirement accounts collapse. They are angry as they see CEOs of collapsed financial institutions walking away with huge compensation packages, seeming rewards for their failures. And they are angry at Congress and the Bush administration further rewarding them with a $700 billion bailout.
May 1, 2009—Republicans can both boo and cheer Sen. Arlen Specter’s switch to the Democratic Party. It’s a heavy blow for them to lose their
April 22, 2005 -- Today is a religious holiday that should make us all into atheists. April 22, 2005, marks the 35th anniversary of Earth
Entertainment celebrities with leftist political views are hardly anything new. What is unusual, however, is for one to reveal the deep
Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter’s sudden change from the Republican to the Democratic Party has left Republicans with mixed feelings: rag
So much has been written about the 9-11 terrorist attacks that it is difficult to add much that is new or enlightening...
June 2, 2011 -- Oral arguments in the back-dated options case of Greg Reyes (pictured below) were conducted on May 10 and can now be heard on-line— here . To recall the facts of the case: During part of the time when Greg Reyes was CEO of Brocade, the company’s SEC filings failed to follow a commission rule in accounting for options issued to employees. (The rule is known as APB 25, and I have explained elsewhere why it is utterly absurd .) But Reyes was not charged merely with violating the SEC’s technical accounting and bookkeeping regulations. He was prosecuted for committing a criminal fraud. The prosecutors’ argument was that Reyes had purposely violated the APB 25 accounting regulation in order to avoid treating employee stock options as an expense, thereby inflating Brocade’s apparent earnings and deceiving investors about the worth of the company’s stock, which of course he held.
December 20, 2002 -- "Drop the candy cane, step away from the punch bowl." Is that the order we’ll hear some day from armed food cops trying to prevent us from committing holiday health crimes against ourselves? Before you emit a "Ho ho ho" of derision, take a sip of your eggnog (360 calories per cup) and consider the ghost of Christmas future that might haunt us if we’re not careful. Here’s how the criminalization of Christmas goodies might come about. The first contributing element is the "war on fat." Some groups and agencies claim that 65 percent of Americans are overweight and 30 percent are obese. While many Americans do have serious weight problems, by the questionable standard used to generate these stats, athletes like Barry Bonds and Michael Jordan should go on diets. It’s also alleged that 300,000 die each year from weight-related problems. Never mind that the New England Journal of Medicine stated, "that figure is by no means well established. Not only is it derived from weak or incomplete data, but it is also called into question by the methodologic difficulties."
February 1, 2001 -- One consequence of the U. S. defense of Western Europe during the Cold War was that it made possible an unprecedented level of peaceful cooperation among West European nations. That cooperation has now culminated in the creation of the European Union (EU), a quasi-federal system that is in some ways like America's. Many of the Union's goals have been laudable: the elimination of protective tariffs between member states; the imposition of substantial budgetary-deficit- and national-debt restrictions in anticipation of monetary union; and monetary union itself, with its increased ease of price comparisons throughout Europe and the imposition of "Greenspanesque" monetary discipline on historically inflationary countries. We are even beginning to see movement toward Europe's assuming responsibility for its own military defense, which would reduce the burden borne by American taxpayers.
August 28, 2009--A few days before the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), better known as the “Cash for Clunkers” program, was brought to an end on Monday, August 24, President Obama said that it had been “ successful beyond anyone’s imagination .” With rebates of either $3,500 or $4,500 up for grabs, approximately 700,000 gas guzzlers were traded in for more fuel-efficient models. While there has been some noise about the U.S. Department of Transportation being slow to reimburse car dealers, and some protectionists complaining about purchases of foreign vehicles, supporters are nonetheless hailing the program’s results as a boon for the environment and for the economy.
March 6, 2009 - There is little good news for free market enthusiasts in President Obama’s first budget, unveiled last week. One of the exceptions is his proposal to rein in farm subsidies by cutting off one type of payment to farms with sales over $500,000 per year. The President actually deserves some credit for following through on this laudable campaign promise, and I certainly hope he succeeds in facing down the opposition.
February 2, 2009 – One of the things economists across the political spectrum agree on is that protectionism is bad. It is clearly bad for foreign companies being excluded from domestic markets, but it is also bad for domestic companies using foreign inputs, and bad too for domestic consumers who must pay more for goods and services. Bad for everyone, in short, except the specific domestic industries targeted for special privileges. Oh, and the politicians who cater to those industries and can expect votes and contributions in return.
February 11, 2009 - The press has made much of the announced closing of the military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But what about the rest of the island, still ruled by the Castro regime that has ground the nation of 11 million beneath its boot heels for 50 years now? Why do the Cuban people suffer so? The short answer is: they suffer because they live under a communist regime that has largely outlawed free enterprise, not to mention the free movement of people and the freedoms of speech, assembly, and the press.
September 23, 2009—Something only rarely addressed during the acrimonious debate on health care is why we take such poor care of our health
March 26, 2009 -- The Drug War has been in the news again this week. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed off to Mexico on Wednesday...
October 14, 2009—Is it just a coincidence that celebrity documentarian Michael Moore’s latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, hit theaters
April 3, 2009 -- I nearly fell off my chair when I read that President Barack Obama had fired the CEO of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, last weekend. Granted, his dismissal was just a condition of continued government assistance to the troubled carmaker. GM could have walked way from the deal and retained its independence. Still, the move does set a disturbing precedent. Now, one might ask, why wouldn’t government money come with strings attached? Recipients of taxpayer funds should be held accountable for spending those funds wisely, shouldn’t they? And who better to hold them accountable than taxpayers’ representatives in government, who doled out this largesse in the first place?
May 28, 2009 — First, they came for the banks, and a few people spoke out, but nobody listened because banking is mysterious and people hate banks. Then they came for the car companies, and again, a few people spoke out, but still nobody listened because there were so many well-paying jobs at risk. Now, they’re coming for the newspapers. But if they get those, will there be anybody left to speak out when they come for you? Of course, governments have been messing with banks forever. They supported fractional reserve banking, giving birth to the so-called “business cycle” of booms and busts. They created central banks like the Federal Reserve, loosing inflationary policies upon their populaces and making possible a Great Depression unlike any the world had seen. And they abandoned the gold standard, severing one of the final tethers that had kept monetary policies tied to economic reality. The quasi-nationalization of the financial industry is only the most recent intervention, needed to stave off the unintended consequences of previous interventions.