Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Environment on Dec 22nd, 2009
From a 1998 paper looking at the (to then) effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act: There have been just over 1,400 listings of species under the act. Only 27 species have been taken off the list since, some of which have subsequently gone extinct. How many species have actually recovered according to the ESA? How […]
Posted in trade on Dec 21st, 2009
After all, just think of all the candle manufacturers he killed. HT to Galen Dole (what follows is his commentary). How many candle makers were put out of business by Thomas Edison? In my answer to this question, I will assume that all candles before Edison’s time were used exclusively for lighting purposes, and will […]
Posted in Government Thuggery on Dec 19th, 2009
Barack O’Bush on the Christmas present we are all getting from the wonderful do-gooders in DC: The Congressional Budget Office said the Senate bill would extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who lack it. It also imposes new regulations to curb abuses of the insurance industry, and the president noted one last-minute addition […]
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Personal Finance on Dec 19th, 2009
Do NOT take financial advice from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. Are there economics editors over there? The brief article is talking about how zero inflation is “bad for you.” Ignore the larger economic question about how inflation is bad for you, this article is arguing that from a pure dollars and sense perspective, inflation makes […]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam on Dec 19th, 2009
I am forced to make accommodations for special needs students from time to time, and am happy to do so when the situation calls for it. For example, I have students that have physical difficulty writing, so I allow them to take their exams on a word processor. But here is the latest thing I […]
Posted in Economics Problems, Market Failures on Dec 18th, 2009
I am wondering if the following might considered a market failure in the traditional sense. I don’t think so because I do not see uncompensated benefits and costs here, so maybe a better question would be to ask why this equilibrium persists. Here it is: have you ever noticed the janitors where you work or […]
Posted in Economics Problems, labor markets on Dec 16th, 2009
We have had a sighting of an man employment eating beast right here in North America! And this one doesn’t seem to have the tail of poisonous spines or multiple rows of teeth. And what is this vicious creature? A reduction in the minimum wage. Paul Krugman castigates the Focks news crowd for thinking that […]
Posted in Government Thuggery on Dec 16th, 2009
Thus says my Big Brother. Coming to my hometown of Rochester: traffic light cameras to “protect us” … what a joke. Here is what will be coming soon to protect us some more. Better yet, maybe this is coming soon? So technology giveth much to advance our freedom, technology also takes it away (well, thugs […]
Posted in Environment, Property Rights, Regulation on Dec 16th, 2009
So you think the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act guarantee that the air and water are cleaned? One goal of the Clean Water Act of 1972 was to upgrade the nation’s sewer systems, many of them built more than a century ago, to handle growing populations and increasing runoff of rainwater and waste. […]
Posted in Entrepreneurs on Dec 15th, 2009
The AP History view of the “robber barons” like John D. Rockefeller is that they monopolized entire industries, forced smaller competitors out of business, made lots of “offers people couldn’t refuse” and generally did all of this much to the detriment of the American consumers. So, these bastards needed to be stopped! Enter in the […]
