The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. – F.A. Hayek
Posted in Government Gone Wild on Mar 31st, 2010
President Obama: If you like your health insurance, you can keep it … … this health reform plan will be deficit neutral. Today I learned this about the most totally awesome health care plan to save America: It includes … a ban on using funds from flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement arrangements or health savings [...]
Posted in Regulation on Mar 31st, 2010
It is about more government. Just like environmental protection is not about the environment and just like financial market reform is not about financial safety. Ralph Nader’s Center for Auto Safety had a chance to choose whether they cared more about auto safety or more government control of the car market, and what side do [...]
From the time of the Republic’s founding right up until World War I, the tariff (a tax on foreign goods and services sold in the United States) was the major funding source for the federal government. In fact, from 1790 through 1913 the median amount of federal expenditures financed via tariffs was 76%. In some [...]
Check out James Taranto’s “Great Moments in Socialized Medicine” Great Moments in Socialized Medicine The Montreal Gazette reports from a “thinkers’ conference” held by Canada’s opposition Liberal Party: In a morning session on health care the conference was told that Canadians and their governments must face up to some hard facts and have “an adult [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 29th, 2010
Earlier I reported that the new health care bill planned to hire a slew of IRS agents to police the mandate. That they are hiring the agents is still true, but check this out: How much tax would you pay on April 15 if the IRS couldn’t levy on your bank account, slap you with [...]
Posted in Education, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Mar 29th, 2010
Perhaps the most common anti-capitalist and anti-free-market canard is the unproved claim that we can never allow free markets to proceed without regulation and oversight. Why? If we allow free markets, the claim goes, in each and every industry giant firms will prevail in the competition for customers, leaving few or only one firm in [...]
Posted in Health Care on Mar 28th, 2010
In my former home state of the People’s Republic of Massachusetts, now over 50% of internists and 40% of family/general practitioners are not accepting new patients. And of course, Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants are not permitted to open their own practices, nor are retail clinics exactly encouraged. You know how I plan to get [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism, Government Gone Wild on Mar 28th, 2010
It is simple. It is the institution that has a monopoly on the use of force to achieve its objectives. In short, government is force. There is not a simpler answer. And of course, when classical liberals point this out we are viewed as utopian cranks – as if the government never uses such power [...]
Posted in Welfare State on Mar 28th, 2010
Suppose I had a fictional brother named Owen. Owen is about 40 years old, he has an MBA from a good private college, and has had a series of jobs on Wall Street. By the time the financial crisis struck, Owen was probably earning (with bonus) on the order of $300,000 per year. He certainly [...]
Posted in Government Gone Wild on Mar 28th, 2010
I briefly addressed why I am not surprised by the small amount of violence that broke out last week when some Americans started to realize the absolute sham and joke that is American democracy. Lots of my thoughtful students have asked me repeatedly, “I see that the economics they practice is awful, so why do [...]
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