The Unbroken Window

Alexander Tytler wrote: A democracy … can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse out of the public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that Democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy, [...]

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All that voting allows us to do is to make a choice among lemons vying for the right to exercise force over the rest of us. Voting is not a true expression of choice in a democracy because it does not permit us to cast our ballot in favor of “no one.” In other words, [...]

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Overlawyered brings us this: Taxpayers are paying former police officer Dave Orlowski $53,063 a year of tax-free disability payments, though he’s fit enough to compete in several triathlons a year. An old court decision permits Orlowski to refuse desk work after since he injured his shoulder in 1999.

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And that worked our great didn’t it. This is feeling more and more like an Ayn Rand novel. “Government Launching Plan to Halt Homelessness.” My new thought is why even launch a plan, just decree homelessness ended, and it should simply end.

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Here are a few excerpts from my NBER Working Papers Digest: Robert Inman finds that Stimulus funding for the states is not correlated with state unemployment rates (that doesn’t mean it is not “stimulating” but it certainly makes it less likely): As targeted assistance for stimulating local economies, ARRA funding is uncorrelated with state unemployment [...]

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I found myself reading the Old Testament the other day. Here is a quote which moved me to post (it is Samuel warning the Israelites about wanting a King to rule them): And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint [...]

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… go to waste without awarding your union cronies. Mark Perry excepts two pieces on the Jones Act: Wall Street Journal — President Obama has repeatedly said his Administration is doing everything in its power to expedite the oil clean-up and mitigate the damage. But in the two weeks immediately after the spill, 13 foreign [...]

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Professor Landsburg calls Krugman out for his dishonest (to put it nicely) presentation of the issue of deficit spending. Here is Krugman: In America, many self-described deficit hawks are hypocrites, pure and simple. They’re eager to slash benefits for those in need but their concerns about red ink vanish when it comes to tax breaks [...]

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In my local school district there is a total population of 33,000 people. The school employs 569 “professional” staff and 596 “Support” Staff. The school district therefore employs 1,165 people – 51% of whom are support staff (i.e. not involved in the education of the children). Furthermore, notice that they call non-support staff, “Professional” which [...]

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Carter, a linebacker for the 1989 University of Miami Hurricanes and former 10th round draft choice of the Dallas Cowboys, continued to work during the strike in order to support his family, despite the objections of union officials. After Rod Carter appeared on the evening news to explain why he did not support the strike, [...]

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