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 Central Planning on Nov 30th, 2011
They just ran this OpEd from SEIU honcho Andy Stern celebrating the miraculous success of central planning for the 21st century in China and how America’s being held hostage by free-market fundamentalists will result in our destruction in the coming years. No comments provided on this fine evening.
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 30th, 2011
The Climategate e-mails are simply breathtaking. Let me show you one more below, but please do note that I could explain this away by saying that if one believes long term warming will doom us if we do not do anything today, and that temporary cooling will forestall efforts to do something, one might reasonably [...]
Posted in You Can't Have it Both Ways, labor markets on Nov 30th, 2011
By now I am sure you have heard that there are laws being floated which will make it illegal for firms to discriminate against the unemployed when it comes to hiring decisions. Forget for the moment any literal difficulties with identifying whether this is happening, or any other objections you might have to the difficulty [...]
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Health Care, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Nov 29th, 2011
It’s been said many times but bears repeating. Expenditures are not costs. How often have you heard the claim, “health care costs in America are out of control?” I hear it a lot, and it is problematic for at least three reasons. Reason #1: What the heck is health care? The forgoing claim treats “health [...]
Posted in Taxation, Welfare State on Nov 28th, 2011
I suppose I am guilty of it, but tax guru Emmanuel Saez (one of the guys who work the IRS data to illustrate the rising income inequality in the US) just wrote a second paper in a few months with the implied (or direct) conclusion: raise taxes on the rich. Of course, it is all [...]
Posted in Extended Order, Institutions, growth on Nov 28th, 2011
Today we begin a periodic series that will attempt to capture, via the numbers, exactly what has happened to the size and scope of government since the Great Society. People of all stripes have lovely narratives about “climates” of regulation or deregulation, point to increases or decreases in tax rates, point to the composition of [...]
Posted in Behavior, Paternalism, Taxation, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Nov 27th, 2011
Sort of an ironic title for the plan of Professor Frank, no? I call it the 6-6-6 plan — an across-the-board 6 percent national sales tax (on top of any existing state and local sales taxes) in effect from 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving to 6 a.m. on Black Friday. This plan would leave both stores [...]
Posted in Health Care on Nov 27th, 2011
There’s long been a vigorous debate about whether the rise of suburbia has been a good thing on balance or not. I don’t have a particular horse in this race as I’ve lived in the country, suburbia and the city and have experienced the best and worst of each of them. This short piece on [...]
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Health Care on Nov 26th, 2011
Did you know that food expenditures for an average family in the US are lower today (as a share of income) than at any point in American history? Did you know that clothing and exercise equipment costs are lower today than they have been in the last three decades? Did you know that the (marginal) [...]
Posted in Flotsam and Jetsam, ethical foundations on Nov 25th, 2011
(1) You know how “hair of the dog” strategies help with a hangover? How come the same isn’t true of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie! (2) I am seriously disturbed by Black Friday, and yes I am one of the world’s most ardent proponents of free-market capitalism. Have a nice day.
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