The Unbroken Window

In the majority of States, benefit funding is based solely on a tax imposed on employers. (emphasis original)

That is from the Department of Labor discussion of state unemployment insurance programs.  Or they can read this … or this … or this … By a legal definition they might be right, but isn’t that statement fraudulent and […]

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Just about finished with David Cay Johnston’s “Free Lunch.” It is a book that claims to be a tell all about how the wealthiest Americans enrich themselves at government expense and how the little guy gets stuck holding the check at the end of the day. Indeed, there are several chapters that tell eye-popping stories […]

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The “buy local” literature is littered with doozies. Here are two more.

Small business is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term.

Prevent multi-national big box stores from entering your town … because it will extract monopoly rents from us.

You can get a flavor for some of these arguments here and here. […]

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One of the common reasons individuals in certain communities give us to “buy local” is that buying local will cut out the “middleman” (you know, the evil merchants and traders, reviled since biblical times) and enable growers to focus on other things. These same individuals then launch a marketing effort to have us joining Community […]

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Mayor John Barrett is “livid” over the gouging we helpless citizens endure at the greedy hands of unscrupulous middlemen. He correctly observes that soon after gasoline’s wholesale prices rise, retailers raise prices at the pump, even though all of the gasoline in their tanks was already bought at lower prices. The Mayor calls this practice […]

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I love the heading the Eagle editors gave to the following letter (”Price Hikes Not Always Gouging“) 
 
To the Editor
The Berkshire Eagle
75 South Church Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Dear Editor:
Mayor Barrett correctly observes that soon after gasoline’s wholesale prices rise, retailers raise prices at the pump, even though all of the gasoline in their tanks was already bought at lower […]

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May the statists, stasists, technocrats, planners, idealists of all stripes consider the following during 2008 and beyond.

I will bear the burden of proof. Before advocating to grant a favored group or individual special privileges, or before imposing taxes and regulations on individuals or unfavored groups, I will recognize that the natural state of humans is […]

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As I was baking cookies last night and watching the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, a commercial came on from one of the many businesses in the Berkshires that tries to appeal to the do-gooder, environmentalist customers in this part of the world. I can’t blame the business for what I heard, because […]

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My employer recently held a conference on Global Climate Change. A blow-by-blow account will be forthcoming. In the meantime I was struck by a several themes than ran through the conference, particularly among the presenters. We had world renowned climate scientists, economists and theologians here addressing this important issue.

To a man, almost every person here […]

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Respond to them. It gets tiring being preached to, and since these mails are usually sent by folks who are usually jazzed up about things, they might actually read what you wrote.  Here is how I responded to a letter asking me to boycott Starbucks for apparently telling some troops in Iraq that they, as […]

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