The Unbroken Window

Per capita GDP in the United States is roughly $47,000.
Per capita personal income is about $39,880.

Let’s think about the kind of tax system we have in the U.S.
What kind of effective marginal tax rates do you think a family faces that has per capita income below half of per capita GDP in the country or [...]

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The candidates for Mayor in last year’s election in North Adams, MA spent a record amount to secure their position. Here are some questions and thoughts for y’all.

The report indicates that the two candidates, combined, spent $133,468 on the election. This is just the direct money cost. Just think of all the time that each [...]

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Before proceeding, I’d remind readers that I did not vote in the last election, and I do not have a party affiliation. Is not one quality of an “effective” leader an ability to get their agenda through? When Bush was elected in 2000 and when Obama was elected in 2008, I would argue that each [...]

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This is from California’s absurd plans for high speed rail:

In the face of the state’s perpetual budget crisis, some Californians are beginning to regret their votes in favor of the $9.9 billion high-speed rail bond last year. Even though proponents of the train have now admitted the bond was only a down payment on the [...]

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If the UAW is considered a national treasure, that is.
I asked a student to investigate how much of the $787 billion of stimulus bill went toward national park funding? The National Parks have historically had a huge backlog of maintenance projects (roughly $9 billion worth) and many were shovel ready. Given their stature, one would [...]

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Academics seem to find it a respectable doctrine to aim to keep politics out of the classroom. I do not necessarily think that is a good idea, after all we do have political science departments. The spirit of the argument however is to keep your personal politics out of the classroom.
I like that idea only [...]

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Bryan Caplan reminds us that the folks in Congress are not exactly like “us” poor slobs:
1.  54% of Congressmen are millionaires.
2. Consistent with the “limosine liberals” stereotype, eight out of the ten richest are Democrats.
Of course, the Founders were not exactly like us either. Defenders of modern Democracy probably see this as a virtue – [...]

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The virtue of Democracy for many is precisely because it is a “legitimate” way to exercise power over the majority by the few. It is really tiring to hear the defenses of democracy on the grounds that it offers some sort of protection of the minority from the tyranny of the majority. But how am [...]

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Paul Jacob shares a story:
I talked about the group last summer, when ABTL was little more than an idea. They were looking for candidates who would not only vow to limit their terms in office, but also agree to forfeit a big chunk of their assets if they break their word.
…
And now [...]

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As opposed to using pricing mechanisms to achieve goals is no better illustrated than in this pathetic excuse for a law:
“Power-hungry TVs will be banned from store shelves in California after state regulators Wednesday adopted a first-in-the-nation mandate to reduce electricity demand.”
Let’s see …we want consumers to reduce electricity use, so rather than raising the [...]

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