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 Thuggery, Personal Finance, Politics, Taxation, Welfare State, ethical foundations on Mar 9th, 2010
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 [...]
Posted in Government Thuggery on Feb 6th, 2010
Fred McChesney illustrates another special privilege granted to the few at the expense of the many. Not only do public employees get paid wages higher than their private counterparts (uncompetitively), not only are many public employees producing things of little value, or things that could be produced more efficiently and effectively by private interests, but [...]
Posted in Government Thuggery on Jan 28th, 2010
Mark Perry illustrates how easy it is to be “charitable” when it is not your own money you are giving away:
1. Between 1998 and 2006, the Bidens’ adjusted gross income (AGI) averaged $236,000 per year, and their average annual charitable contributions averaged just $283, or only $5.44 per week. That compares to an average annual [...]
Posted in Government Thuggery on Dec 19th, 2009
Barack O’Bush on the Christmas present we are all getting from the wonderful do-gooders in DC:
The Congressional Budget Office said the Senate bill would extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who lack it. It also imposes new regulations to curb abuses of the insurance industry, and the president noted one last-minute addition would [...]
Posted in Government Thuggery on Dec 16th, 2009
Thus says my Big Brother. Coming to my hometown of Rochester: traffic light cameras to “protect us” … what a joke. Here is what will be coming soon to protect us some more. Better yet, maybe this is coming soon? So technology giveth much to advance our freedom, technology also takes it away (well, [...]
Posted in Government Thuggery, Property Rights on Aug 9th, 2009
I have been trying to communicate with one of my students who is traveling in Asia right now and this is the response he was able to get through to me:
Professor Rizzo,
I apologize for not replying sooner, and for not signing up for a recitation yet.
I have been in Asia for the last 3 weeks, [...]
Posted in Government Thuggery on Aug 4th, 2009
From the White House itself:
There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism, Government Thuggery on Jul 4th, 2009
Justice Stephens, in his decision permitting the taking of private property for “economic development purposes” (i.e. giving it to another private party) made a couple of arguments to justify such abusive takings:
So long as the city puts together a “comprehensive” plan, and so long as it allows for proper review then taking for private use [...]
Posted in Government Thuggery, You Can't Have it Both Ways on May 29th, 2009
The politicians really cannot help themselves. Here is one from today:
The president, after all, had taken great pains to explain that this is more than an American success story. Rather, it is Judge Sotomayor’s biography that uniquely qualifies her to sit on the nation’s highest bench — that gives her the “empathy” to rule wisely.
… And [...]
Posted in Government Gone Wild, Government Thuggery, Socialism on Mar 5th, 2009
See here.
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