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 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 Voluntary Society, Welfare State on Nov 9th, 2011
I pointed it out here. Here is another lovely illustration. I apologize for excerpting the entire post. … in 1979, households in the bottom quintile received more than 50 percent of all transfer payments. In 2007, similar households received about 35 percent of transfers. … Any private relief organization that gave only 35 percent of [...]
Posted in Health Care, Welfare State, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Oct 31st, 2011
John Goodman with a typically astute observation on the double standard that applies to health policy: Arizona…plans to limit adult Medicaid recipients to 25 days of hospital coverage a year, starting as soon as the end of October. Hawaii plans to cut Medicaid coverage to 10 days a year in April. Other states have already [...]
Posted in Behavior, Paternalism, Welfare State, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Oct 19th, 2011
Has anyone who has ever written about this topic ever shopped in a grocery store for more than one person? I think I am going to randomly post our family meals up here for all to see, then tell me what you think about the meme, “the poor can only afford calorie dense, fatty, unhealthy, [...]
Posted in Welfare State on Sep 8th, 2011
… how bad the riots in England might have been if everyone didn’t have free health care.
Posted in Government Thuggery, History, Welfare State, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Aug 31st, 2011
Here begins the presentation of a cornucopia of less well-know acts committed by the “greatest” Presidents in American history. To get us started, here is President Bush’s unconstitutional assault on limited executive power and the privacy of American citizens: This organization (the influential Friends of Democracy) won the gushing plaudits of the ever-gushing Mrs. President. [...]
Posted in Welfare State on Aug 27th, 2011
From Nothing to Envy via Alex Tabarrok: North Korean propaganda has also been very effective because unlike leaders in Eastern Europe, Kim Il-sung “wasn’t merely the father of their country, their George Washington, their Mao, he was their God.” Here is Nothing to Envy: Broadcasters would speak of Kim Il-sung or Kim Jong-il breathlessly, in the [...]
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Welfare State on Aug 4th, 2011
Is this one. And that’s an achievement. Rather than rant, here’s just a few of the goodies: Recent estimates show 49 million Americans make food decisions based on cost, she added. Right, so the other 261 million Americans have food handed to them. And there is no reason to believe that these 49 million are [...]
Posted in Welfare State on Jul 29th, 2011
When I started here in Rochester, a prime stretch of real estate on the east shore of the Genesee River, walking distance from downtown (where the Blue Cross Arena is, the HQ of the library, the HQ of Blue Cross, Dinosaur BBQ, etc.), this monstrosity (which ran something like 2 or 3 city blocks) was [...]
Posted in Welfare State on Jun 21st, 2011
Maybe we should call it Oopsbamacare? WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say they discovered only after the complex bill was signed. The change would affect early retirees: A married couple could have [...]
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/silver/t24_ag_en_usoz_2.gif)