Raising Retirement Age Won't Work | William Shipman | Cato Institute: Commentary

Raising Retirement Age Won't Work | William Shipman | Cato Institute: Commentary: "He retired at the end of 2008, when he suffered a significant loss because stock markets around the globe collapsed, down 37 percent in the United States alone. Yet even after the loss, his accumulated wealth still would provide more than Social Security's $18,324 benefit, namely $30,000 in the first year, and indexed for inflation for 19 more years."

Defending the Blackmailer - Walter Block - Mises Daily

Defending the Blackmailer - Walter Block - Mises Daily: "With the gossip, all is lost; with the blackmailer, one can only gain, or at least be no worse off. If the price requested by the blackmailer is lower than the secret is worth, the secret-keeper will pay the blackmailer — this being the lesser of the two evils. He thus gains the difference to him between the value of the secret and the price of the blackmail. When the blackmailer demands more than the secret is worth, his demand will not be met and the information will become public."

"Many actions in the public arena qualify as acts of blackmail, but, instead of being vilified, they have often attained a status of respectability! For example, the recent lettuce boycott is a form of blackmail. Through the lettuce boycott (or any boycott), threats are made to retailers and wholesalers of fruits and vegetables. If they handle nonunion lettuce, the boycotters assert, people will be asked not to patronize their establishments. This conforms perfectly to the definition: a threat that something, not in itself illegal, will take place unless certain demands are met."

"In addition to being a legitimate activity, blackmail has some good effects, litanies to the contrary notwithstanding. Apart from some innocent victims who are caught in the net, who does the blackmailer usually prey upon?

In the main, there are two groups. One group is composed of criminals: murderers, thieves, swindlers, embezzlers, cheaters, rapists, etc. The other group consists of people who engage in activities, not illegitimate in themselves, that are contrary to the mores and habits of the majority: homosexuals, sadomasochists, sexual perverts, communists, adulterers, etc. The institution of blackmail has beneficial, but different, effects upon each of these groups.

In the case of criminals, blackmail and the threat of blackmail serve as deterrents."

"Legalizing blackmail would thus allow anticrime units to take advantage of two basic crime fighting adages at the same time: "divide and conquer," and "lack of honor among thieves." It is quite clear that one important effect of legalizing blackmail would be to diminish crime — real crime, that is."

"In reflecting on the old aphorism, 'the truth shall make you free,' the only 'weapon' at the disposal of the blackmailer is the truth. In using the truth to back up his threats (as on occasion he must), he sets the truth free, very often without intent, to do whatever good or bad it is capable of doing."

Our View: When government is too big, who is keeping an eye on the wallet? | Hudson Star-Observer | Hudson, Wisconsin

Our View: When government is too big, who is keeping an eye on the wallet? | Hudson Star-Observer | Hudson, Wisconsin: "Any time government grows too large, following close behind is cheating, fraud and waste. Unless someone puts on the brakes and re-evaluates the current situation, the taxpayers lose."

FOXNews.com - Court: University Can Expel Student Who Opposes Homosexuality

FOXNews.com - Court: University Can Expel Student Who Opposes Homosexuality: "Judge Steeh said the university had a rational basis for adopting the ACA Code of Ethics.

“Furthermore, the university had a rational basis for requiring students to counsel clients without imposing their personal values,” he wrote in a portion of his ruling posted by The Detroit News. “In the case of Ms. Ward, the university determined that she would never change her behavior and would consistently refuse to counsel clients on matters with which she was personally opposed due to her religious beliefs – including homosexual relationships.”

Ward’s attorneys claim the university told her she would only be allowed to remain in the program if she went through a “remediation” program so that she could “see the error of her ways” and change her belief system about homosexuality."

FOXNews.com - Lying for sex _ Arab's conviction raises charges of Israeli racism and legal intrusiveness

FOXNews.com - Lying for sex _ Arab's conviction raises charges of Israeli racism and legal intrusiveness: "'If she hadn't thought the accused was a single Jewish man interested in a serious romantic relationship, she would not have cooperated,' Judge Zvi Segal wrote in sentencing Qashor. The court must protect the public from 'sophisticated and slick-tongued criminals who would lead innocent victims astray, at the unbearable price of the sanctity of their bodies and souls.'"

FOXNews.com - White House predicts record $1.47 trillion deficit this year, 9 percent unemployment next year

FOXNews.com - White House predicts record $1.47 trillion deficit this year, 9 percent unemployment next year: "New estimates from the White House on Friday predict the budget deficit will reach a record $1.47 trillion this year. The government is borrowing 41 cents of every dollar it spends.

That's actually a little better than the administration predicted in February.

The new estimates paint a grim unemployment picture as the economy experiences a relatively jobless recovery. The unemployment rate, presently averaging 9.5 percent, would average 9 percent next year under the new estimates.

The Office of Management and Budget report has ominous news for President Barack Obama should he seek re-election in 2012 — a still-high unemployment rate of 8.1 percent. That would be well above normal, which is closer to a rate of 5.5 percent to 6 percent. Private economists don't think the unemployment rate will drop to those levels until well into this decade."

FOXNews.com - Va Sen. Jim Webb says in column that government racial diversity programs should be ended

FOXNews.com - Va Sen. Jim Webb says in column that government racial diversity programs should be ended: "'The injustices endured by black Americans at the hands of their own government have no parallel in our history, not only during the period of slavery but also in the Jim Crow era that followed,' he wrote.

Immigrants from Asia, Latin America and Africa in recent decades knew no such discrimination from the government, he wrote, 'and in fact have frequently been the beneficiaries of special government programs. The same cannot be said of many hardworking white Americans, including those whose roots in America go back more than 200 years.'"

FOXNews.com - Slovakia Pays Innocent Flier Planted With Explosives in Failed Security Test

FOXNews.com - Slovakia Pays Innocent Flier Planted With Explosives in Failed Security Test: "A policeman slipped 3.4 ounces of plastic explosive into the check-in luggage of an unsuspecting passenger at Poprad-Tatry Airport in a sniffing dog test in January.

But instead of being detected, the small package ended up on a flight to Dublin.

Passenger Stefan Gonda, who had not known of the explosives, was detained by Irish police for several hours."

Obama's Jobs Errors | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obama's Jobs Errors | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The White House last year released a supposedly scientific analysis that claimed to show that adopting the 'stimulus' bill would cut unemployment. Indeed, the report specifically estimated that the unemployment rate today would be down to 7.5 percent.

Something obviously went wrong. The actual unemployment rate is 9.5 percent, a statistic that doesn't include the millions who've given up looking for work or can only find part-time jobs. What were President Obama's biggest mistakes?"

"businesses are not charities. They only create jobs when they think that the total revenue generated by new workers will exceed the total cost of employing those workers."

"If a worker is only worth $6.50 per hour, then a required wage of $7.15 is a one-way ticket to the unemployment line."

"Obama supported these and other Bush economic policies, so the 'mess he inherited' is also a mess he helped to make."

FOXNews.com - Legacy of 1969 underground nuclear blast in Colorado lingers amid modern oil and gas rush

FOXNews.com - Legacy of 1969 underground nuclear blast in Colorado lingers amid modern oil and gas rush: "In 1969, the government detonated a subterranean nuclear bomb to break loose natural gas deposits from tight sandstone formations more than 8,000 feet below ground on a Colorado mountain. The bomb was twice as powerful as the one that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.

The scheme worked — to an extent. The gas was unlocked by the blast but was deemed too radioactive for commercial use."

Clowns or Killers in al Qaeda | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Clowns or Killers in al Qaeda | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The notion of 'savvy and sophisticated' Islamist supervillains is 'wildly off the mark,' Brookings' Daniel Byman and Christine Fair write in Atlantic magazine.

Many Afghan suicide bombers 'never even make it out of their training camp,' thanks to the jihadi tradition of the pre-martyrdom 'manly embrace': 'the pressure from these group hugs triggers the explosives in suicide vests.' (Theological question: Do you get fewer virgins for an own-goal?)

On the American home front, al Qaeda and its sympathizers often don't look much brighter:

• In 2006, an FBI sting rolled up the 'Liberty City Seven,' whose ringleader, the Washington Post reported, 'wanted to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, which would then fall into a nearby prison, freeing Muslim prisoners who would become the core of his Moorish army. With them, he would establish his own country.' Sounds like a plan!
  
• 2007 saw the arrest of six Islamists who planned to launch an armed attack on New Jersey's Fort Dix, but were rounded up after they 'asked a store clerk to copy a video of them firing assault weapons and screaming about jihad.'
  
• In 2003, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed associate Iyman Faris went to jail on charges involving a plan to topple the Brooklyn Bridge by severing its suspension cables with a blowtorch.
  
• The 2005 Jose Padilla indictment revealed that some Islamic terrorists haven't quite mastered speaking in code. One of Padilla's co-defendants insisted he was just talking about sporting goods on the surveillance tapes, but couldn't explain why he'd asked his co-conspirator if he had enough 'soccer equipment' to 'launch an attack on the enemy.'"

Abolish State Income Taxes | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Abolish State Income Taxes | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Why is it that some of the states with the biggest fiscal problems have the highest individual state income tax rates, such as New York and California, while some of the states with the least fiscal problems have no state income tax at all?"

"On average, schools, health and safety, roads, etc. are no better in states with income taxes than those without income taxes."

"the high-tax-rate states also, on average, have much higher per capita debt levels than states without income taxes."

"those states whose government workers are less than 40 percent unionized have median per capita state debt of $2,238, while those states where unionization rates are over 60 percent have a median per capita state debt of $6,380."

"Jurisdictions that imposed an income tax to generate a given level of revenue experienced lower rates of economic growth relative to jurisdictions that relied on alternative taxes to generate the same revenue."

"Income taxes, as contrasted with consumption (i.e., sales) taxes and modest property tax rates, are far more costly to administer and do far more economic damage (by discouraging work, saving and investment) and are far more intrusive on individual liberty. The states without state income taxes overall have had far better economic performance for most of the past several decades than have the income tax states — particularly those with high marginal taxes."

FOXNews.com - German court sentences priest to a 10-month suspended sentence for sexually abusing girls

FOXNews.com - German court sentences priest to a 10-month suspended sentence for sexually abusing girls: "A court in southern Germany has convicted a Roman Catholic priest of sexually abusing three underage girls and handed him a suspended sentence of 10 months.

The state court in Weiden said Tuesday it found the cleric guilty of unduly touching young girls below the waist during religious education classes in an elementary school in four cases last year.

The court also fined him €4,000 ($5,200)."

That doesn't sound like justice.

The Myth That Without Gov't Monopolies Or Subsidies, Discoveries Will Be Hidden By Secrets | Techdirt

The Myth That Without Gov't Monopolies Or Subsidies, Discoveries Will Be Hidden By Secrets | Techdirt: "contrary to what most people think, 'science' is not a public good, and that government-funded science actually tends to do more damage than good for global economies:"

Ron Paul: The People Can Handle The Truth About Unemployment and Inflation | Ron Paul .com

Ron Paul: The People Can Handle The Truth About Unemployment and Inflation | Ron Paul .com: "Ron Paul tells the Joint Economic Committee that the people can handle the truth about unemployment and inflation numbers. Real unemployment is at 22% and real inflation is at 6% according to the original method of measuring the CPI."

Stephen Colbert’s going on a hot, sweaty field trip | Grist

Stephen Colbert’s going on a hot, sweaty field trip | Grist: "Because all the posturing and gasbaggery about 'illegals taking American jobs' avoids one simple, difficult fact: 'Americans do not want to work in the fields. It's very difficult work that requires a lot of expertise, and the conditions are horrid! I was in the field on Tuesday with great workers out in Delano, Calif., in the San Joaquin Valley, and it was 110 degrees!' as Arturo Rodriguez, president of the UFW, told Stephen Colbert last night."

FOXNews.com - The Tea Party 'Not a Racist Organization,' Biden Says

FOXNews.com - The Tea Party 'Not a Racist Organization,' Biden Says: "Biden, speaking on ABC's 'This Week,' said both members and those on the 'periphery' of the movement have expressed 'racist views' which he described as 'really unfortunate.'

But despite the differences the administration has with Tea Partiers, Biden says he does not think that certain behavior by some members accurately portrays the movement as a whole.�

'I wouldn't characterize the Tea Party as racist,' Biden said. 'I don't believe, the president doesn't believe, that the Tea Party is a racist organization. I don't believe that -- very conservative, very different views on government and a whole lot of things, but it is not a racist organization.'�"

Buffett and Gates Are Wrong about What Schools Need | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary

Buffett and Gates Are Wrong about What Schools Need | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary: "education is perhaps the only field in which America's top performers don't enjoy tremendous financial success. This fact has profound implications for school quality, but Buffett is wrong about its cause.

Brilliant teachers aren't excluded from the billionaire's club due to any 'capriciousness' of our market economy. They're excluded because public schooling exists outside that economy. It has no prices set by supply and demand, no meaningful competition, little professional freedom for educators, negligible choice for consumers, and no system for rewarding successful education entrepreneurs with profits or of penalizing failure with losses."

"our schools have swallowed many trillions of additional dollars in recent decades without improvement. So even if they donate every penny to this cause, it might not do the slightest bit of good. Unless, that is, they recognize that the system itself is the problem — that monopolies cannot be tweaked into self-perpetuating excellence."

FOXNews.com - Feds to Monitor Obesity as White House Promotes Obama Cook to Senior Position

FOXNews.com - Feds to Monitor Obesity as White House Promotes Obama Cook to Senior Position: "Health and Human Services announced this week that under the stimulus law, health care providers must establish 'meaningful use' of electronic health records to qualify for federal subsidies or risk seeing their Medicare and Medicaid payments slashed. The electronic health records must include Americans' body mass index, or BMI, height and weight."

Climategate: Beyond Inquiry Panels | Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar | Cato Institute: Commentary

Climategate: Beyond Inquiry Panels | Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar | Cato Institute: Commentary: "t the end of it all, two things are clear. First, it is fantasy for crusaders to claim that catastrophic global warming is established science: the emails reveal doubts and caveats even among true believers in CRU. Second, the International Panel on Climate Change must disavow its claim made first in 2001 — based on the 'hockey stick' graph of Michael Mann using historical tree-ring data — that the world is warmer today than ever before.

Tree-ring data after 1961 indicate cooling, but actual temperatures show warming. So, Jones resorted to the 'trick' of splicing tree-ring data up to 1961 with actual temperatures after 1961, thus manufacturing a steadily-rising temperature trend in the 20th century. The splicing was dishonest and an insult to science. Yet, the independent inquiry did not condemn it, showing how easily crusader-inquirers forgive transgressions that promote their private agenda.

The IPCC needs to revert to the earlier scientific consensus — maintained from its first report in 1990 to 2001 — that the medieval warm period of 800-1,300 AD — well before fossil fuels were extracted — was warmer than it is today."

FOXNews.com - WHO criticizes Amnesty International report describing North Korea's health system in shambles

FOXNews.com - WHO criticizes Amnesty International report describing North Korea's health system in shambles: "The World Health Organization found itself Friday in the strange position of defending North Korea's health care system from an Amnesty International report, three months after WHO's director described medicine in the totalitarian state as the envy of the developing world."

"Amnesty's report on Thursday described North Korea's health care system in shambles, with doctors sometimes performing amputations without anesthesia and working by candlelight in hospitals lacking essential medicine, heat and power. It also raised questions about whether coverage is universal as it — and WHO — claimed, noting most interviewees said they or a family member had given doctors cigarettes, alcohol or money to receive medical care. And those without any of these reported that they could get no health assistance at all."

"Asked Friday what countries were envious of North Korea's health, Chaib said she couldn't name any. But she highlighted the importance of maintaining the health body's presence in the country, where officials do their best to save lives despite 'persisting challenges.'"

"North Korea spends $1 per person per year on health care, the lowest level in the world"

WHO doesn't sound very credible.

FOXNews.com - Report: Carpenters Union Pays Minimum Wage to Hire Protestors

FOXNews.com - Report: Carpenters Union Pays Minimum Wage to Hire Protestors: "The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters is paying unemployed non-union workers to protest outside Washington, D.C., office buildings, telling the Wall Street Journal that it's sometimes too difficult to get its own people to come downtown to demonstrate.

WSJ reports that the carpenters union has been hiring people -- many of whom have no ideology on an issue -- to to walk picket lines, chant and generally sound off each day at around 150 picket lines in the District of Columbia and Baltimore.

'For a lot of our members, it's really difficult to have them come out, either because of parking or something else,' Vincente Garcia, a union representative supervising the picketing, told the newspaper."

LOL!

FOXNews.com - Scientists Reveal the Perfect Handshake

FOXNews.com - Scientists Reveal the Perfect Handshake: "The formula:�

PH = √ (e2 + ve2)(d2) + (cg + dr)2 + π{(42)(4

2)}2 + (vi + t + te)2 + {(42 )(42)}2

(e) is eye contact (1=none; 5=direct) 5; (ve) is verbal greeting (1=totally inappropriate; 5=totally appropriate) 5; (d) is Duchenne smile - smiling in eyes and mouth, plus symmetry on both sides of face, and slower offset (1=totally non-Duchenne smile (false smile); 5=totally Duchenne) 5; (cg) completeness of grip (1=very incomplete; 5=full) 5; (dr) is dryness of hand (1=damp; 5=dry) 4; (s) is strength (1= weak; 5=strong) 3; (p) is position of hand (1=back towards own body; 5=other person's bodily zone) 3; (vi) is vigour (1=too low/too high; 5=mid) 3; (t) is temperature of hands (1=too cold/too hot; 5=mid) 3; (te) is texture of hands (5=mid; 1=too rough/too smooth) 3; (c) is control (1=low; 5=high) 3; (du) is duration (1= brief; 5=long) 3."

Was Thomas Jefferson a Great President? - H.A. Scott Trask - Mises Daily

Was Thomas Jefferson a Great President? - H.A. Scott Trask - Mises Daily: "Thus the first example was given of both the will and desire to violate the Constitution, if the popular feeling would sustain the executive and legislature in so doing; and in this fact lies the pernicious and crying evil of the Louisiana Purchase. It was the first lesson that taught Americans that numerical majority was superior to the Constitution and was a safe protection against it when violated, and that when policy approved the necessity of change, it was easier to break than to legally and regularly amend the provisions of our charter."

"Jefferson failed to understand that the Constitution was written to protect the people from themselves and that to rely on those very people to correct defects in the Constitution, only when those defects had been already exploited for ulterior purposes, was foolish indeed."

FOXNews.com - House approves overhaul for program providing insurance to those in flood-prone areas

FOXNews.com - House approves overhaul for program providing insurance to those in flood-prone areas: "Among those opposing the bill were Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., who said her state 'feels like the ATM machine for this flood program.' Miller, who said Congress should create a national catastrophic fund, said Michigan residents have paid out $200 million in premiums since 1978 while receiving only $44 million in claims."

Would it have been better for Michigan to have more floods? :-/

Killer Drones: Where's the Accountability? | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary

Killer Drones: Where's the Accountability? | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: "'To eavesdrop on the terrorism suspect, intelligence agencies would have to get a court warrant. But designating him for death ... required no judicial review.' (New York Times, May 13)"

Politicians Are the Problem for Higher Ed | Neal McCluskey | Cato Institute: Commentary

Politicians Are the Problem for Higher Ed | Neal McCluskey | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Adding those subsidies to government student aid reveals total taxpayer burdens, and suddenly for-profits don't look so singularly terrible. The annual burden per undergraduate at a four-year public school is around $15,794 vs. just $10,272 at a for-profit. For a two-year program, the for-profit is just somewhat costlier: $10,960 vs. $8,489."

Time to Fire America's Management | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Time to Fire America's Management | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "'Higher effective corporate income taxes are also associated with lower investment in manufacturing but not in services, a larger unofficial economy, and greater reliance on debt as opposed to equity finance. In these new data, corporate taxes matter a lot, and in ways consistent with basic economic theory.' (If you tax something, you get less of it.)

Many of the members of Congress who consistently wail about the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs are the same ones who, time and time again, vote to crush U.S. companies with more taxes and regulations."

Defending the Litterer - Walter Block - Mises Daily

Defending the Litterer - Walter Block - Mises Daily: "When large crowds leave a ballpark, movie, theater, concert, or circus, what remains among the seats and aisles is not and cannot be litter. It is garbage, dirt, or waste, but not litter."

"in the market, the decision of whether and how much litter to allow is based ultimately on the wishes and desires of the consumers! The question is not treated simplistically and there is no general outcry to 'get rid of litterbugs.'

There is rather a careful weighing of the costs and benefits of allowing waste materials to accumulate."

"If litter were a violation of rights and a refusal to consider the comfort of others, what of the 'litter' in restaurants, ballparks, factories, etc.? Litter comes about in the private market precisely as a means of satisfying the desires of consumers for comfort. One no more violates the restaurant owner's rights by littering than by eating, since both are paid for."

The Libertarian Position on Capital Punishment - Murray N. Rothbard - Mises Daily

The Libertarian Position on Capital Punishment - Murray N. Rothbard - Mises Daily: "it should be up to the victim to press charges or to decide whether the restitution or punishment due him should be exacted by the state. The victim should be able to order the state not to press charges or not to punish the victim to the full extent that he has the right to do so. Thus, suppose that A aggresses against B; but B is a pacifist or doesn't believe in punishment for whatever reason; the State should not be able, as it is now, to continue to prosecute A in the name of 'society' even though the victim may be urging otherwise. Or, similarly, the criminal should be able to go to the victim and buy his way out of his prosecution or punishment; for in that case, the victim has agreed voluntarily to allow the criminal to pay him monetary restitution in lieu of other sanctions against him."

Terrorism: Why They Want to Kill Us | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary

Terrorism: Why They Want to Kill Us | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The central fact is that overwhelmingly suicide-terrorist attacks are not driven by religion as much as they are by a clear strategic objective: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland. From Lebanon to Sri Lanka to Chechnya to Kashmir to the West Bank, every major suicide-terrorist campaign — over 95 percent of all the incidents — has had as its central objective to compel a democratic state to withdraw."

Court in Contempt of First Amendment | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary

Court in Contempt of First Amendment | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Justice Breyer shows exactly how the HLP did not, in any way, support terrorism. 'The plaintiffs, all United States citizens or associations,' declare 'they can (1) 'train members of the PKK on how to use humanitarian and international law to peacefully resolve disputes'' (2) 'engage in political advocacy on behalf of Kurds who live in Turkey; (3) teach PKK members how to petition various representative bodies such as the United Nations for relief; and (4) engage in political advocacy on behalf of Tamils who live in Sri Lanka.'"

"And Ahilan Arulanantham, an ACLU attorney for Southern California, explains another brutal dimension of this law: 'A humanitarian organization may send medicine to perform dialysis, but risks prosecution if it also seeks to send either the doctor or the equipment needed to perform the dialysis itself.'"

US Out of South Korea | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

US Out of South Korea | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "'Americans are borrowing money to pay to defend the South so South Koreans can spend their money on other priorities.'

That's a common pattern in our Cold War-era alliances. U.S. membership in NATO, an alliance crafted to contain an enemy that collapsed 18 years ago, has helped keep European defense budgets low and subsidize lavish welfare states for NATO members."

Schumer Undervalues Trade with China | Daniel Griswold | Cato Institute: Commentary

Schumer Undervalues Trade with China | Daniel Griswold | Cato Institute: Commentary: "We run a large bilateral deficit with China not because of an undervalued yuan, but because China specializes in making consumer goods — such as shoes, clothing, toys and household appliances — that American consumers love to buy. Because of our low national savings rate, we in turn offer attractive assets, such as Treasury bills, that the Chinese are equally eager to buy from us."

The Social Function of Credit-Default Swaps - Philipp Bagus - Mises Daily

The Social Function of Credit-Default Swaps - Philipp Bagus - Mises Daily: "Due to this self-reinforcing spiral of distrust in banks and rising funding costs, people have regarded CDSs as one example of Warren Buffet's infamous financial weapons of mass destruction. Indeed, CDSs can be used to take down banks by lowering the confidence in them.

Yet, such an attack can only be successful if banks are vulnerable. Only if banks violate the golden rule of banking, i.e., if they mismatch currencies or maturities or engage in a combination of both, they become vulnerable to attacks through CDSs. Only then will the distrust spurred by higher spreads translate into funding problems that threaten a bank's liquidity."

"CDSs are powerful corrective instruments that discipline banks. CDSs are not weapons of mass destruction but instruments of providing discipline and order. It is possible that without rising CDSs spreads, Icelandic banks would have survived longer. They would have had time to cause additional distortions and make the collapse even more disastrous."

"By anticipating the future, speculators may bring about events earlier and reduce their potential harm. Speculators anticipate a sovereign default and speculate in this direction via CDSs. Thereby, they put a limit on the reckless fiscal behavior of the government."

FOXNews.com - Rand Paul Under Fire For Saying Poor in U.S. Better Off Than Poor Elsewhere

FOXNews.com - Rand Paul Under Fire For Saying Poor in U.S. Better Off Than Poor Elsewhere: "'I think it reflects a dogmatic belief in free enterprise and limited government,' said Hardin, who argued that government should reach out to assist those who can't help themselves."

This is funny -- Hardin complains about a "a dogmatic belief in free enterprise and limited government" but then displays a dogmatic belief in government. LOL!

The Gulf Spill and Compensation for Disaster Victims | Jeffrey A. Miron | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Gulf Spill and Compensation for Disaster Victims | Jeffrey A. Miron | Cato Institute: Commentary: "In many instances, the threat of disaster is widely understood, so property values in these areas are lower by the amount of expected damages. Crop land in flood plains, for example, is cheaper than similar land elsewhere, as is beachfront property at risk from offshore drilling. So property owners in at-risk areas get a financial bonus — cheap land — in years when disasters do not occur."

"compensation can reduce private incentives to avoid disaster. While no part of the country is entirely immune from these risks, some places — flood plains, and coastal areas, in particular — are far riskier than others. If property owners expect an outside party to mitigate their losses, they will live or locate their businesses too often in these areas."

"Other oil companies are watching BP's stock price plummet, which should make them more cautious about their own operations, and regulations are difficult to enforce (again, as the current situation illustrates)."

Financial Reform Bill Won't Stop Next Crisis | Mark A. Calabria | Cato Institute: Commentary

Financial Reform Bill Won't Stop Next Crisis | Mark A. Calabria | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank, the bill's primary authors, would fail to end the numerous government distortions of our financial and mortgage markets that led to the crisis. Both have been either architects or supporters of those distortions. One might as well ask the fox to build the henhouse.

Nowhere in the final bill will you see even a pretense of rolling back the endless federal incentives and mandates to extend credit, particularly mortgages, to those who cannot afford to pay their loans back. After all, the popular narrative insists that Wall Street fat cats must be to blame for the credit crisis. Despite the recognition that mortgages were offered to unqualified individuals and families, banks will still be required under the Dodd-Frank bill to meet government-imposed lending quotas."

U.S. Senator Russ Feingold: Ending the Cozy Relationship with Big Oil

U.S. Senator Russ Feingold: Ending the Cozy Relationship with Big Oil: "One of the first things Congress should do is eliminate the liability cap for economic damage caused by oil spills. With businesses in the Gulf facing lost revenues from tourism and fishing, it is painfully clear that this liability cap is far too low. The existing $75 million liability cap is less than one day's worth of profits for BP. I support legislation to eliminate the liability cap."

The cap should be increased but not retroactively.

A New Approach to Organ Donation | Raymond Raad | Cato Institute: Commentary

A New Approach to Organ Donation | Raymond Raad | Cato Institute: Commentary: "There are now more than 83,000 people in the U.S. on the waiting list for a kidney. Yet with less than 17,000 transplants done each year, more than 40 percent will die waiting. As bad, transplants are most likely to succeed when they are done early. So as the waiting time increases (now about 5 years), even those lucky enough to get a new kidney do not benefit as much as possible."

"Economics Nobel Laureate Gary Becker and Julio Elias estimated that paying donors $15,000 might erase the shortage. Transplant surgeon Arthur Matas and health policy professor Mark Schnitzler estimate that since dialysis is expensive, paying organ donors would end up saving the government $275,000 per transplant.

Three primary criticisms bedevil the compensation strategy: One, the prospect of payment can be so tempting that it blinds donors to the risks involved; second, it may lead only poor people to donate; third, it may turn altruistic donors away.

But since the practice of compensating for organ donation has been illegal since 1984, the hard data do not exist to figure out which side is right."

"About 15 percent of participants were unwilling to donate for free but willing if offered money. This percentage was the same for poorer and wealthier individuals. Poorer people were more likely to donate when offered money, but they were also more likely to donate without any compensation.

The authors also found that the prospect of payment did not dull people to the risks. Those who faced higher risks if they donated were far less likely to donate than those with lower risks, even if offered $100,000 for a kidney.

Lastly, the prospect of compensation did not alter the likelihood of altruistic donation. The same percentage of people was willing to donate for free when asked before and after the offer of payment.

The study showed that people who are offered compensation for kidney donation are able to think rationally and weigh the pros and cons before making a decision."

Bashing BP — When We Should Be Bashing the Corporatist State - Matthew J. Novak - Mises Daily

Bashing BP — When We Should Be Bashing the Corporatist State - Matthew J. Novak - Mises Daily: "the government specifically passed laws that gave the oil companies incentives to drill far offshore — that is, in deeper water where risk is presumably higher. In addition to the higher risk of accidents, the cost of solving any problems are necessarily greater in five thousand feet of water than in, say, 250 feet of water."

"The incentives encouraged drilling in water that had been previously deemed economically unattractive by those same companies.

Additionally, a liability cap of $75 million for the oil companies was put in place by law. This is an incredible use of the control of the political means to make favorable dealings for oneself in the economy."

"Congress and big oil companies colluded to reward risky behavior and lost their bet. Comically, we now see Congress — who encouraged the risks — cry "foul!" They are demanding that the previously set damage cap be raised, retroactively, to another arbitrary figure deemed more appropriate for BP's sins"

Campaign For Liberty — Suing Ourselves In Arizona

Campaign For Liberty — Suing Ourselves In Arizona: "If Arizona can't enforce a federal immigration law, does that mean Wisconsinites can now speed on federal highways, smoke crack, and brandish machine guns?

Why not? Using the logic of the U.S. Justice Department, if a Wisconsin sheriff deputy pulls me for a traffic violation and sees a back seat full of banned assault rifles, he can't ask me to show him a permit for them. That's ATF's job."

FOXNews.com - 1 in 4 American consumers are deemed risky as more credit scores sink to lows of 599 or less

FOXNews.com - 1 in 4 American consumers are deemed risky as more credit scores sink to lows of 599 or less: "Figures provided by FICO Inc. show that 25.5 percent of consumers — nearly 43.4 million people — now have a credit score of 599 or below, marking them as poor risks for lenders. It's unlikely they will be able to get credit cards, auto loans or mortgages under the tighter lending standards banks now use."

"Historically, just 15 percent of the 170 million consumers with active credit accounts, or 25.5 million people, fell below 599, according to data posted on Myfico.com."

"the number of consumers who have a top score of 800 or above has increased in recent years. At least in part, this reflects that more individuals have cut spending and paid down debt in response to the recession. Their ranks now stand at 17.9 percent, which is notably above the historical average of 13 percent, though down from 18.7 percent in April 2008 before the market meltdown."

FOXNews.com - In rapidly modernizing India, clashes with ancient marriage rules often lead to bloodshed

FOXNews.com - In rapidly modernizing India, clashes with ancient marriage rules often lead to bloodshed: "Ravinder Gehlaut and Shilpa Kadiyan were wedded in March of last year. Their families had arranged their marriage in the traditional way: each had checked out the other's caste, status and wealth. Everything had seemed fine.

But weeks later the whispers began. Village elders began dropping in on Ravinder's father's home in the village of Dharana, in Haryana state, saying the couple had violated a social taboo forbidding the marriage of people belonging to the same 'gotra,' a vague term connoting clan.

Soon, the village's 'khap panchayat,' or caste council, a powerful watchdog group of older men, declared the village had been dishonored. They gave the couple an ultimatum: get divorced, and in Shilpa's case, marry another man approved by the council.

When a mob threatened to kill them if they did not obey, they fled the village."

"In rural north India, residents of neighboring villages were traditionally seen as clanspeople, and thus siblings, which is why the caste council also demanded that Gehlaut and Kadiyan declare themselves brother and sister, even though the clans consist of tens of thousands of people and the couple couldn't possibly be called blood relatives."

"Defiance carries a high price. Couples are separated, ostracized, or even killed — more than 100 last year in Haryana state alone, according to government figures."

FOXNews.com - South Korean inquiry into bloody hidden history ends; US military escapes much blame

FOXNews.com - South Korean inquiry into bloody hidden history ends; US military escapes much blame: "The U.S.-allied South Korean military and police carried out a vast secretive slaughter of political detainees in mid-1950, to keep southern sympathizers from supporting the northerners. Up to 200,000 were killed, historians believe.

Hundreds of petitions to the commission told another story as well, of more than 200 incidents in which the U.S. military, warned about potential North Korean infiltrators in refugee groups, was said to have indiscriminately killed large numbers of innocent South Korean civilians in 1950-51.

Declassified U.S. documents uncovered over the past decade do, indeed, show commanders issuing blanket orders to shoot civilians during that period. In 2007-2009 the commission verified several such U.S. attacks, including the napalm-bombing of a cave jammed with refugees in eastern South Korea, which survivors said killed 360 people, and an air attack that killed 197 refugees gathered in a field in the far south."

"—A U.S. air attack on a refugee ship docked at the far-southern port of Yeosu on Aug. 3, 1950, in which witnesses say hundreds were killed.

—The killing of some 300 civilians on July 11-12, 1950, by U.S. bombers attacking the Iri railway station in southern South Korea, many miles from advancing North Korean troops.

—A U.S. Navy destroyer's shelling of a refugee beach encampment near the southeastern city of Pohang on Sept. 1, 1950, in which survivors say 100 to 200 people were killed. A shipboard document shows the crew reluctantly fired on the civilians at U.S. Army direction.

Such incidents fit a pattern of indiscriminate U.S. attacks on South Korean civilians evident in declassified wartime files uncovered in archival research by the AP and other journalists and historians.

In 1999 the AP confirmed the U.S. killing of refugees at the South Korean hamlet of No Gun Ri in July 1950, in which survivors estimate 400 died, mostly women and children. That report led witnesses to come forward with accounts of other large-scale U.S. killings.

The U.S. archives show clear proof of intent, including 1950 communications from the U.S. ambassador in South Korea and a top Air Force officer saying U.S. forces, to guard against infiltrators, had adopted a policy of shooting refugees approaching their lines, and a series of orders from U.S. commanders to fire on all civilians. Refugees are 'fair game,' said the 1st Cavalry Division's Maj. Gen. Hobart R. Gay.

In interviews with journalists and a Pentagon team that investigated No Gun Ri, Army and Air Force veterans also attested to indiscriminate killings. Pilots who strafed refugee columns on South Korea's roads had been told to attack "people in white," the garb of Korean peasants, because they might harbor infiltrators."

FOXNews.com - Obama: New Export Initiative Off to Good Start

FOXNews.com - Obama: New Export Initiative Off to Good Start: "President Obama declared good progress Wednesday on his pledge to double U.S. exports over the next five years, saying the nation's sales abroad were up 17 percent in first four months of this year."

It's easy to increase exports when you devalue the dollar. When our products cost less, then other nations will buy them more.

It's Time America Had a Fat President | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

It's Time America Had a Fat President | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "A few years back, Slate examined the relationship between flab and presidential performance. What it found suggests that if you want New Frontiers and crusades for democracy, then vote for the skinny striver. If you'd prefer someone who leaves well enough alone — who's content to preside over peace and prosperity — pick the porker."

Are Afghan Riches a Curse? | Nita Ghei | Cato Institute: Commentary

Are Afghan Riches a Curse? | Nita Ghei | Cato Institute: Commentary: "As economists from Milton Friedman to Mancur Olson have pointed out, the difference between rich and poor countries is not a matter of resources; it's a matter of institutions.

Countries ruled by laws that respect property rights, and with institutions that augment and facilitate free exchange, tend to prosper. Countries where property rights are precarious, and where the risk of appropriation of property by the state is high, tend to remain poor.

If the state is likely to seize your investment or profit, why would you invest in a business in hopes of a long-term payoff? On the other hand, the higher the probability that you will be able to keep your profit and income, the greater the incentive to invest and work hard."

"But markets are reasonably efficient only when people are confident that contracts will be enforced, property rights will be respected, and investments will not be expropriated by the state or a local warlord. These are safe assumptions in the United States and Europe, for example, but not in many poor countries."

Anderson's Economics and the Public Welfare - Henry Hazlitt - Mises Daily

Anderson's Economics and the Public Welfare - Henry Hazlitt - Mises Daily: "In connection with [Keynes] theory of stimulating consumption to cure a slump, Anderson asked him, 'Why wouldn't it be a good idea to raise white elephants in a period of depression'? And the British economist, quite unabashed, replied 'That would be just the thing.'"

Senator Russ Feingold: The Control Spending Now Act

Senator Russ Feingold: The Control Spending Now Act: "'While many Americans are struggling to find jobs, members of Congress still get a raise unless they act to stop it,' Feingold said. 'I'm pleased Congress acted to give up its raise next year but it's time to end this system once and for all. The House should follow the Senate's lead and end this back-door pay raise system.'

“The automatic pay raise sends a bad message to the American people who are already cynical about government. There’s no reason, in any circumstance, that members of Congress should automatically receive a bump in pay, but it’s a slap in the face to do it when people across the country are tightening their own belts,” Grassley said."

Bam's Climate Rx: All Pain, No Gain | Patrick J. Michaels | Cato Institute: Commentary

Bam's Climate Rx: All Pain, No Gain | Patrick J. Michaels | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The cap-and-trade bill that the House passed last summer aims to force Americans to reduce those dreaded carbon emissions by 83 percent in less than four decades — to the same per-capita level as 1867. Yet, even under the Al Gore-approved climate-science models, the bill would do nothing to stop global warming."

"The median guess from the United Nations is that, if we do nothing to change our ways, the average world surface temperature will rise about 5 degrees Fahrenheit this century. (In fact, the trends in recent decades strongly suggest that this is an overestimate — but let's accept it for the sake of the argument.)

Now, if only the United States does change its ways, by adopting something like the House bill, we'd prevent about two-tenths of a degree of that warming, according to the UN's climate calculator. That is, the temperature in 2100 gets reduced to what it would otherwise be in 2096. All pain, no gain."

"That legislation would push even more of our industry into migrating to China, India and other nations that have no intention of reducing emissions by making energy more expensive."

FOXNews.com - NASA Chief: Next Frontier Better Relations With Muslim World

FOXNews.com - NASA Chief: Next Frontier Better Relations With Muslim World: "'When I became the NASA administrator -- or before I became the NASA administrator -- [President Obama] charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering,' Bolden said in the interview.�"

Immigration and tech: The White House speaks out | Signal Strength - CNET News

Immigration and tech: The White House speaks out | Signal Strength - CNET News: "ut the president also talked about reforming the current legal system of immigration to make the process of getting work visas and green cards easier to obtain, while also making sure that families stay together.
'Indeed, after years of patchwork fixes and ill-conceived revisions, the legal immigration system is as broken as the borders,' he said. 'Backlogs and bureaucracy mean the process can take years. While an applicant waits for approval, he or she is often forbidden from visiting the United States--which means even husbands and wives may be forced to spend many years apart.'"

I hope he makes this the priority.

FOXNews.com - House Panel Votes to Cut Off Billions in Aid to Afghanistan

FOXNews.com - House Panel Votes to Cut Off Billions in Aid to Afghanistan: "A major House of Representatives committee voted Wednesday to cut off almost $4 billion in aid to the government of Afghanistan pending an investigation into charges that Afghan officials are blocking corruption probes and huge amounts of foreign aid are being stolen.

The bipartisan move by the foreign aid appropriations subcommittee comes after The Washington Post reported that top officials in President Hamid Karzai's government were blocking corruption probes of political allies and amid widespread assumptions that Afghan power brokers are moving millions of dollars out of the country."

FOXNews.com - Senators Confident They Have Votes to Lift Cuba Travel Ban

FOXNews.com - Senators Confident They Have Votes to Lift Cuba Travel Ban: "'The nearly 50-year embargo and travel ban restricting Americans' right to travel to Cuba has been a failure,' Dorgan said. 'The quickest way to bring democracy to Cuba is through travel and trade. Just as has been our policy with China, Vietnam and other communist countries, we should allow Americans to travel freely to Cuba.'"

FOXNews.com - Pelosi: Unemployment Checks Fastest Way to Create Jobs

FOXNews.com - Pelosi: Unemployment Checks Fastest Way to Create Jobs: "Talking to reporters, the House speaker was defending a jobless benefits extension against those who say it gives recipients little incentive to work. By her reasoning, those checks are helping give somebody a job.�

'It injects demand into the economy,' Pelosi said, arguing that when families have money to spend it keeps the economy churning. 'It creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name.'"

Giving people money certainly helps the economy unless you consider the cost of getting that money -- then it hurts the economy.

FOXNews.com - BP Spill Hits a Somber Record as Gulf's Biggest

FOXNews.com - BP Spill Hits a Somber Record as Gulf's Biggest: "The oil that's spewed for two and a half months from a blown-out well a mile under the sea hit the 140.6 million gallon mark, eclipsing the record-setting, 140-million-gallon Ixtoc I spill off Mexico's coast from 1979 to 1980. Even by the lower end of the government's estimates, at least 71.7 million gallons are in the Gulf."

Surprising! Based on the reports, I thought it was a record long ago!

"But it's not the biggest in history.
That happened when Iraqi forces opened valves at a terminal and dumped as much as 336 million gallons of oil in 1991 during the Persian Gulf war, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."