Steve Jobs and the Beautification of Capitalism - Jeffrey A. Tucker - Mises Daily

Steve Jobs and the Beautification of Capitalism - Jeffrey A. Tucker - Mises Daily: Every entrepreneur in society deserves such praise, and it is also correct to single out Steve Jobs, because his company seemed to push civilization a bit further down the road to progress with mind-blowing consumer products that allow us to do everything from play musical instruments to video talk with people halfway across the world in real time. Apple has dramatically improved our lives — in the same way that all capitalistic ventures have but more conspicuously so.

Still, there's something odd here. Fast food, chain stores, and sneaker companies are usually subjected to derision and envy-ridden hate in a culture that has too little appreciation for business success. Just look at the amazing attack campaigns directed against Walmart for the crime of making all great things available to just about everyone at low prices. And don't get me started on the daily blizzard of attacks on the most loved and most hated of all hamburger joints.

Growing the Economy for Dummies | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Growing the Economy for Dummies | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Chile was the first nation in the Americas to adopt a traditional social security system, way back in 1925 — 10 years before the United States. By the late 1970s, however, the Chilean system was running out of money despite higher and higher taxes. The young labor minister, Jose Pinera, who has a doctorate in economics from Harvard, led a fundamental reform of the system from a government-defined benefit system to a private-account defined-contribution system, which is owned by the workers.

The Chilean system has been so successful during the past 30 years that it has been copied by more than 30 countries, including Sweden and Australia. Chileans retire with far more wealth than the average American, despite the fact that Chile is just a low-middle-income country. In both Chile and the United States, employers are required to set aside a little more than 12 percent for the pension program, but in Chile, someone with the same earnings as an American will be getting $55,000 as an annual pension, while the American, working the same number of years, just gets $18,000.'

Yes, It Is a Ponzi Scheme | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Yes, It Is a Ponzi Scheme | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Of course, Social Security and Ponzi schemes are not perfectly analogous. Ponzi, after all, had to rely on what people were willing to voluntarily invest with him. Once he couldn't convince enough new investors to join his scheme, it collapsed. Social Security, on the other hand, can rely on the power of the government to tax. As the shrinking number of workers paying into the system makes it harder to continue to sustain benefits, the government can just force young people to pay even more into the system.

In fact, Social Security taxes have been raised some 40 times since the program began. The initial Social Security tax was 2 percent (split between the employer and employee), capped at $3,000 of earnings. That made for a maximum tax of $60. Today, the tax is 12.4 percent, capped at $106,800, for a maximum tax of $13,234. Even adjusting for inflation, that represents more than an 800 percent increase.'

A World Spinning Backward | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary

A World Spinning Backward | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'As much as Americans want to believe that everyone else would be like Americans if given a chance, the so-called Arab Spring so far has matched a desire for political liberation with a preference for religious intolerance. Tyranny may end up being transformed rather than eliminated.'

'restrictions on religion are particularly common in countries that prohibit blasphemy, apostasy or defamation of religion. While such laws are sometimes promoted as a way to protect religion, in practice they more often serve to punish religious minorities whose beliefs are deemed unorthodox or heretical.'

We're From the Government. We're Here to Help. by Ron Paul

We're From the Government. We're Here to Help. by Ron Paul: 'Victims of disasters should get any and all help possible, and there is virtually no limit to the generosity and compassion of good American people after devastation hits. One only need to remember the outpouring after Katrina to know this is true. FEMA, however, did more to get in the way of relief than to actually provide and facilitate it. The examples are numerous. When the call was put out for volunteer firefighters, they volunteered by the thousands. It was FEMA, for reasons of control and bureaucratic ineptitude, who made sure they were not, in fact allowed to actually help. When a group of firefighters arrived from Houston, instead of being put immediately on the job, they were told to sit around and wait. After waiting for two days doing nothing, they were simply sent home. One thousand volunteer firefighters were sent to Atlanta to undergo sexual harassment training while fires actively raged in the city. The ones that remained through this stupidity were sent to escort the president around or to distribute fliers instead of putting out fires. Computer engineer Jack Harrison was told his skills were needed to rebuild technological infrastructure. After being given the runaround for about two weeks, he was misallocated as head of security on the cruise ship FEMA had leased, when he should have been using his skills to help. All manner of help was turned away or mismanaged by FEMA while people suffered and waited. Even the Red Cross had its hands tied by FEMA.'

'Compare the stories of two flotillas – one after 9/11 and one after Katrina. Within an hour of the 9/11 attacks, the largest boatlift in history was organized spontaneously by locals who saw an immediate need and responded immediately. Over 500,000 terrified New Yorkers were taken off the island by ferries, tugboats, pleasure crafts, fishing boats and barges when all other access points had been shut down. A similar flotilla attempt was privately organized after Katrina. 500 boats caravanned to New Orleans to rescue patients from hospitals that were out of supplies and desperate. Unfortunately, FEMA had taken over by then and they were turned away, empty, while the patients languished, still stranded.'