Turn the Problem of North Korea Over to Its Neighbors | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary

Turn the Problem of North Korea Over to Its Neighbors | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Even if the Republic of Korea's defense then was worth three years of war, the peninsula matters much less to America today. A North Korean attack would no longer be the assumed harbinger to regional or global aggression. Neither Russia nor China would aid an aggressive Pyongyang. And the ROK is well able to defend itself, in contrast to 1950, when Washington had refused to arm its ally after Seoul threatened to invade the north.

There's no reason for the U.S. to remain entangled on the peninsula through its promise to defend the South backed by the deployment of 27,000 military personnel.'

'However, the U.S. government should provide no aid, food or financial, to Pyongyang. Tragically, millions of North Koreans are hungry, and UN Undersecretary-General Valerie Amos has been lobbying for more international food assistance. But it is impossible to keep politics out of even "humanitarian" aid. Government-to-government assistance boosts the Kim regime, which has turned the entire nation into a deadly prison camp.'

The CLASS Act: This Is Confidence-Inspiring? | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary

The CLASS Act: This Is Confidence-Inspiring? | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Congress required CLASS to set each applicant's premiums according to the average applicant's risk of needing such long-term care, rather than her individual risk. But averaged premiums are only attractive to people with above-average risks. Since few people with below-average risks would enroll, the average premium would rise. That would encourage more people with below-average risks not to enroll, and the vicious cycle would continue until the program collapsed.'

'It is a virtue, say supporters, that Obamacare raises taxes (amid high unemployment, no less) to encourage people to buy something they would not voluntarily purchase with their own money.'

Fed Created a Recipe for Disaster in Housing Market | Mark A. Calabria | Cato Institute: Commentary

Fed Created a Recipe for Disaster in Housing Market | Mark A. Calabria | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Using the Fed balance sheet to absorb the losses that should have been borne by creditors and shareholders is not conducting monetary policy. It is fiscal policy, on a massive scale.'