The Real Victims in the Patent Wars | Timothy B. Lee | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Real Victims in the Patent Wars | Timothy B. Lee | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Patents are supposed to reward innovation, but in the software industry, they are having the opposite effect. The patent system has become a minefield that punishes innovators who accidentally infringe the patents of others. There are now so many software patents in force that it is practically impossible to avoid infringing them all.

The result has been an explosion of litigation. Large firms like Apple, Microsoft, Motorola, and Samsung are suing one another over mobile phone patents. And as a recent episode of This American Life documented, there are entire office buildings full of "patent trolls" that produce no useful products but sue other companies that do. What has gone largely overlooked in the coverage of the “patent wars,” however, has been the disproportionate burden placed on small firms—which has enormous consequences for the movement toward DIY innovation.'

'The patent system doesn't even offer software developers an efficient way of figuring out which patents they are in danger of infringing upon.'

'Little wonder, then, that most software firms don't even try to avoid infringement. Defending against patent litigation is simply seen as a cost of doing business in the software industry. Startups hope that by the time the inevitable lawsuits arrive, they will have grown large enough to hire good lawyers to defend themselves. But as the number of software patents—and with it, the volume of litigation—has soared, smaller companies have become targets.'

Blind Ambition Is Not a Presidential Job Qualification | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Blind Ambition Is Not a Presidential Job Qualification | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: '"an abnormal-psych study could be written on every president of the modern era except the one who never ran for national office, Gerald R. Ford." With apologies to Groucho Marx, anybody who wants to belong to this club shouldn't be allowed to be a member.

In his terrific book "See How They Ran," historian Gil Troy writes that "Originally, presidential candidates were supposed to 'stand' for election, not 'run.' They did not make speeches. They did not shake hands. Republican detachment from the political arena was good and dignified; actively seeking office and soliciting votes was humiliating and bad."'

'we ought to strive to make the office less powerful, and thus, a less attractive prize for those who hunger for power.'

Fixing the Federal Reserve | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Fixing the Federal Reserve | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'The Fed was established to provide price stability and prevent periodic banking crises. It has accomplished neither.

The wholesale price level in the United States was at almost the same level when the Fed was established in 1913 as it was in 1793, 120 years earlier. Now it takes about 22 dollars to equal the 1913 dollar. There have been far more bank failures post-Fed than pre-Fed, and we seem to be in an almost permanent state of banking crises with “too big to fail.”'

'the monetary situation could be greatly improved if: (1) The Fed were charged only with maintaining the value of the currency and nothing else; (2) others were given the right to compete with the Fed in creating money (again, provided they do not claim it is legal tender); and finally, (3) the capital gains tax were removed from commodity transactions.'

The Voting Rights Act Is Outmoded, Unworkable | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Voting Rights Act Is Outmoded, Unworkable | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Section 5 was a valuable tool in the fight against systemic disenfranchisement, but it now facilitates the very discrimination it was designed to prevent. Indeed, the prohibition on retrogression effectively requires districting that assures that minority voters are the majority in some districts — an inherently race-conscious mandate. The law, most recently renewed in 2006 for another 25 years, is based on deeply flawed assumptions and outdated statistical triggers, and it flies in the face of the 15th Amendment's requirement that all voters be treated equally.'

'Even as Section 2 requires race-based districting, Section 5, along with the 14th and 15th amendments, prohibit it. These tensions cannot but produce chaotic proceedings like those here, which are replicated every redistricting cycle.'

For decades, U.S. was major copyright pirate | Media Maverick - CNET News

For decades, U.S. was major copyright pirate | Media Maverick - CNET News: 'one of the most lucrative revenue streams for U.S. publishers during this period involved grabbing copies of British books and racing to duplicate them before rivals. Authors weren't compensated a dime, say Burrows and Wallace. But don't feel too bad for the British publishers as they had done the same to French authors.
From the book: "Some (U.S. publishers) sent agents to England with orders to grab volumes from bookstalls... and ship them west by fast packet. Copy was then rushed from the dock to the composing room, presses run night and day, and books hurried to the stores or hawked in the streets like hot corn."
According to Burrows and Wallace, one of the most successful pirates was a company that eventually became HarperCollins, now owned by News Corp.'

The Irrelevance of Worker Need and Employer Greed in Determining Wages - George Reisman - Mises Daily

The Irrelevance of Worker Need and Employer Greed in Determining Wages - George Reisman - Mises Daily: 'People ... conclude that if employers were free, wages would be driven down by the force of the employers' self-interest ... and that no resistance to the fall in wages would be encountered until the point of minimum subsistence was reached.'

'The consequence of the scarcity of labor is that wage rates in a free market can fall no lower than corresponds to the point of full employment. At that point the scarcity of labor is felt, and any further fall in wage rates would be against the self-interests of employers because then a labor shortage would ensue. Thus, if somehow wage rates did fall below the point corresponding to full employment, it would be to the self-interest of employers to bid them back up again.'

The Skeptic's Case - David M.W. Evans - Mises Daily

The Skeptic's Case - David M.W. Evans - Mises Daily: 'There are literally thousands of feedbacks, each of which either reinforces or opposes the direct-warming effect of the extra CO2. Almost every long-lived system is governed by net feedback that dampens its response to a perturbation. If a system instead reacts to a perturbation by amplifying it, the system is likely to reach a tipping point and become unstable (like the electronic squeal that erupts when a microphone gets too close to its speakers). The earth's climate is long-lived and stable — it has never gone into runaway greenhouse, unlike Venus — which strongly suggests that the feedbacks dampen temperature perturbations such as that from extra CO2.'

'his climate model predicted that if human CO2 emissions were cut back drastically starting in 1988, such that by year 2000 the CO2 level was not rising at all, we would get his scenario C. But in reality the temperature did not even rise this much, even though our CO2 emissions strongly increased — which suggests that the climate models greatly overestimate the effect of CO2 emissions.'

'It's 20 years now, and the average rate of increase in reality is below the lowest trend in the range predicted by the IPCC.'

'the earth gives off more heat when its surface is warmer. This is the opposite of what the climate models predict. This shows that the climate models trap heat too aggressively'

'the "debate" is about politics and power, and not about science or truth.'

Affirmative Action And Diversiphilia Return to the Supreme Court | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary

Affirmative Action And Diversiphilia Return to the Supreme Court | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Diversity, as used by university officials and the Supreme Court in Grutter, is an ideal that treats people as members of a group first and as individuals second. It is explicitly and offensively racial, insofar as it regards any member of a group as a sufficient placeholder for any other.

This would be bad enough if the groups that concern diversiphiles even made sense. But they don’t. The category of “Asian,” for example, may include Indians, Pakistanis, Japanese-Americans, Cambodians, Chinese, and Koreans, just to name a few. These groups come from wildly different religions, languages, and cultural traditions. Some even hate each other. Nevertheless, American universities will group them into a nice little package. Similarly, the category of “Hispanic” is equally un-illuminating, describing anything from a Puerto Rican, to an Italian-Argentinian, to a Mexican of European descent.'

'They have been free to use racial characteristics as a proxy for “unique worldviews” and “authentic perspectives” despite the fact that the concept of race is both too broad and vague to capture these traits adequately. Moreover, by focusing on race as a proxy for experience, they have ignored a more important type of diversity to an educational setting: diversity of opinions and ideologies.'

'Justice John Marshall Harlan penned some of the most prescient words in American legal history: “Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens'

Volunteers Save Cities Billions, But Unions Cry Foul | Fox News

Volunteers Save Cities Billions, But Unions Cry Foul | Fox News: 'Some unions are pushing back, fearing volunteers are cutting into their territory. “They’re eroding the number of hours for our people,” says Ian Gordon of Laborer’s Union 1239 in Seattle. “It’s of great concern that they might be doing further work that we would normally do.”'

Sweet Land of Liberty -- Janet Napolitano: The New J. Edgar Hoover? | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary

Sweet Land of Liberty -- Janet Napolitano: The New J. Edgar Hoover? | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Starting in 2010, reports Infowars, Homeland Security told outside contractors "to monitor the web for media reports and comments that reflect adversely' on the agency or the federal government."'

'According to Infowars, Homeland Security officials say their search for dissonant views was just a test and "was quickly dropped as it did not meet operational requirements or privacy standards' which expressly prohibit reporting on individuals' First Amendment activities.'"'

So why was it even started or considered?

We're Already Europe | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

We're Already Europe | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Under the best-case scenario, then, [adding the unfunded liabilities] amounts to more than 480 percent of GDP. And, under more realistic projections, we owe an astounding 911 percent of GDP.'

'counting both official debt and unfunded pension and health-care liabilities, the most indebted nation in Europe is Greece, which owes 875 percent of GDP. That’s right, the United States potentially owes more than Greece. France, the second most insolvent nation in Europe, owes just 549 percent of GDP. Even under the most optimistic scenario, we owe more than such fiscal basket cases as Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.'

'Ireland is the only country in Europe with a bigger government than the U.S.’s will be in 2050'

The Transition to Monetary Freedom - Ron Paul - Mises Daily

The Transition to Monetary Freedom - Ron Paul - Mises Daily: 'the Constitution forbids the states to make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debt, nor does it permit the federal government to make anything a legal tender.'

'[federal legal-tender laws], which have the effect of forcing creditors to accept something in payment for the debts due them that they do not wish to accept, are one of the most tyrannical devices of the present monetary authorities.'

Monopoly Dentistry - James E. Miller - Mises Daily

Monopoly Dentistry - James E. Miller - Mises Daily: 'To get a good idea of how state occupational licensing works, consider the following example. Imagine Bill runs a lemonade stand in the middle of a bustling city. Instead of facing competition from other street vendors and surrounding eateries and grocery stores, Bill had the foresight to lobby the local city council to outlaw all sellers of lemonade who don't at first obtain a license from the city. Due to his influence and close ties to select city council members, Bill fast tracked through the application process and was able to secure a license to sell lemonade before anyone else. Little competition stands in his way now. Bill is then able to keep his sale price above the established level of a real free market and reap profits as consumers are still willing to take the extra hit on their wallet for his delicious lemonade. Profits are up, times are good, and Mrs. Bill is happy. But now the city council is beginning to change its tune on lemonade licensing and is considering an increase in licensing allotments. The free ride is coming to an end, so Bill, worried the good life will soon be over, launches a countering lobbying effort on the basis that product quality will decrease if more licenses are given out.'

Ex-judge In Massachusetts Defends Forced Abortion Ruling | Fox News

Ex-judge In Massachusetts Defends Forced Abortion Ruling | Fox News: 'Harms, 58, who retired last month, defended her ruling in a letter she sent Monday to other Massachusetts family court judges, saying she believed the schizophrenic woman would have chosen to have an abortion if she had been mentally competent. The letter was first reported by The Boston Globe.

"I believed then, as I do now, that she would elect to abort the pregnancy to protect her own well-being," Harms said, according to the newspaper. "She would want to be healthy."

The 31-year-old woman, who suffered from delusions, had reportedly described herself as "very Catholic." The woman had expressed opposition to terminating her pregnancy, according to the newspaper, while her parents sought consent for the abortion.'

How the Bishops Undermined Individual Responsibility | Roger Pilon | Cato Institute: Commentary

How the Bishops Undermined Individual Responsibility | Roger Pilon | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Turn anything over to government and the battle over conflicting values begins — the battle over “our national priorities.” With certain things — protecting our liberties from domestic and foreign threats, providing basic infrastructure and clean air and water — we pretty much all agree, if not at the edges at least in the main. But beyond those, we have vast disagreements about health care, education, retirement, and so much else that government dominates today, all at the expense of individual liberty and responsibility. The bishops are rightly concerned that Catholic employers are being forced to do what their religious beliefs prohibit. But that comes, necessarily, with the collective territory.'

Economic Fairness: President Obama's Most Cynical Tactic | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary

Economic Fairness: President Obama's Most Cynical Tactic | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'In one campaign speech after another, he suggests that his soak-the-rich class warfare will stop “millionaires and billionaires” from grabbing more than their fair share of wealth. But the most likely outcome is that he will end up grabbing more than his fair share of power, and everybody else will be poorer.'

'progressives have endlessly attacked the private sector and suggested that there’s no limit to how much good politicians might do if only they had more power'

Santorum Is Severely Wrong | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Santorum Is Severely Wrong | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'A recent Time magazine symposium asked leading thinkers on the Right, "What Is Conservatism?" Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist offered this answer: "Conservatives ask only one thing of the government. They wish to be left alone."

'"This idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do," Santorum complained to NPR in 2006, "that we shouldn't get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn't get involved in cultural issues... that is not how traditional conservatives view the world."'

So which is correct?

Israeli Attack on Iran's Nuclear Facilities Easier Said than Done | David Isenberg | Cato Institute: Commentary

Israeli Attack on Iran's Nuclear Facilities Easier Said than Done | David Isenberg | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'It is believed that the Israeli missiles can reach Natanz. However, to travel that far the missiles will have a limited warhead weight, and it is doubtful that these warheads will be able to penetrate far enough underground to achieve the desired level of destruction.'

Isreal has a much more advanced military than North Korea but it only has limited capabilities at 1,000 miles.

A Debate about Contraception Or Religious Freedom? No, a Debate about Economic Choice | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

A Debate about Contraception Or Religious Freedom? No, a Debate about Economic Choice | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'This issue never had anything whatsoever to do with women’s health. There is nothing that prevents any woman who wants contraceptives from purchasing them. No one is threatening to take that right away, and no one should.

The debate does not even have anything to do with whether or not women can get insurance that covers contraceptives. Most insurance plans already do so, and when they don’t, women can purchase a rider that provides the additional coverage.

What this debate was really about is who pays for that coverage. And as much as some would like to obscure it, there is a difference between having the freedom to buy something for yourself and forcing someone else to pay for it.'

'From the beginning, the debate over health care reform has been about power and control. On one side, the Obama administration has sought to centralize control over health care in the federal government. The government decides whether a business must provide insurance or whether an individual must purchase it, and what type of insurance that must be. The government decides what treatments should be available. The government decides how much things should cost and who should pay for them.'

'As long as Obamacare puts the government in charge of our health care decisions, our choices will be dictated by politicians.'

Streetcar Claims Are Deceptive | Randal O'Toole | Cato Institute: Commentary

Streetcar Claims Are Deceptive | Randal O'Toole | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'There is a good reason why all but six of the more than 800 American cities that once had streetcars replaced them with buses: Streetcar infrastructure is expensive to build, expensive to maintain and must be rehabilitated at high cost about every 30 years.

The subsidies supporting streetcars are far greater, per rider or per passenger mile, than subsidies to buses.'

The Illiberality of ObamaCare | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Illiberality of ObamaCare | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'it is nonsense to argue that the percentage of Americans who believe contraception is forbidden by God is small enough that the First Amendment doesn't apply to them; the whole point of the First Amendment is to protect minorities.'

'Rather than respect each individual's freedom to make their own choice, President Obama demands that even those who will never need contraception — gays, lesbians, the post-menopausal, the celibate, the infertile — must underwrite other people's sex lives.'

'The president seeks to achieve universal health insurance coverage by forcing everyone to purchase it. With a populace sharply divided over what health insurance should include, however, that mission becomes an altar for sacrificing individual rights.'

Obama's Busted Budget | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obama's Busted Budget | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'The president claims that his budget proposal reduces debt by $4 trillion over the next 10 years, combining $2.4 trillion in spending cuts with $1.6 trillion in tax hikes.'

'The president actually counts $681 billion in cuts that were agreed to last year as part of the deal to raise the debt ceiling. '

'The president also counts as a cut the $741 billion we will save from not occupying Iraq over the next 10 years, and from not being in Afghanistan a decade from now.'

'And, finally, $595 billion of the claimed budget cuts is actually interest savings resulting from not having to borrow for the other phony cuts.'

That shows that 84% of the cuts are phony.

How Does The Penalty For 'Content Theft' Match Up With Similar 'Crimes'? | Techdirt

How Does The Penalty For 'Content Theft' Match Up With Similar 'Crimes'? | Techdirt: 'Copyright “theft” is a very different story. Copyright infringement statutory damages in civil litigation can be as high as $150,000 for infringement of a single work. Yes, a single work such as a single song with an iTunes download value of $1. A copyright holder can claim such statutory damages without needing to prove a single penny of damage or loss. Think such sky-high damages aren’t realistic? Think again. In the RIAA’s case against single mother Jammie Thomas, a jury awarded $1,500,000 for the download of 24 songs, with no proof that she had transmitted songs to others. The federal judge thought that was ridiculous and reduced the total award to $54,000 – and the RIAA and MPAA are now arguing strenuously on appeal that the jury verdict should return to the original figure, $62,500 per downloaded song.

What if we work backwards, and see how the law might punish those other, similar, infractions with a damages system similar to copyright:


If we take copyright law’s maximum-penalty-to-price ratio as applied to an illegal download, and apply that same penalty-to-price ratio to the New York subway, the maximum penalty for jumping that turnstile and avoiding the $2.50 fare would be $375,000 instead of $100. Copyright industries are on to a really good thing under current law. One could say it’s a steal.

And yet the industry claims that copyright laws are too weak currently? That seems difficult to square with reality.'

Reason Foundation - Out of Control Policy Blog > Can Environmental Advocacy Organizations be Good Stewards of the Environment?

Reason Foundation - Out of Control Policy Blog > Can Environmental Advocacy Organizations be Good Stewards of the Environment?: 'The willingness of the national organizations to bargain away real-world, earth-bound enviornmental stewardship for abstract policy objectives such as climate change should be worrying. How much of the environment are they willing to trade off for climate change, particularly since virtually no meaingful metrics exist for judging the effectiveness of this plant in meeting climate change goals which are global in scale? And the vast majority of greenhouse gases that will be released into the atmosphere over the next 50 years will come from rapidly industrializing countries such as China and India, regardless of what the US can accomplish?'

USPS: The Cursed Carriers - Brian Anderson - Mises Daily

USPS: The Cursed Carriers - Brian Anderson - Mises Daily: 'The 12 cent stamps sold by the USPS were no match for Spooner's 3 cent stamps, so the US government, in order to oppose the inevitable, officially declared that all city streets were to be deemed post roads, available only to the USPS in letter delivery.'

'While labor costs represent only 32 percent and 53 percent of expenses for FedEx and United Parcel Service, respectively, they represent an astounding 80 percent for the USPS.'

Fed Low Interest Rate Policy Distorts the Economy | James A. Dorn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Fed Low Interest Rate Policy Distorts the Economy | James A. Dorn | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Can anyone seriously believe that the runup in bond prices can continue indefinitely, or that the Fed's low interest-rate policy hasn't helped push up other asset prices, including gold and stocks?

Manipulating interest rates via central bank policy distorts the structure of asset prices and penalizes savers. Low nominal interest rates, even at low rates of inflation, can mean negative real rates. Pension plans are also harmed as promised benefits cannot be fulfilled.'

'Monetizing government debt and pegging interest rates are experiments in market socialism, not capitalism. The longer the Fed fails to let market forces determine rates, the more difficult the eventual adjustment will become.'

' the chief architect of the Constitution, James Madison, held that:

"It is sufficiently obvious that persons and property (not aggregate demand management) are the two great subjects on which governments are to act; and that the rights of persons and the rights of property are the objects for the protection of which Government was instituted."'

Taxpayers Shouldn't Have to Pay for Underwater Mortgages | Mark A. Calabria | Cato Institute: Commentary

Taxpayers Shouldn't Have to Pay for Underwater Mortgages | Mark A. Calabria | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'In effect, it would punish potential borrowers by reducing the availability of credit while also increasing its costs, simply to benefit existing borrowers.'

Meet the Parents of the Super PACs | Edward H. Crane and David Keating | Cato Institute: Commentary

Meet the Parents of the Super PACs | Edward H. Crane and David Keating | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Americans spend as much on potato chips as they do on all federal elections ($3.6 billion in 2010)'

Texans On Wrong Side Of Border Fence Grow Anxious | Fox News

Texans On Wrong Side Of Border Fence Grow Anxious | Fox News: 'In this lush area, the Rio Grande's wide floodplain precluded building the fence right on the border so it was set back more than a mile in places, running behind the levees. The result is a no-man's-land of hundreds of properties, and the people who work on them, on the wrong side of the divide.'

'Some landowners also worry they'll become kidnapping targets for smugglers seeking passage through the 18-foot-tall metal fence.'

On the Right Side of the Bullet | Clayton E. Cramer | Cato Institute: Commentary

On the Right Side of the Bullet | Clayton E. Cramer | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'How often do [defensive gun] incidents happen? While the results from studies vary, the numbers are large. The National Crime Victimization Survey, for various procedural reasons, is at the low end, showing 108,000 such cases a year (although this was some years back, when crime rates were higher than now). The widely reported Kleck/Gertz study, which has its own set of problems, showed a range of 830,000 to 2.45 million defensive gun uses per year. Other studies have fallen solidly in the middle, with hundreds of thousands of defensive gun uses per year.'

'Over a period of more than seven years, we compiled almost 5,000 such accounts. Most ended happily, with a burglar, carjacker or robber held for police. Some ended in bloodshed, as in the case of Sarah McKinley. Very few ended with the victim injured or killed.'

'Do law-abiding adults responsibly use guns in self-defense? The evidence we have amassed says yes, and frequently.'

The Pagan View - Henry Grady Weaver - Mises Daily

The Pagan View - Henry Grady Weaver - Mises Daily: 'From the pagan viewpoint, man is not self-controlling, not responsible for his own acts. The pagan universe is timeless, changeless, static. There is no such thing as progress. Any apparent change is merely a human illusion. Man is passive. His place is fixed. He has no freedom of will. His fate is decreed. If he tries to resist, his efforts will be futile.'

'most of the major ills of the world have been caused by well-meaning people who ignored the principle of individual freedom, except as applied to themselves, and who were obsessed with fanatical zeal to improve the lot of mankind-in-the-mass through some pet formula of their own. "It is at this point," she says, "that the humanitarian sets up the guillotine."'

Why Does President Obama Dislike Freedom of Conscience? | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary

Why Does President Obama Dislike Freedom of Conscience? | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Insurance is supposed to counter the risk of unlikely but potentially catastrophic events, such as having an accident or contracting cancer. Using birth control, a voluntary, routine and inexpensive decision, obviously is not such an occurrence. “Insuring” against something over which one has full control makes no sense.'

'Imagine if auto “insurance” covered routine maintenance and even gasoline fill-ups. Yet this perversion of “health insurance” already is far advanced, and has contributed to the dramatic rise in health care costs in recent years.'

'But what makes contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients more important than life-saving treatment for cancer and other deadly diseases, which receive less complete coverage? And contraception still will not be free, since women will be paying increased premiums—for something a number of them would not freely choose.'

'As government takes over ever more private responsibilities, it imposes the beliefs of those who have seized control of the state. In practice today that usually means a secularist and paternalist orientation.'

Will Currency Devaluation Fix the Eurozone? - Frank Shostak - Mises Daily

Will Currency Devaluation Fix the Eurozone? - Frank Shostak - Mises Daily: 'The so-called improved competitiveness resulting from currency depreciation in fact amounts to economic impoverishment. The "improved competitiveness" means that the citizens of a country are now getting fewer real imports for a given amount of real exports. While the country is getting rich in terms of foreign currency, it is getting poor in terms of real wealth — i.e., in terms of the goods and services required for maintaining people's lives and well-being.'

The Real Trouble with the Birth-Control Mandate | John H. Cochrane | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Real Trouble with the Birth-Control Mandate | John H. Cochrane | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'The pre-existing conditions crisis is largely a creature of tax law. You don’t lose your car insurance when you change jobs.'

The Limits of Monetary Policy Call for Moral, Sound Money | James A. Dorn | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Limits of Monetary Policy Call for Moral, Sound Money | James A. Dorn | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'After expanding its balance sheet from less than $1 trillion before 2008 to nearly $3 trillion today, the Fed has had little impact on the rate of unemployment but has greatly altered the allocation of credit and distorted the yield curve. It is ironic that while Congress criticizes China for manipulating its exchange rate, little is said about the Federal Reserve's manipulation of interest rates and asset prices.'

'Rather than engaging in pure monetary policy to ensure long-run price stability and prevent erratic changes in nominal GDP, the U.S. central bank has engaged in fiscal policy by allocating credit to favored groups and thus politicized monetary policy.'

'Pegging the federal funds rate close to zero for another three years and twisting the yield curve to lower longer-term rates will continue to misprice credit, penalize saving, and encourage risk.'

Highway Robbery by Republicans | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Highway Robbery by Republicans | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Anyone still wondering why there is a disconnect between grassroots limited-government conservatives and the Washington establishment need look no farther than the latest highway bill currently making its way through Congress with support from Republican leaders in both houses.

The Senate version, SB 1813, would cost $109 billion over two years. The House bill, HR 7, which runs to 847 pages of pork and special-interest projects, raises the price tag to $260 billion, but extends it over five years, making it a couple billion cheaper on a year-by-year basis.

In theory, of course, the highway bill is supposed to be paid for out of the Highway Trust Fund. But according to the Congressional Budget Office, the Trust Fund, which is funded by the federal gas tax, will collect only $187 billion over the next five years, meaning that the House bill spends $73 billion more than it takes in.'

Burma Comes in from the Cold | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary

Burma Comes in from the Cold | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'The Burmese people need investment and trade more than official development assistance, which has a dismal record of promoting sustained economic growth. Private capital would better encourage broad-based development and job creation, so desperately needed by one of the world’s poorest nations. Trade and investment also would strengthen the Burmese private sector, not government (through which most official “assistance” flows), helping to disperse power in a system characterized for decades by the dangerous combination of political and economic power.'

Iran evades US sanctions by paying with gold - CSMonitor.com

Iran evades US sanctions by paying with gold - CSMonitor.com: 'The sanctions have drastically cut its ability to obtain euro and dollar denominated financing, forcing Tehran to find alternative ways to pay for its imports.'

The Fed's Quasi-Fiscal Policies - David Howden - Mises Daily

The Fed's Quasi-Fiscal Policies - David Howden - Mises Daily: 'The Fed is seemingly less directly concerned with maintaining output, and more with keeping banks afloat'

'as the Fed bought low-quality assets to strengthen the banking system's balance sheet, it has increased the base money supply by almost 2 trillion dollars (or 250 percent)'

'inflationary pressures will appear if the Fed realizes a loss on its assets (which it has not had to do, as they remain largely unsold)'

'The Fed currently has about $800 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities included in its assets. Add to that $100 billion of federal-agency debt securities, not all of which are guaranteed by the federal government. Include roughly $35 billion worth of AIG assets still on the books, and the Fed has a sizable holding of inarguably low-quality assets.'

Unions ask Democrats in Walker recall to make veto pledge - JSOnline

Unions ask Democrats in Walker recall to make veto pledge - JSOnline: 'Falk, the former Dane County executive, has committed to restoring collective bargaining in the next state budget and vetoing the budget if those provisions come out, while at least three other candidates including Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said they wouldn't commit to any one strategy to accomplish that.'

Attack of the Pork Hawks | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary

Attack of the Pork Hawks | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'the Department of Defense spends most of its money to protect other nations, including those that are populous and prosperous. All together, the Europeans have a larger GDP and population than America and ten times the GDP and three times the population of Russia. South Korea has 40 times the GDP and twice the population of North Korea. Why is the U.S. taxpayer still paying for their protection, 67 years after World War II ended?

Even worse has been Washington's foray into militarized nation-building. The Balkans remains a mess nearly two decades after Washington intervened. The Iraq War weakened America and strengthened Iran. The U.S. has been trying to create a competent, honest, and democratic central government in Kabul for a decade. None of these missions advances U.S. security.'

'Like liberals spending on education, these right-wingers equate money with results. Thus bigger Pentagon budgets mean increased national security. Only it's not true: greater military spending is strategic waste on a grand scale.'

'Washington already has a thousand military installations around the world. The American navy is equivalent to that of next 13 navies combined, 11 of which belong to U.S. allies.'

'Washington spends as much as the rest of the world — and spends more, in real terms, than at any point during the Korean War, Vietnam War, or Cold War. America could spend less and still possess far larger and more capable forces than anyone else.'

'Reductions in military spending, we are told, would be "totally destructive" and "very dangerous to the survival of the country," would "destroy" the Pentagon, set America on a "perilous course," be "dangerous and irresponsible," leave America "in the greatest peril," "would decimate our military," threaten America's "national security interests," be "totally devastating," send "a very horrible message" to America's enemies, create the "threat of gutting national security," "break" the military, "invite aggression," cause "severe and irreversible impact," leave America "teetering on the precipice of disaster," cause "catastrophic damage," "put our national security on the chopping block," leave "a hollow force," "disarm the United States unilaterally," result in "American lives lost," fail "to provide for the safety and security of our country," and call "into question our nation's ability to remain a free people."

All of this from returning military outlays to 2007 levels.

The fundamental question is whether military spending should respond to the threat environment. Leading Republicans answer no: America must always and in every situation spend more.'

Intellectual And Policy Corruption | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Intellectual And Policy Corruption | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'The United States has dropped from No. 19 to No. 24 in Transparency International’s corruption index over the past three years. Reporters Without Borders‘ index shows an enormous drop in press freedom in the U.S. over the past three years, from a ranking of No. 20 to a dreadful No. 47.'

'Now, the Justice Department is requiring the Bank of America, as part of its settlement for alleged “lending discrimination,” to make large contributions to leftist groups that are not connected to the suit, including groups that are little more than renamed ACORNs.'

'You can identify some of the most intellectually corrupt in Congress, the media and the administration. They are the ones who are most vocal in railing against tax cheats yet fall strangely silent when the IRS cheats taxpayers by forcing them pay taxes on imaginary capital gains and interest because of government-caused inflation.'

MOMENT OF CLARITY: Fun Facts

MOMENT OF CLARITY: Fun Facts: 'So after benchmark-adjusting myself, I can report with a 90% confidence interval of /- 120, that I lost 60 pounds in January.� Sure beats working out…'

A Lack of Accountability: The Real Obscenity at the SEC | Mark A. Calabria | Cato Institute: Commentary

A Lack of Accountability: The Real Obscenity at the SEC | Mark A. Calabria | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Worse, we also know several employees spent a considerable portion of their work day visiting pornographic websites, rather than monitoring the capital markets. The most obscene part, however, is that years after these discoveries have been made, the employees in question have yet to lose their jobs.'

'This is just another example, in a long list, of why relying on the relatively weak incentives of government regulatory oversight is inferior to relying on the strong incentives contained in market participants having their own wealth on the line.'

Six Reasons Why the Wars We Wage Often Go Wrong | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary

Six Reasons Why the Wars We Wage Often Go Wrong | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'war is the most costly, violent and unpredictable thing governments do. Again and again, even decisive victories can turn out to be serious mistakes, if not catastrophes, because of unintended consequences. While we might be able to control what we do, we cannot control how other people react to what we do.

Here are 6 reasons why wars go wrong:

1. Nations at war often try to avenge their suffering, which means they are likely to inflame hatreds that persist for a long time and provoke more wars.'

'2. The overwhelming stresses of war can trigger economic chaos, political crises and totalitarian regimes.'

'3. If allies have conflicting aims, a war is likely to have conflicting outcomes.'

'4. A vulnerable adversary can become unbeatable if it unexpectedly gains a big ally.'

'5. Major powers can be thwarted by people who are fighting for their homeland, know their territory well and have nowhere else to go.'

'6. People don’t want somebody else building their nation, even when they’re making a mess of it — especially during a civil war.'

Misrepresenting Inequality - Gary Galles - Mises Daily

Misrepresenting Inequality - Gary Galles - Mises Daily: 'Several huge sources of wealth are omitted from the financial measures used by those fixated on inequality. These include pension-fund assets, which largely represent the retirement funds of the nonrich; Social Security wealth (the present value of benefits qualified for but not yet received); and human capital — the knowledge, energy, and abilities embodied in working people but not yet turned into financial wealth. These represent trillions of dollars of wealth, spread far more evenly through the population than financial-wealth measures imply. The same is true of our tremendous wealth in the form of consumer durable goods, from cars to refrigerators to computers. Such omissions guarantee misunderstanding.

Wealth-inequality complaints, in their rush to justify more government redistribution, also ignore many important determinants of financial-wealth differences. A key one is demographics. Disparities in measured wealth in large part reflect age differences in the population.'

'in-kind welfare programs go uncounted in the official data, so that they do not improve the measured situations of the poor. This is a very large error. Of the over $500 billion given annually in government means-tested assistance (not including another quarter trillion or so dollars Medicare spends on the elderly), roughly three-quarters is now given in kind.

The official data further omits taxes, disguising the disproportionate burdens borne by higher-income families. It also hides the impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Even though the EITC is refundable, putting dollars directly into recipients' pockets, it is ignored as a "negative tax," making its $40 billion plus in annual transfers to lower-income families disappear from view.

Income studies also fail to incorporate nonsalary benefits and payments to workers, which have increased most among those not at the top of income measures. Mark Warshawsky of the Social Security Advisory Board found that recent expansions in measured earnings inequality were almost completely attributable to rising benefits costs.'

'dramatically smaller inequalities in measures of consumption — far better indicators of well-being — than of current income'

'Many people have shifted from filing as businesses under the corporate tax to filing as individuals as a result of decreasing individual tax rates, dramatically exaggerating increases in their incomes. Top managers have also moved from receiving income as stock options taxed as capital gains to nonqualified stock options, making them countable as taxable personal income.'

No More Bipartisan Bailouts | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

No More Bipartisan Bailouts | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'big business and big government are all too happy to work hand in hand to thwart the free market.Confusing support for free markets with support for the corporate agenda is a bipartisan failing. In a free market, for example, corporations compete against one another on their merits. Government doesn’t pick winners and losers or prefer one type of industry over another.

Yet, Rick Santorum shares President Obama’s desire for special tax breaks for “manufacturing.” Both Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney join President Obama in backing government subsidies for ethanol and other alternative energy.

And obviously, in a free market, when businesses fail because they made stupid investment decisions, they go bankrupt. But both Romney and Gingrich joined President Obama (and President Bush) in supporting TARP and the bailout of some of America’s biggest banks and investment firms.'

'The Cato Institute estimates that corporate welfare now tops $125 billion per year. Among the biggest beneficiaries are companies such as Boeing, Xerox, IBM, Motorola, Dow Chemical, and General Electric. At a time when we are facing a $15.3 trillion national debt and borrowing 34 cents out of every dollar we spend, should we really be spending money to subsidize McDonald’s advertisements for Chicken McNuggets overseas?'

'Big Pharma poured more than $150 million into advertising in favor of Obamacare. Why? Among other things, every insurance plan in America will now be required to cover pharmaceutical products. And, closing the Medicare Part D “donut hole” will encourage seniors to buy brand-name drugs rather than cheaper generics. Speaking of the Medicare prescription-drug program, guess who was the biggest lobby in favor of the entitlement expansion? The drug companies even funneled millions of dollars to Newt Gingrich’s Center for Health Transformation. No surprise, then, that Gingrich supported the Medicare expansion, calling it a cost-saving idea, even though it added $17 trillion to the Medicare’s unfunded obligations. Among the biggest supporters of Obamacare’s individual insurance mandate are the big insurance companies. After all, isn’t it great for the government to force people to buy your product?'

'General Electric is among the biggest supporters of President Obama’s “cap and trade” proposals. GE is not doing this out of some sense of altruistic global citizenship, but because it operates a unit that would trade cap-and-trade credits. The company stands to reap billions in profits were Obama’s plan to pass.'

'Walmart stunned many by coming out in support of an employer health mandate. But it’s really not that surprising. Walmart actually spends more on employee health care than its competitor Target. Mandating that all companies provide health insurance will drive up Target’s costs, benefiting Walmart.'

Copyright Case May Have Profound Effect on Treaty Power | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary

Copyright Case May Have Profound Effect on Treaty Power | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'as a matter of constitutional structure, history and logic, a treaty cannot increase Congress's legislative powers. Not only is the power to "make treaties" distinct from the power to execute treaties already made, but such an expansive interpretation of the treaty power would allow Congress and the executive to circumvent the Article V amendment process.'

'JUSTICE SCALIA: It seems to me Congress either had the power to do this under the Copyright Clause or it didn't. I don't think that powers that Congress does not have under the Constitution can be acquired by simply obtaining the agreement of the Senate, the President and Zimbabwe. I do not think a treaty can expand the powers of the Federal government. I mean, this is either okay under the copyright clause or it is not.'

Obama's Odd Sense of Fairness | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obama's Odd Sense of Fairness | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'The actual tax rate Mitt Romney, Warren Buffet and most other wealthy people pay on dividends, when correctly calculated, is about 52 percent, as reported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which includes the federal and state corporate-level-profits tax burden, plus federal and state taxes on dividends.'

'The federal government admits that hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted through fraud and mismanagement. Medicare fraud alone costs tens of billions of dollars each year. Nevertheless, somehow the president thinks it is more “fair” to enact job-destroying tax increases rather than insisting that officials in his own administration clean up the fraud and waste or lose their jobs, as would happen in any private company.'

$189,000 | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

$189,000 | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'measured as a percentage of GDP (the value of all goods and services produced in a country over a year), our budget deficit is roughly a quarter larger than France’s. In fact, among European countries, only Greece and Ireland have larger deficits this year than we do.'

'If one includes all the unfunded liabilities of pension and health-care systems, Greece’s total debt equals 875% of its GDP. France, the next-most insolvent country in Europe, owes 570% of GDP. The United States, however, now owes 885% of GDP, more than any other industrialized country.'

Why There Is No Human Progress without Capitalism | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary

Why There Is No Human Progress without Capitalism | Jim Powell | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'For thousands of years, there was virtually no such thing as human progress. The great French historian Fernand Braudel observed, “Peasants represented immense numbers of people, the vast majority of human beings... constant poverty... For century upon century, clothing remained unchanged... the general rule was changelessness.” In Europe, peasant possessions were generally limited to little more than a shirt, a pair of pants, perhaps a simple jacket, a bench, a table and a straw-filled sack that served as a mattress. In India, there were hardly any chairs or tables to be found. There were few chairs in Islamic lands. Multitudes perished because of famines — France alone had hundreds of famines before 1800. Famine undermined the ability of people to resist common deadly diseases like typhoid fever, purple fever, whooping cough, sweating sickness, diphtheria, smallpox, influenza, syphilis and the plague.

Capitalism, as economic freedom is often called, has changed the world for the better by harnessing individual self-interest — the most reliable motivator there is. In markets, functioning without subsidies, special favors or bailouts, entrepreneurs have had powerful incentives to provide what consumers want.'

Revealing Slain Victims' Rap Sheets Draws Fire | Fox News

Revealing Slain Victims' Rap Sheets Draws Fire | Fox News: 'As Mike Ainsworth walked his two sons to a school bus stop, he heard a woman being carjacked scream, and ran to help. The woman was not hurt, police said, but the Good Samaritan was shot to death by a suspect who fled.

When police gave out the details of Ainsworth's killing, they also announced he had been arrested for drugs and other non-violent crimes, keeping with a year-old policy in which criminal records for slain victims are released — sometimes before they've been publicly identified.

New Orleans police say revealing a victim's rap sheet lets the public know that much of the violence is happening between people with similar criminal backgrounds. Families of the slain victim's say the practice is insensitive, and others outraged with the policy say it has racial overtones and sends a message that the victims got what was coming to them.'

A 'thermal battery' for villages in India | Cutting Edge - CNET News

A 'thermal battery' for villages in India | Cutting Edge - CNET News: The thermal battery is a large container that stores a specially designed liquid that doesn't freeze, even below the freezing point. People pour milk, which has just been milked from cows, onto a cylinder-shaped tank, which is cooled by the thermal battery's liquid. As the milk flows over the cylinder, it's rapidly chilled to an appropriate temperature for storing.
And when the grid is not available, the thermal battery can run for several hours on a car battery, and so it avoids dirty diesel generators. The first machines Promethean Power will deploy are roughly the size of a large refrigerator. To remove heat from the cooling liquid, it circulates through a traditional compressor loop, the same used in heat pumps, air conditioners, and refrigerators, White explained.

New Science Being Used To Fight Arson Convictions | Fox News

New Science Being Used To Fight Arson Convictions | Fox News: 'Research in recent decades has challenged long-held assumptions about how flames spread and the tell-tale signs they leave.

"Our scientific understandings have improved in recent years, and the effect of that has to be to say, 'We've got some innocent people who've been declared guilty based on misunderstandings,'" said John Hall, director of analysis and research for the National Fire Protection Association.

For example, decades ago, it was common for investigators to conclude an accelerant like gasoline was used if a fire burned particularly hot. In fact, the new arson science has found no such correlation, experts say. Another mistaken assumption: A V-shaped pattern on a wall of a burned building is proof of arson. All it shows is where a fire started.'

'For example, tests have found that pour-like patterns on the floor can occur because of radiant heat, even without accelerants, according to Beyler's report. Experiments have also found that melted plastics can create patterns that look like liquid spills, Beyler said.'

'But tests conducted in the 1990s showed that fires can hit the point of "flashover" — when all combustible surfaces ignite at once — in under four minutes with no accelerants.
Connections between a fire's speed and heat and the possibility of arson have "been discredited and shown to be much less significant than previously thought in the investigation of a fire," Florida-based fire scientist John Lentini, one of the country's leading independent fire analysts, said in a 2002 affidavit on Lee's behalf.
"Back in the day there were a lot more fires called arson that were actually accidents," Lentini said in an interview. "There was a lot of misinformation out there."'

Our best scientific knowledge may not always be accurate and we need to take into consideration the confidence that our best scientific knowledge has -- especially when it involves people lives!