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A Closer Look at Income Inequality - Andrew Syrios - Mises Daily: "say everyone in the country made the same income, but got a promotion each decade. They start at $20,000/year in their 20s, then they go to $30,000/year in their 30s, etc. In addition, they save 5 percent of their income each year and make no return on their savings. To make things simpler, we’ll assume there is the same number of people in each age bracket."
Then those over 60 would have 30% of income even though they represent only 20% of wage earners.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Quiet riot on Spotify as band pays for free tour with silent album - CNET
Quiet riot on Spotify as band pays for free tour with silent album - CNET: "Sleepify by LA funk band Vulfpeck consists of ten 30-second tracks of complete silence. The idea is that fans put the album on repeat and repair to bed, the tracks repeating all night thus racking up the plays and raking in royalties for the band.
The boys in Vulfpeck reckon they earn around 0.5 cents per play and around $4 for your night's spinning. So far each track has spun around 3,000 times.
It isn't just a cash grab, though, as Vulfpeck plan to use the money raised to fund a tour this autumn consisting only of free shows. Spotify data will also be used to schedule the tour, taking the tour bus to locales where the most people have been listening to the band. It's a similar method to that employed by heavy metal heavyweights Iron Maiden, who have made millions by bringing daughters to the slaughter in places where people are pirating their music."
The boys in Vulfpeck reckon they earn around 0.5 cents per play and around $4 for your night's spinning. So far each track has spun around 3,000 times.
It isn't just a cash grab, though, as Vulfpeck plan to use the money raised to fund a tour this autumn consisting only of free shows. Spotify data will also be used to schedule the tour, taking the tour bus to locales where the most people have been listening to the band. It's a similar method to that employed by heavy metal heavyweights Iron Maiden, who have made millions by bringing daughters to the slaughter in places where people are pirating their music."
Monday, March 24, 2014
Progressive Trickle-Down in Maryland | Cato Institute
Progressive Trickle-Down in Maryland | Cato Institute: "In markets, only projects that promise a return in excess of the cost of borrowing get built. Government allocation of capital, by contrast, exalts the judgments of politicians and bureaucrats over those of consumers and investors, and substitutes political pull for economic merit in the competition for capital. In combination, this is a prescription for inefficiency, inequity and corruption."
No civil liability for deputies in deadly raid over video game - JSOnline
No civil liability for deputies in deadly raid over video game - JSOnline: "It may well have been overkill to conduct a SWAT-style home raid over a stolen video game, but once the resident pointed a gun at a deputy who had yelled "stop, poliice," he was justified in killing the resident, a federal judge has ruled."
No civil liability for "overkill"?
"Deputy Mathew Secor, who had long hair and goatee and was dressed in plain clothes, followed him. When Secor got to the top floor, he saw Brown pointing a shotgun at him. Secor fired his automatic assault rifle at Brown, who was struck by four rounds and died."
How is someone supposed to know that a "plain clothes" person is actually an officer?
No civil liability for "overkill"?
"Deputy Mathew Secor, who had long hair and goatee and was dressed in plain clothes, followed him. When Secor got to the top floor, he saw Brown pointing a shotgun at him. Secor fired his automatic assault rifle at Brown, who was struck by four rounds and died."
How is someone supposed to know that a "plain clothes" person is actually an officer?
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Sweatshops: A Way Out of Poverty - Benjamin Powell - Mises Daily
Sweatshops: A Way Out of Poverty - Benjamin Powell - Mises Daily: "I found 83 cases of supposedly exploitative sweatshop wages reported in popular press sources and compared those earnings to the living standards in the countries where they were found. In every country where the sweatshops were located, more than 10 percent of the population lived on less than $2 per day. In more than half of the countries, more than 40 percent did. Yet, in 77 of the 83 cases, the sweatshop wages exceeded the $2 a day threshold. Five of the six exceptions occurred in Bangladesh, where the workers earned more than $1.25 per day — something that more than half the population of that country failed to achieve at the time."
"sweatshop earnings even compared favorably to the average incomes in the countries where they were located. In six of the 17 countries, the average reported sweatshop wage exceeded the average income in the country — in Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua it was more than twice the national average. In another six countries, the average reported sweatshop wages were around the national average. In four of the five countries where sweatshop wages were 50 percent below the national average, the workers were immigrants (sometimes illegal) from other countries and their sweatshop wages exceeded the average wage in their native country.
In short, sweatshops provide the least-bad option for the workers who work in them."
"That process of development took roughly 150 years in Great Britain, because much of the capital had to be created anew and the technology invented. The United States transformed from a pre-industrial society to a post-sweatshop society more rapidly, because it imported technology and capital from Great Britain.
In 1950, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea were just beginning the process of development with sweatshops. In about a generation and a half, they catapulted from pre-industrial levels of development to first world living standards."
"In countries with average incomes above $12,000, there is virtually no child labor. But for countries whose incomes are below $2,000, more than 30 percent of children work.
As families escape poverty, they remove their children from the labor force. Child labor laws go unenforced or force children to work in informal sectors when they are passed prior to achieving a level of development that would have removed children from the labor force anyway."
"sweatshop earnings even compared favorably to the average incomes in the countries where they were located. In six of the 17 countries, the average reported sweatshop wage exceeded the average income in the country — in Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua it was more than twice the national average. In another six countries, the average reported sweatshop wages were around the national average. In four of the five countries where sweatshop wages were 50 percent below the national average, the workers were immigrants (sometimes illegal) from other countries and their sweatshop wages exceeded the average wage in their native country.
In short, sweatshops provide the least-bad option for the workers who work in them."
"That process of development took roughly 150 years in Great Britain, because much of the capital had to be created anew and the technology invented. The United States transformed from a pre-industrial society to a post-sweatshop society more rapidly, because it imported technology and capital from Great Britain.
In 1950, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea were just beginning the process of development with sweatshops. In about a generation and a half, they catapulted from pre-industrial levels of development to first world living standards."
"In countries with average incomes above $12,000, there is virtually no child labor. But for countries whose incomes are below $2,000, more than 30 percent of children work.
As families escape poverty, they remove their children from the labor force. Child labor laws go unenforced or force children to work in informal sectors when they are passed prior to achieving a level of development that would have removed children from the labor force anyway."
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
No Obamacare Slogan Is Going to Save Dems | Cato Institute
No Obamacare Slogan Is Going to Save Dems | Cato Institute: "Now there’s a slogan for Democrats to run on: “We’re spending $41 billion of your money this year and we’ve insured as many people as we’ve uninsured.”"
Libertarianism 101 | Cato Institute
Libertarianism 101 | Cato Institute: "Exclusive licenses to privileged rivals nurture monopolies at public expense. Targeted tax benefits, subsidies, guarantees, and loans; or tariffs and quotas to protect domestic companies from foreign imports, spawn the same anti-competitive environment that antitrust laws are meant to foreclose. Corporations exploit the law — consorting with members of Congress, their staffers, and the best lobbying firms that money can buy. Too often, that’s the practical consequence of government intervention."
Friday, March 14, 2014
Bureaucrats a Bad Rx for Care | Cato Institute
Bureaucrats a Bad Rx for Care | Cato Institute: "The regulators believed that such standardization would lead to more accurate processing of Medicare claims.
Instead it made doctors and hospitals wedge their patients and services into predetermined, ill-fitting categories."
"CMS instituted protocols based on statistically generalized — rather than individualized — outcomes in large population groups.
It is easy to standardize treatment protocols. It is impossible to standardize individual patients."
Instead it made doctors and hospitals wedge their patients and services into predetermined, ill-fitting categories."
"CMS instituted protocols based on statistically generalized — rather than individualized — outcomes in large population groups.
It is easy to standardize treatment protocols. It is impossible to standardize individual patients."
The Ingrained Intolerance of Liberal Tolerance | Cato Institute
The Ingrained Intolerance of Liberal Tolerance | Cato Institute: "Indeed, why would a gay couple want, say, a Christian opposed to gay marriage to photograph their wedding or prepare their cake? It hardly seems the best way to ensure a satisfactory job. One suspects that it is an exercise in humiliation, an attempt to force those with unfashionable scruples to affirm what they reject. It is, in short, a calculated effort at intolerance."
"The objective was to force Catholics, mostly, and the few fundamentalist Protestants who hold similar theological views, to pay for what they oppose. In fact, there is no better way to humiliate those you hate. It is pure and unadulterated intolerance, the ultimate Washington triumph: Make those you despise pay for what they despise."
"Nevertheless, some decisions are more uncomfortable than others. Most photographers probably don’t care about the person’s background when taking their portrait. Covering a wedding — actively participating in and celebrating the ceremony — is different. As a writer, I have ghosted articles for people of varying political views. But there are boundaries that I would not transgress."
"The objective was to force Catholics, mostly, and the few fundamentalist Protestants who hold similar theological views, to pay for what they oppose. In fact, there is no better way to humiliate those you hate. It is pure and unadulterated intolerance, the ultimate Washington triumph: Make those you despise pay for what they despise."
"Nevertheless, some decisions are more uncomfortable than others. Most photographers probably don’t care about the person’s background when taking their portrait. Covering a wedding — actively participating in and celebrating the ceremony — is different. As a writer, I have ghosted articles for people of varying political views. But there are boundaries that I would not transgress."
In Fighting the 'Job Lock,' Democrats Opened a Poverty Trap | Cato Institute
In Fighting the 'Job Lock,' Democrats Opened a Poverty Trap | Cato Institute: "“the phase-out effectively raises people’s marginal tax rates (the tax rates applying to their last dollar of income), thus discouraging work.”
In fact, for those low-wage workers who fall into this phase-out range, CBO estimates that it will increase their marginal tax rate by an average of 12 percentage points. As CBO points out, “[f]or those workers, the loss of subsidies upon returning to a job with health insurance is an implicit tax on working.”"
"While there is no easy answer to the poverty trap, we should recognize that every time we raise taxes, and every time we set up a new welfare program, we help trap people deeper into poverty. We may make that poverty a bit more comfortable, but we make it harder for them to get out."
In fact, for those low-wage workers who fall into this phase-out range, CBO estimates that it will increase their marginal tax rate by an average of 12 percentage points. As CBO points out, “[f]or those workers, the loss of subsidies upon returning to a job with health insurance is an implicit tax on working.”"
"While there is no easy answer to the poverty trap, we should recognize that every time we raise taxes, and every time we set up a new welfare program, we help trap people deeper into poverty. We may make that poverty a bit more comfortable, but we make it harder for them to get out."
The Responsibility to Resist Fiscally Irresponsible Politicians | Cato Institute
The Responsibility to Resist Fiscally Irresponsible Politicians | Cato Institute: "It is important for citizens to recognize that resources are always scarce, and the function of government should be to prevent hell on earth, rather than try to establish heaven. When the state tries to do too many things, it inevitably brings excessive complexity in its actions and becomes inefficient."
"Good fiscal policy exists when the private sector grows faster than the public sector, while fiscal ruin is inevitable if government spending grows faster than the productive part of the economy."
"Good fiscal policy exists when the private sector grows faster than the public sector, while fiscal ruin is inevitable if government spending grows faster than the productive part of the economy."
Europeans Watch Ukraine and Fear Russia: They Should Take over NATO And Europe's Defense | Cato Institute
Europeans Watch Ukraine and Fear Russia: They Should Take over NATO And Europe's Defense | Cato Institute: "Ukraine long has been divided along ethnic, cultural, and linguistic lines, with pro-Russian sentiment increasing the further one goes to the east. It is highest in Crimea. In fact, that region only ended up in Ukraine in 1954 when then Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Nikita Krushchev, from Ukraine, shifted it administratively."
"Independence from the Soviet Union is fine. Independence from Ukraine is not. Everyone believes in self-determination, except when they don’t."
"The best answer for the Crimean crisis is a negotiated climb-down, where Russia pulls back its forces, Kiev addresses those disenfranchised by Yanukovich’s ouster, Crimea delays its referendum, Ukraine accepts a secession vote, Europe respects the result, Washington stops meddling in Kiev’s politics, and everyone disavows any intention of bringing Ukraine into NATO. Kiev would not be pressed to choose between east and west, but could look to both economically. Moscow would accept expanded European economic ties without allied defense commitments to its southern neighbor and the U.S. would eschew playing a new Great Game against Russia along its border."
"Independence from the Soviet Union is fine. Independence from Ukraine is not. Everyone believes in self-determination, except when they don’t."
"The best answer for the Crimean crisis is a negotiated climb-down, where Russia pulls back its forces, Kiev addresses those disenfranchised by Yanukovich’s ouster, Crimea delays its referendum, Ukraine accepts a secession vote, Europe respects the result, Washington stops meddling in Kiev’s politics, and everyone disavows any intention of bringing Ukraine into NATO. Kiev would not be pressed to choose between east and west, but could look to both economically. Moscow would accept expanded European economic ties without allied defense commitments to its southern neighbor and the U.S. would eschew playing a new Great Game against Russia along its border."
Governing for Poetry | Cato Institute
Governing for Poetry | Cato Institute: "When government welfare spending increases, private charitable giving tends to decline. Conversely, when welfare programs are cut — or perceived to be cut — Americans step up and increase their charitable giving. As Murray explains, “if government is not seen as a legitimate source of intervention, individuals and associations will respond. If instead government is permitted to respond, government will seize the opportunity, expand on it, and eventually take over altogether.”"
"In the absence of widespread government enforced discrimination, such as existed in the Jim Crow South, there would seem to be numerous non-governmental tools — boycotts, public shaming, etc. — available to punish bigoted business owners. Sometimes the correct answer is not “there ought to be a law.”"
"No less than liberals, too many conservatives believe that virtue can and sometimes must be compelled by the state.
All of this bespeaks a lack of faith in one’s own convictions and moral authority. When George Washington contrasted government to civil society in his farewell address, warning that “government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force,” he was making an important distinction. Government relies on force and coercion to achieve its objectives. In contrast, the civil society relies on persuasion — reason and eloquence (and, yes, sometimes poetry) — to motivate people."
"In the absence of widespread government enforced discrimination, such as existed in the Jim Crow South, there would seem to be numerous non-governmental tools — boycotts, public shaming, etc. — available to punish bigoted business owners. Sometimes the correct answer is not “there ought to be a law.”"
"No less than liberals, too many conservatives believe that virtue can and sometimes must be compelled by the state.
All of this bespeaks a lack of faith in one’s own convictions and moral authority. When George Washington contrasted government to civil society in his farewell address, warning that “government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force,” he was making an important distinction. Government relies on force and coercion to achieve its objectives. In contrast, the civil society relies on persuasion — reason and eloquence (and, yes, sometimes poetry) — to motivate people."
Choosing to Learn | Cato Institute
Choosing to Learn | Cato Institute: "The compelled conformity fostered by centralized standards and tests stifles the very diversity that gives consumer choice its value.
Most low- and middle-income families today have no viable alternative to their zoned public school. Absent any alternatives, the school is not directly accountable to them, so policymakers try to approximate real accountability through one-size-fits-all regulations.
But distant bureaucrats cannot know the individual needs and preferences of every family. Nor do they share the local knowledge enjoyed by educators."
"A global review of the scientific research comparing different types of education systems reveals that the most market-like, least regulated systems consistently outperform more centralized and regulated ones — by a ratio of 15 statistically significant findings to one, across seven different measures of educational outcomes."
Most low- and middle-income families today have no viable alternative to their zoned public school. Absent any alternatives, the school is not directly accountable to them, so policymakers try to approximate real accountability through one-size-fits-all regulations.
But distant bureaucrats cannot know the individual needs and preferences of every family. Nor do they share the local knowledge enjoyed by educators."
"A global review of the scientific research comparing different types of education systems reveals that the most market-like, least regulated systems consistently outperform more centralized and regulated ones — by a ratio of 15 statistically significant findings to one, across seven different measures of educational outcomes."
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Parent Appalled Over Essay Asking 8th Graders If They’d Rather Be Slaves Or Factory Workers « CBS Detroit
Parent Appalled Over Essay Asking 8th Graders If They’d Rather Be Slaves Or Factory Workers « CBS Detroit: “As far as I’m concerned, they are diametrically opposing circumstances. You have on one end, a slave that is not free, who has no free will. And on the other end, you have a factory worker and although it was in the Industrial Revolution, they still had a free choice and they had a choice to walk away if they wanted to.”
"the essay was based on a Michigan Content Expectation, in which 8th grade students were asked to be able to explain the differences in the lives of free blacks — including those who escaped from slavery — with the lives of free whites and enslaved people."
"“The majority of the class felt that they would rather be a slave than to be a factory worker. And she was just extremely confused by that, knowing what slaves went through, she couldn’t understand why anyone would choose that,” James said. “The rationale by those students to choose slaves was that they had free housing, they had free food and they had free protection. But the argument that she and I put forth was that those things were not free.”"
"the essay was based on a Michigan Content Expectation, in which 8th grade students were asked to be able to explain the differences in the lives of free blacks — including those who escaped from slavery — with the lives of free whites and enslaved people."
"“The majority of the class felt that they would rather be a slave than to be a factory worker. And she was just extremely confused by that, knowing what slaves went through, she couldn’t understand why anyone would choose that,” James said. “The rationale by those students to choose slaves was that they had free housing, they had free food and they had free protection. But the argument that she and I put forth was that those things were not free.”"
A conservative 'war on women'? That's just silly | Fox News
A conservative 'war on women'? That's just silly | Fox News: "Insurance companies still charge men more for car and life insurance. A survey of car insurance companies found that the cheapest policy for a woman cost 39 percent less than for a man. A 60-year-old woman pays 20 percent less than a man for a 10-year life insurance policy. Seventy-year-old women pay half as much as men."
"Obama even cynically repeats the misleading claim that women make 77 cents for every dollar men make, although his own Department of Labor says the difference evaporates once you control for experience and other choices."
"Obama even cynically repeats the misleading claim that women make 77 cents for every dollar men make, although his own Department of Labor says the difference evaporates once you control for experience and other choices."
Friday, March 07, 2014
Hagel's 'Defense Cuts' Are Smoke And Mirrors - Campaign for Liberty
Hagel's 'Defense Cuts' Are Smoke And Mirrors - Campaign for Liberty: "What Hagel proposes is not cuts, but instead a shift in spending away from personnel and toward new high-tech weapons which are favored by and profitable to the military-industrial complex.
The F-35, for example, will continue in production according to Hagel’s plan, despite the numerous cost over-runs and design flaws. This is likely because the F-35 is built in 46 US states and nine foreign countries! That makes it particularly popular in Congress, regardless of its flaws and expense."
The F-35, for example, will continue in production according to Hagel’s plan, despite the numerous cost over-runs and design flaws. This is likely because the F-35 is built in 46 US states and nine foreign countries! That makes it particularly popular in Congress, regardless of its flaws and expense."
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Ohio Has a Ministry of Truth, and It Isn't Much Better Than George Orwell's | Cato Institute
Ohio Has a Ministry of Truth, and It Isn't Much Better Than George Orwell's | Cato Institute: "the investigation manager for the Florida Election Commission testified under oath that 98 percent of the complaints received are “politically motivated” and that “many times” the point is to punish political opponents or to “harass that person and otherwise divert their attention from the campaign.”"
Monday, March 03, 2014
The Continuing Al-Qaeda Threat - Campaign for Liberty
The Continuing Al-Qaeda Threat - Campaign for Liberty: "Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified that he could not say the threat from al-Qaeda is any less today than it was ten years ago. It was a shocking admission. Does he mean that the trillions of dollars spent fighting the war on terrorism have resulted in no gains? That those who urged us to give up some of our liberties to gain security have, as Benjamin Franklin warned, lost both?
What if Clapper is telling us the truth, however? What would this revelation mean if that is the case?
For one, it means that we have gotten very little for the tremendous amount of spending on the war on terrorism and the lives lost. We are told that the military and intelligence community can protect us if they are given the tools they need, but it appears they have not done a very good job by their own admission.
More likely, it may mean that the US government’s policies are causing more al-Qaeda groups to arise and take the place of those who have been defeated by US drone and military attacks. Clapper does mention that there are so many different al-Qaeda franchises popping up it is difficult to keep track of them all, much less defeat them. But why is that? A former State Department official stated last year that every new drone strike in Yemen that kills innocent people results in the creation of 40-60 new enemies. Likewise, the young girl from Pakistan who had been brutally shot by the Taliban for her desire to go to school told President Obama during a White House meeting that “drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people.”"
What if Clapper is telling us the truth, however? What would this revelation mean if that is the case?
For one, it means that we have gotten very little for the tremendous amount of spending on the war on terrorism and the lives lost. We are told that the military and intelligence community can protect us if they are given the tools they need, but it appears they have not done a very good job by their own admission.
More likely, it may mean that the US government’s policies are causing more al-Qaeda groups to arise and take the place of those who have been defeated by US drone and military attacks. Clapper does mention that there are so many different al-Qaeda franchises popping up it is difficult to keep track of them all, much less defeat them. But why is that? A former State Department official stated last year that every new drone strike in Yemen that kills innocent people results in the creation of 40-60 new enemies. Likewise, the young girl from Pakistan who had been brutally shot by the Taliban for her desire to go to school told President Obama during a White House meeting that “drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people.”"
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