Posts
Government, So Five Years Ago! | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty: "Being able to connect your laptop to the Internet wirelessly on a citywide or even regional basis was the wave of the future – five years ago. All you needed was a $4 million investment and a private partner. If ever there were a surefire “shovel ready” infrastructure project that our elected officials believed could extend into the foreseeable future, this was it. The problem is, the future is very hard to foresee.
In this case, the project lasted two years. Then everyone starting buying iPhones and iPads and Droids and – poof! – all of a sudden you don’t need a laptop anymore to access the New York Times or email or Facebook. The superfluous Wi-Fi devices today have zero scrap value."
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Contra Conventional Measures of the Growth of Government - Robert Higgs - Mises Daily
Contra Conventional Measures of the Growth of Government - Robert Higgs - Mises Daily: "That is, why should government's transfer spending increase whenever the economy's output of final goods and services increases? Indeed, such constancy would seem to betoken a kind of relative growth of government in its own right, inasmuch as people in a more productive economy presumably can get by more readily without government assistance; hence, as a rule, the ratio of transfers to GDP might be expected to fall in a growing economy rather than rise or even remain constant."
"people occupied with regulatory compliance are not truly privately employed"
"people occupied with regulatory compliance are not truly privately employed"
Heavy Overall Expense Makes Such Rapid Transit Unfeasible | Randal O'Toole | Cato Institute: Commentary
Heavy Overall Expense Makes Such Rapid Transit Unfeasible | Randal O'Toole | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Take the Boston-to-Washington corridor, by far the densest in the nation. Amtrak's Acela may be the fastest way to get from downtown to downtown, but few people live or work downtown anymore, so the Acela carries only about 2 percent of passenger traffic in the corridor.
To cover its operating costs (but not its capital costs), Acela fares from New York to Washington begin at $139. By comparison, JetBlue fares begin at $39, while a variety of bus companies offering rides for $15 to $20 carry almost 50 percent more passenger miles than Amtrak. Buses take about 80 minutes longer than the Acela but offer free wireless Internet so travelers' time isn't wasted."
"Nor are trains particularly environmentally friendly. Intercity buses use 60 percent less energy per passenger mile as Amtrak trains, and when full life-cycle costs are counted, the difference is even greater."
To cover its operating costs (but not its capital costs), Acela fares from New York to Washington begin at $139. By comparison, JetBlue fares begin at $39, while a variety of bus companies offering rides for $15 to $20 carry almost 50 percent more passenger miles than Amtrak. Buses take about 80 minutes longer than the Acela but offer free wireless Internet so travelers' time isn't wasted."
"Nor are trains particularly environmentally friendly. Intercity buses use 60 percent less energy per passenger mile as Amtrak trains, and when full life-cycle costs are counted, the difference is even greater."
Saturday, August 20, 2011
E-Verify Threatens American Jobs and Liberties | Daniel Griswold | Cato Institute: Commentary
E-Verify Threatens American Jobs and Liberties | Daniel Griswold | Cato Institute: Commentary: "E-Verify sounds reasonable in principle, but a pilot program has exposed potential problems. A government-commissioned study by Westat found that the system failed to flag more than half of the unauthorized immigrants who applied to work at companies using the system.
The system also exposes too many legal workers to the risk of being falsely denied permission to work. As my Cato Institute colleague Jim Harper concluded in a study of the program, 'It would deny a sizable percentage of law-abiding American citizens the ability to work legally. Deemed ineligible by a database, millions each year would go pleading to the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration for the right to work.'"
"A 2009 study for the Cato Institute found that a 28.6 percent reduction in the number of unauthorized low-skilled immigrants in the United States through increased border and interior enforcement actually would cost U.S. households $80 billion a year. The study found that a resulting decline in immigrant labor would mean less investment, more money diverted to smuggler fees and other unproductive uses, and relatively fewer jobs further up the skills ladder."
The system also exposes too many legal workers to the risk of being falsely denied permission to work. As my Cato Institute colleague Jim Harper concluded in a study of the program, 'It would deny a sizable percentage of law-abiding American citizens the ability to work legally. Deemed ineligible by a database, millions each year would go pleading to the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration for the right to work.'"
"A 2009 study for the Cato Institute found that a 28.6 percent reduction in the number of unauthorized low-skilled immigrants in the United States through increased border and interior enforcement actually would cost U.S. households $80 billion a year. The study found that a resulting decline in immigrant labor would mean less investment, more money diverted to smuggler fees and other unproductive uses, and relatively fewer jobs further up the skills ladder."
Greek Bailouts, Free Speech Impediments and a Faux Debt-Ceiling Wrestling Match | Edward H. Crane | Cato Institute: Commentary
Greek Bailouts, Free Speech Impediments and a Faux Debt-Ceiling Wrestling Match | Edward H. Crane | Cato Institute: Commentary: "the Greek government owns so much private industry (and monopoly industries) that it could cover its debt obligations simply by creating a free enterprise system."
Friday, August 19, 2011
US War Debt Dances on the Ceiling | David Isenberg | Cato Institute: Commentary
US War Debt Dances on the Ceiling | David Isenberg | Cato Institute: Commentary: To grasp the bill US taxpayers will eventually have to pay try multiplying Nordhaus' 2002 estimate 30 to 40 times. That is the preliminary bottom line in a study released June 29 by the Watson Institute of Brown University, a new multi-author study of the costs of the post-September 11, 2001 wars.
The End of Progress? | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary
The End of Progress? | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "it takes some time to figure out how to regulate new industries. Old industries, such as energy production, transportation and education, are heavily regulated. Accordingly, the people do not get the benefits of lower costs and better products in these industries that would be possible if the regulators were not outlawing innovations. The United States and other governments are now in the process of destroying the global financial industry through misguided and destructive regulations. Few medical advances come from countries that have nationalized medicine, and if Obamacare is allowed to continue in the United States, it is almost a certainty that medical progress will be stifled and millions will die unnecessarily early.
The government has not figured out how to destroy the Internet and advances in computers. So the struggle goes on between those who try to innovate faster than the government can find ways to outlaw the future. It is no surprise that as governments grow, the rate of technological progress in those countries slows down and vice versa.
There is a titanic struggle now going on in Washington over the size of the U.S. government. Those who want a smaller government are, in effect, saying they want to unleash the future with all of its benefits by removing many of the regulatory and tax restrictions that impede human progress, while those who seek a bigger government are, in reality, pushing for a less prosperous and less kind future."
The government has not figured out how to destroy the Internet and advances in computers. So the struggle goes on between those who try to innovate faster than the government can find ways to outlaw the future. It is no surprise that as governments grow, the rate of technological progress in those countries slows down and vice versa.
There is a titanic struggle now going on in Washington over the size of the U.S. government. Those who want a smaller government are, in effect, saying they want to unleash the future with all of its benefits by removing many of the regulatory and tax restrictions that impede human progress, while those who seek a bigger government are, in reality, pushing for a less prosperous and less kind future."
Real Journalism
Real Journalism: "According to most news sources, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Michelle Bachmann are the frontrunners. So what qualifies them as such, and what sets them apart from the rest of the group?
I wasn't exactly sure myself. So, in order to answer this question, I have produced a simple calculation method for picking the frontrunners."
I wasn't exactly sure myself. So, in order to answer this question, I have produced a simple calculation method for picking the frontrunners."
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Hutt's Crushing Blow to Keynes - Hunter Lewis - Mises Daily
Hutt's Crushing Blow to Keynes - Hunter Lewis - Mises Daily: "the real source of unemployment is some disturbance in the price-and-profit system. Government cannot possibly help matters by intervening in ways that further distort and disturb that system."
"To grow, an economy must change. To change, assets and workers must be shifted from where they are less needed (less productive) to where they are more needed (more productive). These shifts will inevitably produce temporary unemployment. If there had never been unemployment, and thus no economic change, we would all still be living in caves, and there would be far fewer of us, because hunting and gathering would only support a small fraction of the present population."
"Is it more productive for a highly trained but unemployed engineer to bag groceries for pay or to invest time without pay in looking for an engineering job? If he or she took the grocery-bagging job, Keynes would presumably be satisfied; we would be closer to full employment. But the economy would clearly not be more productive, which it must be to create new jobs. We should also keep in mind that an employment-agency employee job searching for the engineer would be considered gainfully 'employed,' while the engineer doing the same work would still be 'unemployed.'"
"For the period 2002–2008, out-of-control Federal Reserve money printing and a host of other government policies and programs blew up the bubble. Millions of people not especially suited for construction were pulled into this sector and put to work building homes that, in the end, no one wanted. When the bubble burst, even the most highly trained construction workers suddenly found themselves unable to get any construction work at all."
"higher wages earned by unions actually come out of the pockets of other workers, not out of employers' profits, a point that is now well established but still little understood. This is true, in simple terms, because high wages reduce employment in unionized sectors, thereby increase labor supply in other sectors, which increased supply reduces nonunionized labor rates. In addition, workers are also consumers and may have to pay more for unionized-sector goods."
"free markets, without aiming for equal outcomes, produce both more equal opportunity and more equal outcomes than any other system."
"To grow, an economy must change. To change, assets and workers must be shifted from where they are less needed (less productive) to where they are more needed (more productive). These shifts will inevitably produce temporary unemployment. If there had never been unemployment, and thus no economic change, we would all still be living in caves, and there would be far fewer of us, because hunting and gathering would only support a small fraction of the present population."
"Is it more productive for a highly trained but unemployed engineer to bag groceries for pay or to invest time without pay in looking for an engineering job? If he or she took the grocery-bagging job, Keynes would presumably be satisfied; we would be closer to full employment. But the economy would clearly not be more productive, which it must be to create new jobs. We should also keep in mind that an employment-agency employee job searching for the engineer would be considered gainfully 'employed,' while the engineer doing the same work would still be 'unemployed.'"
"For the period 2002–2008, out-of-control Federal Reserve money printing and a host of other government policies and programs blew up the bubble. Millions of people not especially suited for construction were pulled into this sector and put to work building homes that, in the end, no one wanted. When the bubble burst, even the most highly trained construction workers suddenly found themselves unable to get any construction work at all."
"higher wages earned by unions actually come out of the pockets of other workers, not out of employers' profits, a point that is now well established but still little understood. This is true, in simple terms, because high wages reduce employment in unionized sectors, thereby increase labor supply in other sectors, which increased supply reduces nonunionized labor rates. In addition, workers are also consumers and may have to pay more for unionized-sector goods."
"free markets, without aiming for equal outcomes, produce both more equal opportunity and more equal outcomes than any other system."
Nelson Mandela and Volunteerism - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Daily
Nelson Mandela and Volunteerism - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Daily: "If someone is actually getting paid to do work, he or she knows that at least one person values it. In contrast, volunteer work may or may not be useful, because it lacks the feedback of market prices."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)