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The Whistleblower vs Mugabe at the Un | Cato Institute: "The controversy demonstrates that something is very wrong with the UN system. Observed writer Armin Rosen: “This case involves more than just a single UN bureaucrat enjoying a disturbingly close relationship with one of the most oppressive governments on earth. The UN system also actively abetted a toxic organizational status quo in Zimbabwe, even when it meant ruining the career of an employee who the [review UN] tribunal found to be a talented humanitarian professional and a courageous whistleblower—and even if it meant putting thousands of Zimbabweans’ lives in danger.”"
"The judges concluded their devastating opinion by noting that no names had been redacted: “It is the considered view of this Tribunal that when individuals occupy high public offices, if the circumstances so warrant, their actions that lead to injustice should be exposed openly. This is also a component of transparent justice and accountability of public servants as reiterated by the General Assembly.” "
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
What Do American Indians Deserve: Name Changes or Policy Changes? | Cato Institute
What Do American Indians Deserve: Name Changes or Policy Changes? | Cato Institute: "Only about five percent of land on Indian reservations is fee simple [individually owned]. The great majority of land is trust land, which can be difficult to develop and use productively. Trust land generally cannot be leased, mortgaged, or transferred without approval by the BIA. And the land cannot be easily used as loan collateral for an entrepreneur who wants to raise funds for investment.
Economist Terry Anderson, an expert on tribal economies, has noted that when you drive through reservations and “you see 160 acres overgrazed and a house unfit for occupancy, you can be sure the title to the land is held by the federal government bureaucracy. In contrast, when you see irrigated land in cultivations with farm implements, a barn and a well-kept house, you can be sure the land is held fee simple.”"
Economist Terry Anderson, an expert on tribal economies, has noted that when you drive through reservations and “you see 160 acres overgrazed and a house unfit for occupancy, you can be sure the title to the land is held by the federal government bureaucracy. In contrast, when you see irrigated land in cultivations with farm implements, a barn and a well-kept house, you can be sure the land is held fee simple.”"
March Madness, lottery tickets and our government | Fox News
March Madness, lottery tickets and our government | Fox News: "After locking up bookies for "dangerous and criminal" activities, like running "numbers rackets," most states now offer much worse odds in state lotteries. Then they take money from taxpayers to advertise their scams.
Some states even run commercials that mock hard work, pushing the benefits of a long-shot jackpot. Poor people become poorer, because they buy most of the lottery tickets. Then politicians brag how money from the lottery helps the poor. "
"when "unapproved" websites offered Internet poker, at far better odds, the federal government charged the operators with "money laundering" and shut the sites down."
"Politicians turn small problems into big ones. I wish politicians would notice that their clumsy one-size-fits-all laws can never take into account how 300 million different Americans react to a complex experience like gambling.
The way people gamble will vary, just as the way they drink or play sports varies. Most people are careful; some are reckless. But we don't respond by forbidding drinking or sports."
Some states even run commercials that mock hard work, pushing the benefits of a long-shot jackpot. Poor people become poorer, because they buy most of the lottery tickets. Then politicians brag how money from the lottery helps the poor. "
"when "unapproved" websites offered Internet poker, at far better odds, the federal government charged the operators with "money laundering" and shut the sites down."
"Politicians turn small problems into big ones. I wish politicians would notice that their clumsy one-size-fits-all laws can never take into account how 300 million different Americans react to a complex experience like gambling.
The way people gamble will vary, just as the way they drink or play sports varies. Most people are careful; some are reckless. But we don't respond by forbidding drinking or sports."
Monday, March 31, 2014
A Closer Look at Income Inequality - Andrew Syrios - Mises Daily
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.
Then those over 60 would have 30% of income even though they represent only 20% of wage earners.
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."
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