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The Case Against the Fed - Murray N. Rothbard - Mises Institute: "By far the most secret and least accountable operation of the federal government is not, as one might expect, the CIA, DIA, or some other super-secret intelligence agency. The CIA and other intelligence operations are under control of the Congress. They are accountable: a Congressional committee supervises these operations, controls their budgets, and is informed of their covert activities. It is true that the committee hearings and activities are closed to the public; but at least the people's representatives in Congress insure some accountability for these secret agencies.
It is little known, however, that there is a federal agency that tops the others in secrecy by a country mile. The Federal Reserve System is accountable to no one; it has no budget; it is subject to no audit; and no Congressional committee knows of, or can truly supervise, its operations. The Federal Reserve, virtually in total control of the nation's vital monetary system, is accountable to nobody — and this strange situation, if acknowledged at all, is invariably trumpeted as a virtue."
"On the face of it, [President Clinton's rejection of my openness for the Fed], though traditional among chief executives, is rather puzzling. After all, doesn't a democracy depend upon the right of the people to know what is going on in the government for which they must vote? Wouldn't knowledge and full disclosure strengthen the faith of the American public in their monetary authorities? Why should public knowledge "undermine market confidence"? Why does "market confidence" depend on assuring far less public scrutiny than is accorded keepers of military secrets that might benefit foreign enemies? What is going on here?"
Monday, June 08, 2009
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Placebo - Why the Democrats' Proposals Will Not Work | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary
Placebo - Why the Democrats' Proposals Will Not Work | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Universal coverage is impossible without coercion; that's why the leading Democratic proposals would force Americans to obtain health insurance, either on their own or through an employer. Those who do not obtain the prescribed level of coverage would pay a fine. Those who do not pay the fine would go to jail."
"employer mandates 'are like public programs financed by benefit taxes': They can increase unemployment, work against the very people they purport to help (i.e., low-wage workers and the sick), and 'fuel the growth of government because their costs are relatively invisible.' Economists Kate Baicker of Harvard and Helen Levy of Michigan estimate that, by effectively increasing the minimum wage, an employer mandate could kill 315,000 low-wage jobs. Unlike the hundreds of thousands of jobs lost to the current recession, those jobs would not return"
"here's zero evidence that anything beyond a basic health plan actually improves health outcomes, yet the individual and employer mandates gradually make coverage less affordable by outlawing the leaner, less expensive plans. (If Congress enacts these mandates, we can say goodbye to health savings accounts as we know them.)"
"Despite Medicare and Medicaid's failure to contain health-care costs, the Left claims that one more government program ought to do the trick."
"Thus the $1 billion in the stimulus bill for "comparative effectiveness" research — which would help government bureaucrats decide, e.g., whether Mom's next round of chemo (in the words of a draft committee report on the stimulus bill) 'will no longer be prescribed.' Massachusetts has created a commission to help the government develop a 'common payment methodology across all public and private payers,' including the use of 'evidence-based purchasing strategies' — code for explicit government rationing."
"A government-controlled price is almost never right. Price controls are responsible for both the current surplus of specialists (because prices are too high) and the shortage of primary-care physicians (because prices are too low). Medicare and Medicaid price controls are generally not binding on private payers, though they do influence overall supply. That's one reason, for example, many Massachusetts residents — particularly those newly insured under the Romney plan — are facing long waits for primary care.
Price controls enable a veiled form of government rationing: If government sets the prices low enough, many doctors won't participate, which creates non-price barriers to access. States set Medicaid's prices so low that nearly half of all doctors limit the number of Medicaid patients they will accept. Some 20 to 30 percent refuse all Medicaid patients. Medicaid patients often travel hours to find a participating provider."
"Even setting prices too low can sometimes cause spending to rise: In 2007, Maryland's low Medicaid price controls kept Deamonte Driver from seeing a dentist for his toothache. (Only one in six Maryland dentists accepts Medicaid patients.) The infection in Driver's abscessed tooth, which could have been treated with a simple extraction, spread to his brain. That led to $250,000 of medical services, including two unsuccessful brain surgeries. Price controls do not contain costs so much as pretend that certain costs don't exist — like the loss of Deamonte Driver, who died at age 12, as the Washington Post put it, 'for want of a dentist.'"
"When the Left claims that government programs do a better job of containing costs than private insurance, what they mean is that government does a better job of hiding costs — such as the monetary and non-monetary costs it imposes on patients and providers. Pacific Research Institute economist Ben Zycher points out that the taxes required to run Medicare destroy economic activity, making that program's administrative costs 'between four and five times [those] of private health insurance.'"
"Medicare's 'fee for service' payment system, on the other hand, pays providers an additional fee for each additional service or hospital admission. That actually penalizes providers that try to improve those dimensions of quality. EMRs help avoid duplicative CT scans by saving and making accessible the results of previous scans. But Medicare will pay for a second scan. And a third. And a fourth. So a provider that invests in EMRs is not only out the cost of the computer system, but also receives fewer payments from Medicare.
The story with medical errors is similar, but more horrifying. If a medical error injures a patient who then requires additional services, Medicare will pay not just for the services that injured the patient but also for the follow-up services. That's right: Medicare pays providers more when they injure patients. Again, if providers invest in error-reduction technologies, they are not only out that initial investment, but Medicare penalizes them with fewer payments."
"employer mandates 'are like public programs financed by benefit taxes': They can increase unemployment, work against the very people they purport to help (i.e., low-wage workers and the sick), and 'fuel the growth of government because their costs are relatively invisible.' Economists Kate Baicker of Harvard and Helen Levy of Michigan estimate that, by effectively increasing the minimum wage, an employer mandate could kill 315,000 low-wage jobs. Unlike the hundreds of thousands of jobs lost to the current recession, those jobs would not return"
"here's zero evidence that anything beyond a basic health plan actually improves health outcomes, yet the individual and employer mandates gradually make coverage less affordable by outlawing the leaner, less expensive plans. (If Congress enacts these mandates, we can say goodbye to health savings accounts as we know them.)"
"Despite Medicare and Medicaid's failure to contain health-care costs, the Left claims that one more government program ought to do the trick."
"Thus the $1 billion in the stimulus bill for "comparative effectiveness" research — which would help government bureaucrats decide, e.g., whether Mom's next round of chemo (in the words of a draft committee report on the stimulus bill) 'will no longer be prescribed.' Massachusetts has created a commission to help the government develop a 'common payment methodology across all public and private payers,' including the use of 'evidence-based purchasing strategies' — code for explicit government rationing."
"A government-controlled price is almost never right. Price controls are responsible for both the current surplus of specialists (because prices are too high) and the shortage of primary-care physicians (because prices are too low). Medicare and Medicaid price controls are generally not binding on private payers, though they do influence overall supply. That's one reason, for example, many Massachusetts residents — particularly those newly insured under the Romney plan — are facing long waits for primary care.
Price controls enable a veiled form of government rationing: If government sets the prices low enough, many doctors won't participate, which creates non-price barriers to access. States set Medicaid's prices so low that nearly half of all doctors limit the number of Medicaid patients they will accept. Some 20 to 30 percent refuse all Medicaid patients. Medicaid patients often travel hours to find a participating provider."
"Even setting prices too low can sometimes cause spending to rise: In 2007, Maryland's low Medicaid price controls kept Deamonte Driver from seeing a dentist for his toothache. (Only one in six Maryland dentists accepts Medicaid patients.) The infection in Driver's abscessed tooth, which could have been treated with a simple extraction, spread to his brain. That led to $250,000 of medical services, including two unsuccessful brain surgeries. Price controls do not contain costs so much as pretend that certain costs don't exist — like the loss of Deamonte Driver, who died at age 12, as the Washington Post put it, 'for want of a dentist.'"
"When the Left claims that government programs do a better job of containing costs than private insurance, what they mean is that government does a better job of hiding costs — such as the monetary and non-monetary costs it imposes on patients and providers. Pacific Research Institute economist Ben Zycher points out that the taxes required to run Medicare destroy economic activity, making that program's administrative costs 'between four and five times [those] of private health insurance.'"
"Medicare's 'fee for service' payment system, on the other hand, pays providers an additional fee for each additional service or hospital admission. That actually penalizes providers that try to improve those dimensions of quality. EMRs help avoid duplicative CT scans by saving and making accessible the results of previous scans. But Medicare will pay for a second scan. And a third. And a fourth. So a provider that invests in EMRs is not only out the cost of the computer system, but also receives fewer payments from Medicare.
The story with medical errors is similar, but more horrifying. If a medical error injures a patient who then requires additional services, Medicare will pay not just for the services that injured the patient but also for the follow-up services. That's right: Medicare pays providers more when they injure patients. Again, if providers invest in error-reduction technologies, they are not only out that initial investment, but Medicare penalizes them with fewer payments."
Friday, June 05, 2009
10-Year-Old Prepares to Graduate College With Degree in Astrophysics - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com
10-Year-Old Prepares to Graduate College With Degree in Astrophysics - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com: "'I don't consider myself a genius because there are 6.5 billion people in this world and each one is smart in his or her own way,' Cavalin told NBC affliate Wood TV."
Well said!
"Cavalin has a general idea what his IQ is, but doesn't like to discuss it. He says other students can achieve his success if they study hard and stay focused on their work."
Well said!
"Cavalin has a general idea what his IQ is, but doesn't like to discuss it. He says other students can achieve his success if they study hard and stay focused on their work."
The End of American Exceptionalism - David Gordon - Mises Institute
The End of American Exceptionalism - David Gordon - Mises Institute: "For the United States, abolishing nuclear weapons ought to be an urgent national security priority… Nuclear weapons are unusable… Furthermore, the day is approaching when the United States will be able to deter other nuclear-armed states, like Russia and China, without relying on nuclear weapons. Modern conventional weapons possess the potential to provide a more effective foundation for deterrence."
I Wrote the Guide to Extend Rothbard - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Institute
I Wrote the Guide to Extend Rothbard - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Institute: "The next step in the argument is for the apologist for FDR to claim that Hoover handed over the worst economy in US history, and hence it's not surprising that things recovered more slowly under the New Deal.
Ah, not so fast. I dispose of that counterobjection by digging up Canadian unemployment statistics from the 1930s. Comparing them year by year with the official US figures, I discovered the following interesting factoid: From 1930 to 1933, the US unemployment rate averaged 3.9 points higher than the Canadian rate. Yet from 1934 to 1941, the US rate averaged 5.9 points higher. (Both rates tended to fall over time from their 1933 peaks, but Canada's fell faster.)
Why is this significant? It shows that not only did the US economy recover from depression under FDR more sluggishly than at any other point in US history, but it also recovered more sluggishly compared to Canada's experience during the Great Depression itself. What else do we need to do to show that the New Deal did not 'get us out of the Depression'?"
Ah, not so fast. I dispose of that counterobjection by digging up Canadian unemployment statistics from the 1930s. Comparing them year by year with the official US figures, I discovered the following interesting factoid: From 1930 to 1933, the US unemployment rate averaged 3.9 points higher than the Canadian rate. Yet from 1934 to 1941, the US rate averaged 5.9 points higher. (Both rates tended to fall over time from their 1933 peaks, but Canada's fell faster.)
Why is this significant? It shows that not only did the US economy recover from depression under FDR more sluggishly than at any other point in US history, but it also recovered more sluggishly compared to Canada's experience during the Great Depression itself. What else do we need to do to show that the New Deal did not 'get us out of the Depression'?"
Conscription of Men, Women, and Resources - Art Carden - Mises Institute
Conscription of Men, Women, and Resources - Art Carden - Mises Institute: "What is compulsory national service but a type of slavery?"
"'Service' extracted at the point of a gun is not honorable. It is tragic. Furthermore, conscription is a backdoor way of increasing the state's burden on society in a way that is more difficult to measure than taxing and spending. The use of compulsion suggests ipso facto that resources are being wasted."
"Higgs points out that people were slow to volunteer after the United States entered the war (p. 131). In spite of Woodrow Wilson's stated opposition to conscription, he moved forward with a draft law that had been sent to Congress 'the day before the declaration of war'"
"Individuals' reluctance to volunteer suggests that service to the alleged moral rightness of the cause is not a sufficient compensating differential to those who are called to risk life and limb."
"Evidently no one in the government ever considered whether the desired number of volunteers could be obtained by making the deal sufficiently sweet."
"'Service' extracted at the point of a gun is not honorable. It is tragic. Furthermore, conscription is a backdoor way of increasing the state's burden on society in a way that is more difficult to measure than taxing and spending. The use of compulsion suggests ipso facto that resources are being wasted."
"Higgs points out that people were slow to volunteer after the United States entered the war (p. 131). In spite of Woodrow Wilson's stated opposition to conscription, he moved forward with a draft law that had been sent to Congress 'the day before the declaration of war'"
"Individuals' reluctance to volunteer suggests that service to the alleged moral rightness of the cause is not a sufficient compensating differential to those who are called to risk life and limb."
"Evidently no one in the government ever considered whether the desired number of volunteers could be obtained by making the deal sufficiently sweet."
Genuine Change Won't Come this Way | Neal McCluskey | Cato Institute: Commentary
Genuine Change Won't Come this Way | Neal McCluskey | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Suppose I'm willing to buy a hotdog for one dollar, but then get a dime in frankfurter assistance. Now I'll happily pay $1.10. And then suppose my local wiener retailer, from whom I've always bought one-dollar dogs, knows I've got that aid. By charging $1.10 he can make himself richer without making me any worse off. It's tuition inflation in a nutshell or bun, as the case might be.
College pricing and aid data strongly suggest this dynamic is at work. For instance, between 1986 and 2006, published tuition, fees, room and board prices at four-year private colleges rose an inflation-adjusted 68 percent. But students didn't cover most of the increase with their own money. They got grants, cheap loans, and other forms of assistance that made their perceived increase only about half that of the published amount. That big difference gives strong reason to believe that 'sticker prices' were only able to rise so high because consumers felt just a fraction of the pain, and schools knew it."
"stingy state and local spending can't explain tuition inflation in private schools, which the task force itself puts at 154 percent between 1979 and today.
In addition, total taxpayer burdens for public institutions haven't fallen. According to the federal Digest of Education Statistics, between 1990 and 2005 (the latest year with available data), real state and local appropriations to public degree-granting institutions rose almost 15 percent, hitting nearly $67 billion.
The only way state and local funding has dropped has been on a per-pupil basis thanks to growing enrollment, which the report ultimately notes. Even on that score, though, one can't lay most of the blame for tuition inflation on state and local governments – tuition revenue per-student has risen much faster than government allocations have dropped."
College pricing and aid data strongly suggest this dynamic is at work. For instance, between 1986 and 2006, published tuition, fees, room and board prices at four-year private colleges rose an inflation-adjusted 68 percent. But students didn't cover most of the increase with their own money. They got grants, cheap loans, and other forms of assistance that made their perceived increase only about half that of the published amount. That big difference gives strong reason to believe that 'sticker prices' were only able to rise so high because consumers felt just a fraction of the pain, and schools knew it."
"stingy state and local spending can't explain tuition inflation in private schools, which the task force itself puts at 154 percent between 1979 and today.
In addition, total taxpayer burdens for public institutions haven't fallen. According to the federal Digest of Education Statistics, between 1990 and 2005 (the latest year with available data), real state and local appropriations to public degree-granting institutions rose almost 15 percent, hitting nearly $67 billion.
The only way state and local funding has dropped has been on a per-pupil basis thanks to growing enrollment, which the report ultimately notes. Even on that score, though, one can't lay most of the blame for tuition inflation on state and local governments – tuition revenue per-student has risen much faster than government allocations have dropped."
Sad End to the Immigration Issue - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute
Sad End to the Immigration Issue - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute: "A standard test of a country's well-being is whether people want in or out. Whether you have an immigration issue or an emigration issue is telling. For example, people wanted out of East Germany and wanted into West Germany. People wanted out of Russia and into Estonia. People once wanted out of China, whereas now they want in."
"Data from Mexico is extremely telling in this regard. There has been a massive plummeting in Mexican immigration to the United States within the last year. A quarter of a million people who would otherwise have come to the United States for work have decided to stay away."
"Time was when shelters just across the border, where people lived until they saw an opportunity for safe passage, were filled and overflowing. Now they are empty. Time was when the border-patrol vans and buses hauled people here and there, whereas now they just drive around on day trips, looking for some sign of life.
To have an "immigration problem" is enormously flattering for a country. For that problem to go away is a dark cloud, a bad omen, a sign that something is going terribly wrong. The absence of an immigration problem can quickly turn into an emigration problem."
"Prosperity is associated with the widest-possible division of labor. This is what leads to innovation too."
"Data from Mexico is extremely telling in this regard. There has been a massive plummeting in Mexican immigration to the United States within the last year. A quarter of a million people who would otherwise have come to the United States for work have decided to stay away."
"Time was when shelters just across the border, where people lived until they saw an opportunity for safe passage, were filled and overflowing. Now they are empty. Time was when the border-patrol vans and buses hauled people here and there, whereas now they just drive around on day trips, looking for some sign of life.
To have an "immigration problem" is enormously flattering for a country. For that problem to go away is a dark cloud, a bad omen, a sign that something is going terribly wrong. The absence of an immigration problem can quickly turn into an emigration problem."
"Prosperity is associated with the widest-possible division of labor. This is what leads to innovation too."
Handling America's Homeless Families | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary
Handling America's Homeless Families | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The Bible demonstrates concentric rings of responsibility moving outward, starting with individuals who are enjoined to take care of themselves, rather than living off of others. Those who fail to care for their families are worse than unbelievers, Paul warns. The early church transferred money within and among faith communities. Finally, Paul says in Galatians, 'let us do good to all people.'
If the political authorities are to act, it should be because other institutions have failed to meet people's basic needs. Today, far more private than public programs serve the homeless. The Catholic and Protestant doctrines of subsidiarity and sphere sovereignty, respectively, recognize that government is to respect the roles of other social institutions."
"The answer is not simply more money for more government programs, of which there are thousands nationwide. This enormous challenge can be best met by reflecting back on the biblical model. We need to simultaneously meet current needs, which often include illness and hunger, and reduce future problems."
"We should instead make housing less expensive. Through exclusionary zoning (including restrictions on multifamily housing and minimum-lot size and square-footage requirements) and outmoded building codes (which reflect union interests rather than safety concerns), government has limited the housing supply and increased housing costs. Palliatives like rent control only worsen the underlying problem; government should strip away barriers to affordable housing. Doing so would help reduce homelessness."
If the political authorities are to act, it should be because other institutions have failed to meet people's basic needs. Today, far more private than public programs serve the homeless. The Catholic and Protestant doctrines of subsidiarity and sphere sovereignty, respectively, recognize that government is to respect the roles of other social institutions."
"The answer is not simply more money for more government programs, of which there are thousands nationwide. This enormous challenge can be best met by reflecting back on the biblical model. We need to simultaneously meet current needs, which often include illness and hunger, and reduce future problems."
"We should instead make housing less expensive. Through exclusionary zoning (including restrictions on multifamily housing and minimum-lot size and square-footage requirements) and outmoded building codes (which reflect union interests rather than safety concerns), government has limited the housing supply and increased housing costs. Palliatives like rent control only worsen the underlying problem; government should strip away barriers to affordable housing. Doing so would help reduce homelessness."
Arsonist Behind California Wildfire That Killed 5 Firefighters Sentenced to Death - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com
Arsonist Behind California Wildfire That Killed 5 Firefighters Sentenced to Death - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com: "A convicted arsonist was sentenced to death Friday for setting a Southern California wildfire that claimed the lives of five federal firefighters as they struggled to defend a rural home from raging wind-driven flames."
(Not knowing all of the details) It seems like the punishment out-weights the crime.
(Not knowing all of the details) It seems like the punishment out-weights the crime.
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