Markets and the Gender Wage Gap | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty

Markets and the Gender Wage Gap | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty: "When economists hold all these factors constant, they find that the gender wage gap largely disappears. Imagine two employees who are equal regarding human capital and preferences and who differ only by gender – what, if any, pay gap is present? In a study of people 27 to 33 who had never been married and who had no kids, the gap was only 2 cents. The strong implication is that if women want to earn as much as men, they need to adjust their human capital and preferences accordingly."

Ryan Budget: A Huge Opportunity to Improve Health Care | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Ryan Budget: A Huge Opportunity to Improve Health Care | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Because vouchers enable seniors to keep the savings, they will do what ObamaCare won't: reduce the wasteful spending that permeates Medicare. Seniors will choose more economical health plans and put downward pressure on prices across the board. Indeed, vouchers are the only way to contain Medicare spending while protecting seniors from government rationing.

Skeptics worry that seniors will make bad decisions with their vouchers. They should keep in mind that, according to Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, 'nearly 30 percent of Medicare's costs could be saved without adverse health consequences.' In other words, vouchers come with a huge built-in margin of safety: seniors could consume one-third less care without harming their health."

Criminal Justice Is No Job for the State - Doug French - Mises Daily

Criminal Justice Is No Job for the State - Doug French - Mises Daily: "the only advanced country that incarcerates people for minor property crimes like passing bad checks is the United States."

Campaign For Liberty — Collective Bargaining

Campaign For Liberty — Collective Bargaining: "rights are universal, and yet only 52% of government employees in Wisconsin enjoy the collective bargaining privileges that all this fuss is about.

Public sector employees already enjoy protections under civil service laws that far surpass those extended to private sector workers; a public sector union is redundant. And if the state cannot be trusted to treat its own employees fairly, then it should be denied the power to regulate any workplace, public or private."

"In 1993, Virginia and Wisconsin were equal in per capita income; nearly 20 years into Virginia's 'war on the middle class', their per capita income is 20% higher than Wisconsin's. You still have time to change your signs to say, 'Thank You, Mr. Walker', all you unionists, socialists, and communists coming to Madison next week.

One of the eye-opening discoveries of the recent turbulence in Wisconsin is that our teachers' union sells its own health insurance to school districts for as much as 50% over market price for private policies - collectively bargained, of course."

Republicans and UN Resolutions � LewRockwell.com Blog

Republicans and UN Resolutions LewRockwell.com Blog: "If the Republicans really wanted to get out of the UN, they could have done so when they controlled the Congress and the presidency for over four years under Bush. But of course they did nothing. Just like they will do nothing if they regain total control of the government again in 2012."

6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com

6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com: "A 2009 study found that hybrid drivers drive around 25 percent more than other drivers, even when they share similar commute times. In other words, they get so cocky that their cars are saving them so much fuel that they go out and burn more fuel."

"As a piece of technology becomes more efficient, our use of it goes up, too. So if we invent new building materials that mean it takes less energy to heat a house, humans respond by building giant new homes -- hey, with the money you'll save on heating, you can afford it!"

6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com

6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com: "The vast majority -- over 90 percent -- of food-related emissions don't come from transportation, but production. So if food is grown in a place where it can't be produced efficiently, like our hypothetical oranges, it'll end up being more harmful to the environment than food that's been efficiently grown and then flown in. Any non-native crop usually requires extra irrigation and stronger fertilizers, which add far more to a dish's carbon footprint than one lousy airplane trip."

6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com

6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com: "To make up for the environmental damage, you might have to take that reusable bag on your weekly grocery run for about four straight years. And when we finally do get sick of wading through the knee-high piles of unused reusable bags in our homes and throw them out, the heavier material means that they'll take up more landfill space and take longer to decompose."

6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com

6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com: "Adding corn ethanol to gasoline makes cars less energy-efficient, and producing it actually requires about 30 percent more energy than we can get out of it."

6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com

6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com: "One study of Cambodian orphanages revealed that only 25 percent of 'orphans' there had actually lost both parents. In the worst cases, this leads to children being placed in orphanages by both of their alive but desperately poor parents, because they can only get someone to help their kids if they completely abandon them to rich people who take pictures alongside them"