The Myth of Japan's Lost Decades - Kel Kelly - Mises Daily

The Myth of Japan's Lost Decades - Kel Kelly - Mises Daily: "The misleading measurement of growth in question is GDP growth, because it is practically the sole indicator used by professionals to assess economic output. The problem is that GDP is in fact not a measure of real, physical production of goods and services, as it is intended to be. It is primarily a measure of inflation, which it is not intended to be."

"prices can rise overall throughout an economy only if the quantity of money in the economy increases faster than the quantity of goods and services."

Not Just the Size of the Debt | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Not Just the Size of the Debt | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "In 2008, the Congressional Budget Office reported that in order to simply pay for spending that was locked in at that time, we would have to raise both the corporate tax rate and the top individual tax rate from their current level of 35 percent to 88 percent, raise the 25 percent tax rate for middle-income workers to 63 percent, and raise the 10 percent rate for low-income Americans to 25 percent. That was before Obamacare and the post-2008 spending binge."

Taxing the rich won't fix the problem.

Florida's Vocational Deregulation | Robert A. Levy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Florida's Vocational Deregulation | Robert A. Levy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Government has no business enacting arbitrary regulations to protect the profits of a closed fraternity of privileged companies — especially when the effect is higher prices, narrower choices, and fewer new firms started by emergent entrepreneurs."

Campaign For Liberty — Nullifying the Drug War �� by Jacob Hornberger

Campaign For Liberty — Nullifying the Drug War by Jacob Hornberger: "After both sides have rested in a civil suit, the judge has the power to enter what is called an 'instructed verdict.'He does that if there are no facts in dispute. Since there is nothing for the jury to determine, given that both sides agree on the facts, the judge can dismiss the jury and enter judgment for the side he believes should prevail on the law.

Not so, however, with a criminal case. Even if all the facts are agreed upon -- even if the defendant openly confesses on the witness stand to having committed the offense -- the judge lacks the power to dismiss the jury and summarily enter judgment for the state. The judge must nonetheless send the case to the jury because the jury is the final judge of not only the facts but also the law. It has the power to acquit the defendant even if the evidence conclusively establishes that the defendant has committed the offense."

Umbrella Mistaken for a Gun Sends Mall Workers Scrambling - FoxNews.com

Umbrella Mistaken for a Gun Sends Mall Workers Scrambling - FoxNews.com: "A man cleared out a mall in Massachusetts after the black umbrella he was carrying was mistaken for a rifle,"

Isn't this the 2nd time an umbrella has been mistaken for a gun in a mall?!?

A Privacy “Bill of Rights”? � John Stossel

A Privacy “Bill of Rights”? John Stossel: "Worse, though, is the gall that Senators Kerry and McCain have to call this a “bill of rights” when they explicitly exempt the federal government from these new rules. So, you have a “fundamental right” to privacy from data collection by private companies, but not from snooping by your government."

Why Monetary Expansion Must Stop - Patrick Barron - Mises Daily

Why Monetary Expansion Must Stop - Patrick Barron - Mises Daily: "With the creation of new fiat money, wealth has been redistributed from the current holders of money — the rightful owners — to illegitimate new allocators who steal, without getting noticed, other people's money. The first or early receivers of the new money benefit at the expense of those who receive it later, through the market process, or do not receive it at all — for example, retirees living on privately accumulated wealth. The early receivers buy at existing lower prices, while later receivers pay higher prices."

"Under sound money, GNP remains the same, because the quantity of money — and thusly, the quantity of total spending — remains unchanged.

But fiat-money inflationary spending, caused by planned inflation of the money supply, is described as economic 'growth.' The more government inflates the quantity of money, the greater economic growth appears to be as measured by GNP. But this is an illusion. It is not growth at all. It is just a consequence of measuring higher prices."

"Increasing bureaucratic oversight rests on two false ideas — that bureaucrats can discern potential problems to which bankers are blinded and that, unlike bankers, bureaucrats are not greedy by nature, so they will not take on increased risk."

"Expansion of the money supply and lowering of interest rates in order to stimulate the economy is not compatible with increased bank capital requirements and oversight boards to detect systemic risk.

The government expects that a lower rate of interest will promote more economic activity through increased lending. Yet the law of diminishing marginal utility applies also to lending . The only way to make more loans is to lend to less creditworthy customers. Yet this is the situation that more oversight attempts to prevent. Therefore, even if the government's oversight boards could detect less creditworthy borrowers, the very purpose of lower interest rates is to make loans to such people."

A "Winn" for Education and Freedom of Conscience | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary

A "Winn" for Education and Freedom of Conscience | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary: "In the generations since, we have fought over school prayer, sex education and the teaching of everything from human origins to multiplication tables. The reason we have been plagued by these public school wars is that we have compelled all taxpayers to support a single official organ of education. It is impossible for such a monolithic system to reflect the diversity of values of our pluralistic society. In our attempt to build unity we have instead compelled conformity, which has, in turn, fomented conflict."

Congress Has Become the Least Dangerous Branch | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Congress Has Become the Least Dangerous Branch | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "constitutional scholar Charles Black once commented, 'My classes think I am trying to be funny when I say that, by simple majorities,' Congress could shrink the White House staff to one secretary, and that, with a two-thirds vote, 'Congress could put the White House up at auction.' (I sometimes find myself wishing they would.)

But Professor Black wasn't trying to be funny: it's in Congress' power to do that. And if Congress can sell the White House, surely it can defund an illegal war and rein in a runaway bureaucracy.

If they don't, it's because they like the current system. And why wouldn't they? It lets them take credit for passing high-minded, vaguely worded statutes, and take it again by railing against the bureaucracy when it imposes costs in the course of deciding what those statutes mean.

But it's our fault as well. In the shell game of modern American governance, we've let ourselves become easy marks. Unless and until voters wise up and demand accountability, Congress will continue to take our money and shirk its duty."

Tax Inequity | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Tax Inequity | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "But for those who think a progressive system is equitable, please explain the equity in taxing one person at a higher rate on each extra hour he or she works to make life better for his family while taxing the less responsible and less industrious person at a lower rate."