Posts
Thursday, June 07, 2012
Eduardo Saverin, Not the U.S. Government, Is Entitled to the Wealth He Earned | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary
Eduardo Saverin, Not the U.S. Government, Is Entitled to the Wealth He Earned | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: "the U.S. is the only country which taxes worldwide compensation. Other nations limit their claim to a share of money earned within their borders. America’s corporate tax rate also is the world’s highest."
Romney: US not meeting commitment to fight poverty | Fox News
Romney: US not meeting commitment to fight poverty | Fox News: "Mitt Romney says the government has "a moral commitment" to help every American help themselves."
Does he want a "nanny state"?
Does he want a "nanny state"?
Dollar loses reserve status to yen & euro - NYPOST.com
Dollar loses reserve status to yen & euro - NYPOST.com: "The dollar's share of new cash in the central banks was down to 37 percent -- compared with two-thirds a decade ago.
Currently, dollars account for about 62 percent of the currency reserve at central banks -- the lowest on record, said the International Monetary Fund."
"They grumble that they've loaned the US record amounts to cover its mounting debt, but are getting paid back by a currency that's worth 10 percent less in the past three months alone. In a decade, it's down nearly one-third."
Currently, dollars account for about 62 percent of the currency reserve at central banks -- the lowest on record, said the International Monetary Fund."
"They grumble that they've loaned the US record amounts to cover its mounting debt, but are getting paid back by a currency that's worth 10 percent less in the past three months alone. In a decade, it's down nearly one-third."
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
In Mass., individual mandate sparks little outcry | Fox News
In Mass., individual mandate sparks little outcry | Fox News: "Massachusetts collected about $77 million in penalties from residents as a result the requirement from 2007-2009. While that may seem like a lot of money, the penalties have touched just a tiny fraction of the state's population of more than 6.5 million.
In 2007, about 67,000 people were required to pay a penalty. That declined to 53,000 in 2008 and 48,000 in 2009."
"In 2012, those making more than three times the poverty level — $32,676 for an individual — pay the highest penalty of $105 per month, or $1,260 per year."
"The intense focus on the federal mandate may be disproportionate to the number of people who could end up paying a penalty. "
Of course the rule of law and the government taking more rights doesn't affect the suggested focus. :-p
In 2007, about 67,000 people were required to pay a penalty. That declined to 53,000 in 2008 and 48,000 in 2009."
"In 2012, those making more than three times the poverty level — $32,676 for an individual — pay the highest penalty of $105 per month, or $1,260 per year."
"The intense focus on the federal mandate may be disproportionate to the number of people who could end up paying a penalty. "
Of course the rule of law and the government taking more rights doesn't affect the suggested focus. :-p
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
NM court upholds gay discrimination ruling | Fox News
NM court upholds gay discrimination ruling | Fox News: "The New Mexico Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling that a professional photographer who refused to take pictures of a gay couple's commitment ceremony violated state anti-discrimination laws."
Monday, June 04, 2012
Time for US to Normalize Ties with Pyongyang | Ted Galen Carpenter | Cato Institute: Commentary
Time for US to Normalize Ties with Pyongyang | Ted Galen Carpenter | Cato Institute: Commentary: "North Korean leaders undoubtedly fear that Washington might use its vast military power to intimidate Pyongyang or even engage in forcible regime change, as it did with Saddam Hussein. To reduce tensions, the Obama administration should offer to sign a non-aggression pact with North Korea. US leaders should also propose a peace treaty formally ending the armed hostilities on the Korean Peninsula."
"The notion that Pyongyang would abandon all nuclear ambitions was overly optimistic from the outset. Yet that has been a key premise of the Six-Party Talks. Given that North Korea probably has processed enough plutonium over the past decade to build several nuclear weapons, and has an active uranium-enrichment program, such a maximalist goal is now completely detached from reality.
Washington should instead focus on getting North Korea to stop short of actually deploying an arsenal. That status of "one screwdriver turn away" from being a full-fledged nuclear-weapons power is hardly ideal, but it's probably the best US leaders can expect from North Korea — even in exchange for a new, normal relationship between the two countries."
"The notion that Pyongyang would abandon all nuclear ambitions was overly optimistic from the outset. Yet that has been a key premise of the Six-Party Talks. Given that North Korea probably has processed enough plutonium over the past decade to build several nuclear weapons, and has an active uranium-enrichment program, such a maximalist goal is now completely detached from reality.
Washington should instead focus on getting North Korea to stop short of actually deploying an arsenal. That status of "one screwdriver turn away" from being a full-fledged nuclear-weapons power is hardly ideal, but it's probably the best US leaders can expect from North Korea — even in exchange for a new, normal relationship between the two countries."
Why Speculators? - Percy L. Greaves, Jr. - Mises Daily
Why Speculators? - Percy L. Greaves, Jr. - Mises Daily: "The prices of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange were long a valuable guide for farmers and manufacturers alike. For farmers, they indicated how much land should be planted in cotton and how much in other crops. Through the growing season, future prices indicated how much time, care, and expense should be spent in tending crops. When future prices were high, no expense was spared to bring every possible ounce to market. When future prices were low, farmers were warned not to waste too much time and expense cultivating and picking that last possible ounce.
For manufacturers and other cotton buyers, the Cotton Exchange quotations provided a base for estimating or determining their future raw-material costs. This in turn helped them calculate the prices on which they bid for future business. On orders accepted for delivery over long periods of time, they could always make sure of their raw-material costs by immediately buying contracts for delivery of cotton on the dates they would need it."
"Men act as speculators when they have only partial knowledge and understanding of the results their actions are likely to produce. The more speculators know and understand, the better they can predict the future results of their actions. But they never can be certain of the actual results.
Most speculations involve people and how they will react to given situations. Since we can never know with certainty the future reactions of others, every action which involves others is a speculative action. Thus, all voluntary actions, including market actions, are speculative."
"Frequently, the speculator is the first to foresee a future scarcity. When he does, he buys while prices are still low. His buying bids up prices, and consumption is thus more quickly adjusted to future conditions than if no one had foreseen the approaching scarcity. A larger quantity is then stored for future use and serves to reduce the hardships when the shortage becomes evident to all.
Since a price rise tends to encourage increased production, the sooner prices rise, the sooner new and additional production will be started and become available. So a successful speculator reduces both the time and the intensity of shortages as well as the hardships which always accompany shortages.
Likewise, speculators are often the first to foresee an increase in future supplies. When they do, they hasten to sell contracts for future delivery. This in turn drives down future prices earlier than would otherwise be the case. This tends to discourage new production that could only be sold at a loss. It also gives manufacturers a better idea of what future prices will actually be. So, here again the speculator tends to smooth out production and consumption to the benefit of all concerned."
"When governments set prices, quotas, acreage limits, or other hampering restrictions on the honorable activities of men, they countermand the checks and balances that the free market places on supply and demand. The result is always surpluses and shortages: the former, where producers' rewards are set too high; the latter, where they are set too low. Where there are surpluses of some things, there will always be shortages of others. For the men and materials subsidized to produce surpluses have been lured from producing those things which free-market conditions would indicate that consumers prefer."
For manufacturers and other cotton buyers, the Cotton Exchange quotations provided a base for estimating or determining their future raw-material costs. This in turn helped them calculate the prices on which they bid for future business. On orders accepted for delivery over long periods of time, they could always make sure of their raw-material costs by immediately buying contracts for delivery of cotton on the dates they would need it."
"Men act as speculators when they have only partial knowledge and understanding of the results their actions are likely to produce. The more speculators know and understand, the better they can predict the future results of their actions. But they never can be certain of the actual results.
Most speculations involve people and how they will react to given situations. Since we can never know with certainty the future reactions of others, every action which involves others is a speculative action. Thus, all voluntary actions, including market actions, are speculative."
"Frequently, the speculator is the first to foresee a future scarcity. When he does, he buys while prices are still low. His buying bids up prices, and consumption is thus more quickly adjusted to future conditions than if no one had foreseen the approaching scarcity. A larger quantity is then stored for future use and serves to reduce the hardships when the shortage becomes evident to all.
Since a price rise tends to encourage increased production, the sooner prices rise, the sooner new and additional production will be started and become available. So a successful speculator reduces both the time and the intensity of shortages as well as the hardships which always accompany shortages.
Likewise, speculators are often the first to foresee an increase in future supplies. When they do, they hasten to sell contracts for future delivery. This in turn drives down future prices earlier than would otherwise be the case. This tends to discourage new production that could only be sold at a loss. It also gives manufacturers a better idea of what future prices will actually be. So, here again the speculator tends to smooth out production and consumption to the benefit of all concerned."
"When governments set prices, quotas, acreage limits, or other hampering restrictions on the honorable activities of men, they countermand the checks and balances that the free market places on supply and demand. The result is always surpluses and shortages: the former, where producers' rewards are set too high; the latter, where they are set too low. Where there are surpluses of some things, there will always be shortages of others. For the men and materials subsidized to produce surpluses have been lured from producing those things which free-market conditions would indicate that consumers prefer."
Friday, June 01, 2012
Police laud 'hero' in Seattle shootings | Fox News
Police laud 'hero' in Seattle shootings | Fox News: ""My brother died in the World Trade Center," the man later told police, who provided an account of the interview. After his brother's death, he said, he resolved that if something like this ever happened, "I would never hide under a table.""
Thursday, May 31, 2012
The Case against Student Aid - Aaron Smith - Mises Daily
The Case against Student Aid - Aaron Smith - Mises Daily: "The unintended consequences of [Federal Financial Aid] are numerous, indeed. Skyrocketing tuition, high default rates, and pathetic graduation rates — to name a few — are all byproducts of a system that incentivizes inefficiency, largess, and misguided decisions. Oddly, while many students aren't legally permitted to take a sip of alcohol, they are systematically encouraged to contract into years of, essentially, indentured servitude."
"teaching loads plummeted an astounding 36 percent between 1987–1988 and 2003–2004. It has been estimated that such reductions have increased costs by $2,850 per student at public four-year colleges.
Of course some research is indeed productive. However, it is highly unlikely that many of the 21,674 scholarly publications written on Shakespeare between 1980 and 2006, for example, had a demonstrable impact on student success. Colleges have much to save — and students even more to gain — when college officials reprioritize the work of their faculties."
"The national six-year graduation rate from four-year institutions is an abysmal 57.3 percent. For African Americans, whose well-being statists are supposedly trying to promote, this figure is 42 percent. In addition to wasted time and the dark cloud of failure for those who don't graduate, 8.8 percent of all borrowers were in default in 2009. In fact, 2 million senior citizens have student-loan debt, 11.2 percent of which are in default."
"Every degree type, after all, is indiscriminately given a four-year curriculum. It is rarely questioned why a student studying engineering and another studying business are to attend college for precisely the same number of years."
"In the absence of FFA, a student would be more cognizant of their return on investment (ROI). Of course, actually having to pay for an education, and not merely buy one, would immediately increase their sensitivity to price."
"True, fewer students would eventually enroll in higher education, as critics will likely point out with vigor — but is this worse than having myriad students dropping out with debt and many more graduating with impotent degrees?"
"Currently, the costs of student-loan default are borne predominantly by taxpayers. If colleges are, indeed, confident that their programs will result in successful outcomes — then why shouldn't they assume this risk?"
"teaching loads plummeted an astounding 36 percent between 1987–1988 and 2003–2004. It has been estimated that such reductions have increased costs by $2,850 per student at public four-year colleges.
Of course some research is indeed productive. However, it is highly unlikely that many of the 21,674 scholarly publications written on Shakespeare between 1980 and 2006, for example, had a demonstrable impact on student success. Colleges have much to save — and students even more to gain — when college officials reprioritize the work of their faculties."
"The national six-year graduation rate from four-year institutions is an abysmal 57.3 percent. For African Americans, whose well-being statists are supposedly trying to promote, this figure is 42 percent. In addition to wasted time and the dark cloud of failure for those who don't graduate, 8.8 percent of all borrowers were in default in 2009. In fact, 2 million senior citizens have student-loan debt, 11.2 percent of which are in default."
"Every degree type, after all, is indiscriminately given a four-year curriculum. It is rarely questioned why a student studying engineering and another studying business are to attend college for precisely the same number of years."
"In the absence of FFA, a student would be more cognizant of their return on investment (ROI). Of course, actually having to pay for an education, and not merely buy one, would immediately increase their sensitivity to price."
"True, fewer students would eventually enroll in higher education, as critics will likely point out with vigor — but is this worse than having myriad students dropping out with debt and many more graduating with impotent degrees?"
"Currently, the costs of student-loan default are borne predominantly by taxpayers. If colleges are, indeed, confident that their programs will result in successful outcomes — then why shouldn't they assume this risk?"
Embracing Progress | Marian L. Tupy | Cato Institute: Commentary
Embracing Progress | Marian L. Tupy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "In the 1970s, hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate.” Thus began The Population Bomb"
"Since those now infamous words were written, world population has doubled from 3.5 billion to 7 billion, inflation-adjusted average annual income per person has risen from $3,147 to $5,997, and life expectancy at birth has increased from 59 years to 69 years."
"In sub-Saharan Africa, the caloric intake increased from 2,290 to 2,420 in just 16 years."
"[Africa]’s population has more than trebled — from 280 million to 854 million — since 1968, and life expectancy has increased from 44 years to 54 years."
"In 1981, 70 percent of people in poor countries lived on less than $2 a day, while 42 percent survived on less than $1 a day. Today, 43 percent live on less than $2 a day, while 14 percent survive on less than $1. “Poverty reduction of this magnitude is unparalleled in history,”"
"“Violence has been in decline for thousands of years, and today we may be living in the most peaceable era in the existence of our species.” Indeed, studies have shown that hunter-gatherer societies experienced about 524 violent deaths per 100,000. The rate of violent deaths in the war-torn 20th century, by comparison, amounted to a mere 60 per 100,000."
"Why are we as a species so willing to believe in doomsday scenarios that never quite materialize?"
"Since those now infamous words were written, world population has doubled from 3.5 billion to 7 billion, inflation-adjusted average annual income per person has risen from $3,147 to $5,997, and life expectancy at birth has increased from 59 years to 69 years."
"In sub-Saharan Africa, the caloric intake increased from 2,290 to 2,420 in just 16 years."
"[Africa]’s population has more than trebled — from 280 million to 854 million — since 1968, and life expectancy has increased from 44 years to 54 years."
"In 1981, 70 percent of people in poor countries lived on less than $2 a day, while 42 percent survived on less than $1 a day. Today, 43 percent live on less than $2 a day, while 14 percent survive on less than $1. “Poverty reduction of this magnitude is unparalleled in history,”"
"“Violence has been in decline for thousands of years, and today we may be living in the most peaceable era in the existence of our species.” Indeed, studies have shown that hunter-gatherer societies experienced about 524 violent deaths per 100,000. The rate of violent deaths in the war-torn 20th century, by comparison, amounted to a mere 60 per 100,000."
"Why are we as a species so willing to believe in doomsday scenarios that never quite materialize?"
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