iPad 3 Resolution

An iPad 3 starts at $500. In order to get a normal monitor with that many pixels you need to spend $850!

The Seven Rules of Bureaucracy - Loyd S. Pettegrew - Mises Daily

The Seven Rules of Bureaucracy - Loyd S. Pettegrew - Mises Daily: 'US Census figures show that in 1964, the year this "war" began, the poverty rate was 15 percent and in 2010 it was 15.1 percent. Any fifth-grader can see that there hasn't been much progress on the poverty front, especially given the trillions of dollars spent since then. Not surprisingly, once started, most of these programs have never gone away and demand an ever-increasing amount of taxpayer dollars.'

'Unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012) do not include retirees reentering the workforce, new college graduates looking for a job, nondeployed military personnel, or people who have been out of work for five months or more. It is instructive that the Department of Labor's little-known measure of unemployment, U-6, is ignored by the president, Congress, and the media in favor of the rate presented monthly. The U-6 unemployment rate is currently 16 percent.'

'In the House of Representatives on June 25, 2007, Congressman Frank stated,

We have, I think, an excessive degree of concern right now about home ownership and its role in the economy. Obviously speculation is never a good thing. But those who argue that housing prices are now at the point of a bubble seem to me to be missing a very important point. Unlike previous examples we have had where substantial excessive inflation of prices later caused some problems, we are talking here about an entity, home ownership, homes, where there is not the degree of leverage that we have seen elsewhere. This is not the dot com situation.… Homes that are occupied may see an ebb and flow in the price at a certain percentage level but you're not going to see a collapse that you see when people talk about a bubble. So those of us on our committee in particular will continue to push toward home ownership.'

'Send all newly elected officials to the state capitol or Washington with the specific goal to reduce legislation. America's bureaucracies have forgotten that resources are scarce, and most legislation builds bigger government and demands more tax dollars.'

Seeking Accuracy in the Criminal Justice System | Jeffrey Kirchmeier | Cato Unbound

Seeking Accuracy in the Criminal Justice System | Jeffrey Kirchmeier | Cato Unbound: 'A number of studies support a sequential identification process—where witnesses evaluate suspects one at a time instead of comparing possible suspects standing next to each other. Many advocate for police to use "double-blind" lineups, in which the person administering the lineup does not know which person is the suspect, thus avoiding any unconscious clues that the administrator might give to the witness. When Illinois and other states did exhaustive studies on practices that can lead to erroneous convictions, their reports made various recommendations, including double-blind and sequential lineups.'

Obamacare, Two Years Later | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obamacare, Two Years Later | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'when health-care reform was passed, we were promised that it would do three things: 1) provide health-insurance coverage for all Americans; 2) reduce insurance costs for individuals, businesses, and government; and 3) increase the quality of health care and the value received for each dollar of health-care spending. At the same time, the president and the law’s supporters in Congress promised that the legislation would not increase the federal-budget deficit or unduly burden the economy. And it would do all these things while letting those of us who were happy with our current health insurance keep it unchanged. Two years in, we can see that none of these things is true.'

'And, the recent dust-up over insurance coverage for contraceptives is a clear illustration of how the government will now be designing insurance plans for all of us. Regardless of how one feels about the contraceptive mandate itself, it is just the tip of the iceberg as government mandates tell employers what insurance they must provide, and tell us what insurance we must buy, even if that insurance is more expensive, contains benefits we don’t want, or violates our consciences.'

Wisconsin Church Offers Adults-only Services For Sex Offenders | Fox News

Wisconsin Church Offers Adults-only Services For Sex Offenders | Fox News: 'A Wisconsin church has started providing adults-only services so that sex offenders can worship without violating their parole.'

Education's Missing Apple: The Free Enterprise Solution? | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary

Education's Missing Apple: The Free Enterprise Solution? | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Take the now famous example of Jaime Escalante, whose low-income Hispanic students at Garfield High School were, by the mid-1980s, already besting their peers at Beverly Hills High on the Advanced Placement (AP) calculus exam. Though staggeringly successful, Escalante's program was not replicated. On the contrary, his own fellow teachers voted to relieve him as head of the math department after Escalante drew the ire of the local teachers' union because he welcomed over 50 students in his classrooms, while the union contract required no more than 35.'

'The same free enterprise system that has given us Google, Starbucks, and Apple works in education, too — if we let it. This system works for businesses through several key conditions: freedom to innovate, consumer choice, competition between providers, price signals, and the ability to distribute profits to investors.'

'In the Korean tutoring sector, it is not uncommon for the top teachers to have class sizes in the range of 20 to 40 thousand students, thanks to effective use of the Internet to distribute lessons. The best among them earn millions of dollars a year from profit sharing programs operated by the tutoring firms. The more effective a teacher becomes, and the larger the number of students who seek out her lessons, the more she earns.'

'hundreds of entrepreneurial independent schools currently operate in the slums of Hyderabad, India, vying to serve the children of day laborers and food-stall vendors whose poverty is beyond anything in America. These parent-funded independent schools outperform the local state-run schools, and they do so at a fraction of the cost — barely four dollars per month.'

A Re-Elected Obama Wouldn't Be the End of Liberty | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

A Re-Elected Obama Wouldn't Be the End of Liberty | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'since FDR, few second-term presidents have been capable of great mischief. Obama may have done most of the real damage he's capable of already.'

'If the states refuse to create [health insurance exchanges], the law says the feds can. But it provides zero funds. And good luck getting them through a GOP House."'

'since the end of World War II, unified governments have spent roughly three times as fast as divided ones, and they've been much more likely to waste blood and treasure abroad.'

When Prices Are Wrong, Markets Don't Work | Peter Van Doren | Cato Institute: Commentary

When Prices Are Wrong, Markets Don't Work | Peter Van Doren | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'if gas prices go up and a commuter decides to start driving a Prius, or to move closer to work so the old gas guzzler travels fewer miles, this will have equivalent beneficial effects on aggregate fossil fuel consumption. One does not have to purchase an energy efficient vehicle to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

Even though I used just two paragraphs and no math to articulate this obvious point, voters and their elected officials resist this simple insight and instead prefer to impose only energy efficiency standards on manufacturers of consumer appliances and automobiles. A singular emphasis on energy efficiency rather than prices has two important drawbacks. First, more efficient appliances and automobiles cost much more to achieve equivalent energy savings than a tax on fossil fuel consumption. This occurs because higher prices encourage all possible avenues of reducing energy consumption — which efficiency standards do not. Second, more efficient appliances and automobiles reduce operating costs, which leads consumers to use more energy than they would if prices had increased.'

Inside America's Economic Angst | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary

Inside America's Economic Angst | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary: '* The recovery began just as Obama’s stimulus spending ended, thus confirming suspicions that lots of money was wasted as part of a process that hindered the economy’s growth.

* The job numbers only began to improve at the end of 2010, right as Republicans took control of the House and presumably ended Obama’s ability to further shift the nation’s course.'

'Such scandals as Solyndra lead people to suspect that cronyism has replaced capitalism.'

From Lori Drew To Dharun Ravi, Punishing People Based On Others' Suicides Is A Mistake | Techdirt

From Lori Drew To Dharun Ravi, Punishing People Based On Others' Suicides Is A Mistake | Techdirt: 'Thus, the incentive then is actually for kids to seriously hurt themselves, if someone acts in a mean way towards them, as that increases the likelihood of the bully getting punished. That doesn't sound like a good incentive system.'