Tuesday, July 05, 2011

China's Hard-Money History - Dan O'Connor - Mises Daily

China's Hard-Money History - Dan O'Connor - Mises Daily: "Trade and commerce between the Chinese and the people of Europe was very minimal until the 1600s. But despite being relatively isolated from each other, the people of these two far-off lands all adopted identical ways for conducting commerce — they used gold and silver as the preferred medium of exchange. Most importantly, gold and silver did not circulate throughout China by edict of the emperor or some central authority. The Chinese chose gold as their money because gold and silver have moneyish characteristics."

Peer Review and "Pal Review" in Climate Science | Patrick J. Michaels | Cato Institute: Commentary

Peer Review and "Pal Review" in Climate Science | Patrick J. Michaels | Cato Institute: Commentary: "What about if my professional advancement is dependent upon climate change monies (which applies to just about every academic or government climatologist)? I'm liable to really like a paper that says this is a horrible and important problem, and likely to rail against an author who says it's probably a bit overblown. May God have mercy on any manuscript that mentions the rather large elephant in the room, which is that we probably can't do much about it anyway."

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Never Say Retire by Gary North

Never Say Retire by Gary North: "With half of Americans retiring early, thereby cutting their lifetime Social Security payments, we are building up an army of voters who are heavily dependent on government money to survive. They will find that their income does not allow them to live in anything like the comfort they had imagined. They did not save enough money. Of those few who did save more than 10% of their disposable income, year after year, the last decade has eroded their capital."

Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Medical Marketplace, Free and Unfree - Andrew Foy, MD - Mises Daily

The Medical Marketplace, Free and Unfree - Andrew Foy, MD - Mises Daily: "The results showed that while spending increased as benefit coverage increased, health status and health outcomes did not improve. There was very little evidence to demonstrate that having a high level of benefit coverage improved population health on average.[3] The RAND Health Insurance Experiment debunks the idea that patients are not capable of being prudent consumers of medical goods and services."

Debt-Limit Deal: Will the Cuts Be Phony? | Chris Edwards | Cato Institute: Commentary

Debt-Limit Deal: Will the Cuts Be Phony? | Chris Edwards | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Looking at Congressional Budget Office projections, it is fairly easy to come up with $2 trillion in 'savings' without actually cutting anything."

"To construct the baseline, the CBO takes current spending and increases it over time by inflation. But nobody expects war spending to continue rising like that. Rather, spending is supposed to fall in coming years as troops are withdrawn."

"A deal that simply counts projected future savings against inflated discretionary baselines would be a fiscal fraud."

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

First-term Assembly Republicans drove history-making changes - JSOnline

First-term Assembly Republicans drove history-making changes - JSOnline: "'You had freshmen standing up that are in swing districts that said, 'You know what? I didn't come down here to be re-elected again. I came down here to set the state right, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take this vote; I know it's probably not the easiest politically for me,' ' Fitzgerald said, adding:

'That was the beauty - the political courage - of it, that these folks were like, 'I'll take this vote and, if I don't come back, I can look myself in the mirror and say, 'That's what I went down there to do and that's what I think the people sent me there to do.' '"

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Why 70% Tax Rates Won't Work | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary

Why 70% Tax Rates Won't Work | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary: "reductions in top tax rates under Presidents Kennedy and Reagan, and reductions in capital gains tax rates under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, not only 'paid for themselves' but also provided enough extra revenue to finance negative income taxes for the bottom 40% and record-low income taxes at middle incomes."

Monday, June 27, 2011

Johnson Comments on Obama Involvement in Debt Ceiling Negotiations - Press Releases - Newsroom - Ron Johnson, United States Senator for Wisconsin

Johnson Comments on Obama Involvement in Debt Ceiling Negotiations - Press Releases - Newsroom - Ron Johnson, United States Senator for Wisconsin: "Although I'm glad the President has finally decided to get personally involved in addressing this nation's severe economic and budgetary problems, it would be far better if that discussion and debate occurred in the open where the American people can see and hear the results."

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty

The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty: "Interestingly, the very reason the Yugo even became an item was a U.S. government move to keep small Japanese cars out of the United States. The Japanese automakers responded to this protectionism by making mid-sized luxury cars, which created a void for a small, inexpensive vehicle. The Yugo would (at least temporarily) fill that void thanks to the foresight of entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin."

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Blame the Wheel | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty

Blame the Wheel | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty: "President Obama says automation accounts for high unemployment today. He really said that. And he said: “You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM, you don’t go to a bank teller, or you go to the airport and you’re using a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate.” So maybe when his administration finances “shovel-ready projects,” they should literally use shovels and not modern equipment. That would put a lot of people to work."

He better give up Air Force one, Marine One, limos, etc and use a chair carried by people. Give up internet and T.V. and pay messengers and heralds!