Archive for the ‘Must Reads For The Week’ category

« AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT home page
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Must Reads For The Week 12/12/15

December 12, 2015

Cop Pays For The Ingredients Stolen By A Mother Who Wanted To Bake Her Daughter A Birthday Cake, at abc.go.news.com. I’m going to start with this because most of the news we here about cops is for their misdeeds.

White House Finalizing Plan To Expand Background Checks For Gun Sales Through Executive Action Without Congressional Approval, at usnews.com. The Constitution doesn’t give the President the power to legislate. But as Joseph Sobran said, “The constitution is no threat to our current form of government.” This is just another example of ‘the break down of the rule of law’.

Viva Venezuela….But Not Yet, by Carmen Elena Dorobat, at mises.org. The opposition to the socialist party won two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. But this may not really be a vote for free markets because the people don’t really understand the difference between socialism and free markets. They just want the newly elected government to tackle the countries economic issues. They don’t understand that the government is not the economy, they are the economy, and the government has intervened in their decision-making for decades. They should want the government to get out of their way, not do something.

Do People, Or Do People Not Respond To Welfare Payments, by Don Boudreaux, at cafehayek.com. The same people at the same time hold two different positions about weather their are perverse incentives created by the welfare state.

Net Worth Of Individual Adults, by European Country, at economicpolicyjournal.com. One small country has the fewest resources and the highest individual wealth. Guess who it is?

Cincinnati City Council Votes To Ban Gay Conversion Therapy, at cincinnati.com. Obamacare forces individuals to purchase a service even though an individual may not want it. Cincinnati city council is prohibiting individuals from purchasing of a service even though an individual wants to purchase it.

The NSA Hasn’t Stopped Spying, at libertypen.blogspot.com. The USA Freedom Act took effect 11/29/15. It stops the NSA from directly collecting metadata from phone calls and text messages. Or does it?

France Suffered More Casualities From Mass Shootings In @015 Than The US Has Suffered During Obama’s Entire Presidency, at johnrlott.blogspot.com. the president misread his teleprompter or he lied.

India’s Failing Gold Monetization Scheme: Seizure Imminent, by Paul-Martin Foss, at mises.org. In 1933 FDR confiscated everyone’s gold. It can and did happen here.

Seiko Epson Says It Will Sell World’s First In-Office Paper Recycler, by Jun Hongo, at wsj.com. I wonder if a cost benefit analysis has been done. If there is no market for this product, at least the losses will be born by the investors and not the tax payers.

Ukrainian Drivers Are Converting Their Cars Into Wood Burners To Save Money On Gas, at odditycentral.com. Is this an activity that says to you, the world’s economy is really robust? This is a move back to a more primitive standard of living.

Man Takes A Perfect Picture Of Kingfisher After Six Years And 720,000 Tries, at odditycentral.com.

perfect-photo

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 12/5/15

December 5, 2015

Economics Is About Scarcity, Property, and Relationships, by Michael J. McKay, at mises.org. A free market is about  individuals making voluntary exchanges of what they own (property) in a world of scarcity.

The Department of Agriculture is a Welfare Scam, by Dan Mitchell, at freedomandprosperity.com. Crony capitalism for big Agribusinesses consists of subsidies, handouts, and favorable regulation, all on the tax payers dime. We also have to pay higher prices than would be charged in a true free market.

Black Friday Breaks Record With 185K Gun Background Checks, at tammybruce.com. No comment needed.

Chart Of The Day: More Guns Less Gun Violence Between 1993 and 2013, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. No comment needed.

Hunger And War In WWI Germany: Remembering The Slaughter Of Pigs, by T. Hunt Tooly, at mises.org. The During WWI, the German Government fixed the prices of potatoes. This made it more profitable for the farmers to feed them to their hogs. The result was a potato shortage (which is what happens when government sets a price ceiling). The government solution to the potato shortage they created was to kill a third of the pig population. This resulted in a shortage of pork and potatoes. Central planners are much smarter than the market!

Extreme Poverty Worldwide Has Plummeted As Market Economics Has Spread, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. The best anti poverty plan is to keep governments from interfering in the free market. Just think how prosperous the world would be if government sanctioned central banks hadn’t printed multiple trillions of dollars over the past ten years.

Incentives, Ideology, and Climate Change, by Peter G. Klein, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article: “journalists think  that “scientists are disinterested truth-seekers immune from institutional and organizational constraints. This is the default assumption about scientists working within the general consensus of their discipline. By contrast, critics of the consensus position, whether inside our outside the core discipline, are presumed to be motivated by ideology or private interest.”

A Behind The Scenes Look At The November Jobs Report, by Jonathan Newman, at mises.org. Government jobs and jobs created because of Obamacare provisions are part of this increase. Tax payer funded jobs are not productive jobs.

Video Captures At Least Nine Cops Surround, Shoot A California Knife Wielding Man, at reason.com. I have one question. Why don’t cops carry billy clubs anymore? This guy would be beaten and bruised, but at least he would be alive. Can someone help me out on this?

Person Who Made Racist Death Threats Against Blacks…Is A Black Woman Who Participated In Protests, at thepcgraveyard.com. No comment needed.

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 11/28/15

November 27, 2015

A New Social Engineering Mission Won’t Save Postal Service, by Andrew Quinlan, at freedomandprosperity.org. Even with a government sanctioned monopoly, and billions of tax payer subsidies, the U.S. Postal Service has lost money every year since 2007. The losses are in the billions. The waste of scarce resources wouldn’t have been allowed to go on this long in a free market. These resources would have been allocated to a more productive use based on consumer demand. Propping up losses hurts the economy as a whole which means it hurts all of us.

New Tax Payer Bailout To Cover Up Obamacare’s Failures, by Betsy McMaughey, at nypost.com. Insurance companies are losing money selling Obamacare policies. (This is not a shock to people who understand that Obamacare is not insurance, but a pay as you go system). I don’t feel bad for these companies because they were all for Obamacare because they thought it would provide them with 30 million new government mandated customers. They are looking to get out of the “health insurance” business, but the Obama administration is promising them tax payer funded bailouts. This is a move to a single payer (you the tax payer) system which is what Obamacare was about in the first place.

Obama’s “Clean Power Plan” Should Be Called The “Costly Power Plan“, at instituteforenergyresearch.org. New EPA regulations would only reduce CO2 emissions 1% world-wide by 2100. The cost of this is in the multiple of billions of dollars that will be paid by American electricity users. The reliable lower cost electricity that is produced by fossil fuels will be replaced by unreliable higher cost electricity produced by “green energy”. We are chasing infinitesimal decreasing amounts of a gas that is not a pollutant (CO2), at an ever-increasing cost. It doesn’t make sense unless you’re President Obama.

Cuomo Orders Censorship Of ‘Man In The High Castle’ Ads, by Mollie Hemingway, at thefederalist.com. “The Man In The High Castle” is a new show about what 1960’s America would look like if the U.S. had lost the second world war. Ads for the show depicting Nazi imagery were taken off of NYC subway system by Governor Cuomo. Money quote from the article, “Fascism is so bad that the ruling authority needs to decide what commercial speech is acceptable in public spaces? The governor ordering the ads pulled is exactly the kind of government control the show warns about.”

“Carbon Charge”: Yale Plans To Institute Global Warming Fee, by Rebecca Downs, at redalertpolitics.com. I thought this might be from the Onion.  Can anyone say increasing student loan debt. There is nothing like paying interest on a global warming tax over a 15 to 20 year period.

Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Slam Pfizer Moving To Ireland For Lower Taxes, by James O’Shea, at irishcentral.com. The high cost of doing business in America because of taxes and regulations incentivizes companies to move to more business friendly places. To stop this kind of activity, Hillary and Trump want to pass more regulations. Even though it is the original regulations that forced these companies to leave in the first place. Why don’t they want to get rid of the regulations that created the incentives in the first place.

Eliminating Cash Makes It Easier Silence Critics, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. Every transaction can be monitored in a cashless society. Access to money can be stopped by freezing bank accounts and credit cards. This is a  constraint on peoples actions. Its another way government can coerce people to do what they want.

Letter To Philadelphia Inquirer About Article On The Fed Helping Teachers Learn Finance, by Patrick Barron, at mises.org. “Pushing back on the frontiers of economic ignorance”.

Emails Show DOD Analysts Told To ‘Cut It Out’ On ISIS Warnings, IG Probe Expands, by Catherine Herridge, at foxnews.com. No comment needed.

DC Police Chief Who Advocated Taking Down Mass Shooters Has Approved Few Gun Permits, by Cody Derespina, at foxnews.com. I applaud the police chief for saying your best option is to try to take the gunman down because the  cops can’t get there in time. But on the other hand she won’t allow individuals the means to take the shooter out.

At Least 40 School Districts In Ohio Allow Teachers To Carry Permitted Concealed Hand Guns, by John Lott, at johnrlott.blogspot.com. If the only thing that stops a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun. The logical thing to do is make sure the good person is allowed to have a gun in the first place.

American Cops Now Steal More Property Than All US Burglars Combined, by Matt Agorist, at thefreethoughtproject.com. Civil Asset Forfeiture laws allow the cops to legally steal from American citizens in violation of their fourth amendment rights.

Cartoon.

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne

 

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 11/21/15

November 21, 2015

Krugman: Terrorism Will Be Good For The French Economy, at economicpolicyjurnal.com. You can’t make this stuff up. Here is a quote from the maestro: “[I once] facetiously suggest[ed] that we fake a threat from space aliens, to provide a politically acceptable cover for stimulus. Now France has been attacked, unfortunately by real terrorists instead of fake aliens, and Hollande is declaring that security must take precedence over austerity. Is this the start of something big? OK, obligatory disclaimer that will do no good in the face of the stupidity. I am NOT saying that terrorism is a good thing……..We’re just trying to think through some side effects of the atrocity.”

The money used for Government spending to fight terrorism (aka stimulus) has to come from some where. The money is just transferred from the private sector to the public sector. Which means actual resources are moved out of the productive private economy and into the unproductive Government economy. This is just a version of the Broken Window Fallacy. Here is an article I wrote in September of 2013 which explains the Keynesian stimulus dream, A Keynesians Dream, Cruise Strikes In Syria.

Roubini Says Paris Attacks Could Boost Eurozone Economy, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Another Keynesian economist Nouriel Robini says these attacks could boost Euro zone economy if the European Central Bank increases its monetary stimulus by a larger amount than it would have before the attacks. Comments from above apply to this article.

Mass Exodus! U.S. Doctors Fleeing Medicine, by Greg Corombos, at wnd.com. Experienced doctors are quitting their private practices and either retiring or going to work for a hospital. The number of doctors is decreasing because of retirement, and the doctors who go to work for the hospitals aren’t as productive as they were when they worked for themselves. We are losing the quantity, quality, and productivity. Didn’t we say this would happen in this post, The Reality Of Obamacare, and The Economics Of Healthcare vs. The Right To Healthcare.

Forget Insurance. These Doctors Only Take Fees, by Jen Fini, at delawareonline.com. Obamacare is creating a free market in healthcare. The question is will the Government allow this market, or will it stop this market?

Hillary Clinton Threatens Comedy Club For Making Fun Of Her, by Robert Gehl, at thefederalistpapers.org. Is she acting like a college student who doesn’t like free speech when it offends them. Or is she acting like the totalitarian that she has always been? There is only a difference in degree not kind, because both are totalitarians.

Comedy, Outrage, and College: What We Saw At The “Can We Take A Joke Premiere, at reason tv.

Colleges students don’t want to be challenged by diverse opinions. Only people who agree are allowed free speech, diverse opinions are verboten.

A Legacy Of Liberalism, by Thomas Sowell, at nationalreview.com. Must read of the must reads. Once again Thomas Sowell hits it out of the park. Here is an excerpt, “The current problem facing blacks in America owe more to the great society than to slavery……Liberals have wreaked more havoc on blacks than the supposed “legacy of Slavery” they talk about.”

The Myths Of The Industrial Revolution, by Richard Ebeling, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Excerpt from the article, “First, before the Industrial Revolution, life for everyone in all parts of the world, was “nasty, brutish, and short,” in terms of life span and the standard and quality of life. This was transformed by emergent industrial capitalism that offered an escape from the poverty, hardships, and class-based oppressions of feudal society.”

Extra Pay For Chicago Police And Fireman Is Excessive, Unsustainable, by Austin Berg, at chicagonow.com. 32 percent of 35,000 Chicago city workers made six figures last year. Public employees wouldn’t be able to get these kinds of salaries in the free market. It’s easier to strong arm politicians who have no incentives to say no to these public employees.

How Puppy Love Becomes Sexual Harassment, at targetliberty.com. Are we losing our minds?

LED Hand Lights Are The Latest Trend Among Biohackers, at neatorama.com.  Why would you do this?

 

 

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 11/7/15

November 6, 2015

Yellen Says Negative Rates On Table “If Outlook Worsens“, at zerohedge.com. The Fed has kept their interest rate at zero percent for the last six years. After talking about raising the rate for almost two years, they couldn’t even raise it a quarter of a point in October. Now they are floating the idea that of a negative interest rate. I have a few questions. Do you think our economy is improving or fragile? Does the Fed really think the economy is improving? Is the Fed just propping up the financial markets at our expense?   Some of the answers are in this article, Fed Admits “Something’s Going On Here That We Maybe Don’t Understand, at zerohedge.com.

The Unseen Victims Of Export-Import Bank Cronyism, at economicpolicyjournal.com. This is bi-partisan crony capitalism. More democrats than republicans voted for Ex-Im reauthorization.

Bernie Sanders Bashes Uber, Uses It For His Taxi Rides, by Blake Neff, at thelibertarianrepublic.com. This is typical. People who hate the free market blast it, while benefiting from the goods and services created by the free market. They have no idea where all their stuff came from.

Airbnb Wins In San Francisco Vote, at targetliberty.com. The leftists in San Francisco stood up for property rights and against the hotel industry. Is this an aberration, or a ray of hope?

Pot Battle In Ohio, at mises.org. In spite of the cartel members spending millions of dollars advertising issue 3 as  marijuana legalization, Ohio voters understood that issue 3 was going to create a cartel for growing pot voting it down almost 2 to 1.

China Two-Child Policy Not Valid Until March, Government Says, at bbc.com. How many people know that China had a one child policy? The Chinese Government said they were changing because of China’s aging population, and to help their economy.

Muslim Man Warns German: “We Will Marry Your Daughters And Conquer You With Births” at zerohedge.com. Demographics is destiny. Mark Steyn wrote about this in America Alone.

Johnny Can’t Read Or Add, at tammybruce.com. All the money we spend on education isn’t benefiting the students. It’s benefiting the teachers unions and school administrators.

For World Health Organization, Red Meat Is A Red Herring, by Yuri Multsev, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article. “This new anti-meat campaign, however is not about your health, but about the “health of the planet”. WHO’s attack on meat is happening just before the Paris gathering on global warming and is a part of the slow motion socialist revolution poorly disguised as “climate change awareness”.”

Why Are More Young Adults Still Living At Home, at stlouisfed.org. Student loan debt, higher housing prices, and unemployment or low paying jobs are the reason given by the St. Louis Fed. It’s funny that all these reasons were caused by the Federal Reserve electronically printing counterfeit money and its zero interest rate policy.

It Begins: Government To Pay Doctors To Tell Patients To Kill Themselves, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Excerpt from the article: “When you are a drain on government coffers rather than a taxpayer, and the crony health insurance sector fears you will become expensive to keep alive, the government would rather see you dead.“

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 10/31/15

October 31, 2015

Cops Now Use Prepaid Card Readers To Rob Motorists Of Digital Funds On Roadside, at targetliberty.com. Another example of asset forfeiture. Government bureaucrats are always trying to find ways to get their greedy hands on our assets.

Judge Dismisses Charges For Man Who Shot Down Drone, by Ryan Cummings, at wdrb.com. Where does someones right stop and the other persons right begin. Example: Your right to free speech stops at my ear.

Gett Is Going After Uber, at businessinsider.com, Gett is a new ride sharing app that is trying to undercut Uber. If Gett gains traction, it will cut into the taxi cartel even further. Isn’t the free market great for the consumer?

Who’d A-Thunk It? Higher Minimum Wages Actually Affect A Companies Plans On Where To Expand, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. More unintended consequences. Why don’t individuals act to planners plans like the planners want them to? Subjective value in a world of scarcity is a bitch.

Throwing Many Billions Down A Dark Tunnel For Bullet Train, at ocregister.com. Hard to believe that this project would end up costing more than the Government “experts” said it would.

Electric Car Sales Crash Once The Feds Are No Longer Helping, at thelibertarianrepublic.com. Government subsidies (your tax dollars) lowered the price (but not the cost) of electric cars. Subsidized sales artificially boost demand. When these subsidies go away the true market demand for electric cars is revealed.

Irony Of The Day: EU Reports Greenhouse Gas Emissions Way Down In 2014 (Guess Why), by Doug Powers, at michellmalkin.com. Because of an unusually warmer year less energy was used. Which means greenhouse emissions were down. So global warming lowered greenhouse gasses that cause global warming. I’m confused!

Ted Cruz Solid On Money, at economicpolicyjournal.com. All candidates should understanding what money is, its role in the economy, and what happens when the Fed electronically prints counterfeit money.

Williams College Students Revoke Invitation To Speaker Who Criticizes Feminism, at insidehighered.com. Wouldn’t want the students to hear an opposing view and let them to make up their own mind. They may not choose the politically correct view. Colleges don’t want a dialogue on issues, they want a monologue on issues.

House GOP Begins Impeachment Against IRS Chief, at tammybruce.com. Impeachment is the only constraint on unelected bureaucrats and judges when they act unlawfully. Unfortunately this is probably being done for political gain because it’s election season and everybody hates the IRS.

U.S Plans To Sell Down Strategic Oil Reserve To Raise Cash, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The Federal Government is always looking for more money to fund itself. Why don’t they sell some of the oil rich land they own?

Pew: Homicide Rates Cut In Half Over Last 20 Years (While Gun Ownership Soared), by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. With all the stories that are hyped by the media, you would think homicide rates are soaring.

THE DEVIL ON MY SHOULDER MADE ME DO THIS.

4-Rick McKee- Augusta Cronicle.jpg

 

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 10/23/15

October 24, 2015

A Challenge To The GOP From Bernie Sanders: Put Up Our Shut Up On Capitalism, by Dan Mitchell, at freedomandprosperity.org. Sanders is correct for wanting reporters to ask Republicans: ‘are you a capitalist’. Socialism is government ownership of the means of production. Sanders and Hillary don’t want socialism. They want government intervention, redistribution and crony socialism. Capitalism is private ownership of the means of production. Republicans candidates think they want capitalism. But what they propose is varying degrees of government intervention, redistribution, and crony capitalism. It’s going to take decades of elections to replace politicians who have this mindset with people who understand free markets and liberty. Inch by inch.

Sanders, Trump, and John Maynard Keynes, by Hunter Lewis, mises.org. Sanders thinks our current Keynesian crony capitalist system is capitalism. Trump thinks our current Keynesian crony capitalist system is socialism. Their cure is more government intervention in different ways. Sanders wants redistribution of wealth, and Trump wants a mercantilist attitude about trade.

Donald Trump’s Contempt For The Free Market, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Trump wants to stop Ford from building an auto plant in Mexico by putting a tariff on the goods Ford will bring in from Mexico. Government regulations and taxes incentivized Ford to move the plant. So instead of using more Government force to create different incentives, why not get rid of the regulations and taxes that produced the original incentives?

My Letter To The NY Times re: My Advice To The ECB And The Fed, by Patrick Barron, at patrickbarronblog.blogspot.com. Excerpt from the article. “If the Fed wishes to prevent financial crises, it only needs to stop initiating them. The Fed’s hubris that it can fathom the proper interest rate for our vast and complex economy must rank among the greatest fallacies of all time. The Fed sees the world through the completely discredited Keynesian lens which posits that aggregate demand–what the rest of us know simply as spending–is the path to prosperity. Anyone who believes this nonsense need ask himself why he has not liquidated his own savings on frivolous consumption…”

Global Stocks Soar On Surprise China Rate Cut, by David Gaffen, at reuters.com. Is anyone shocked that global stock markets soared when China’s central bank cut interest rates and the European central bank said they will increase the size of its quantitative easing (electronically printing counterfeit money) program? How strong is the world economy when the central banks of China, Europe, and the U.S. have to lower interest rates and print money to keep it afloat?

The Cronies: Half Of All Export-Import Bank Benefits Go To 10 Companies, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The Exim Bank, backed by your tax dollars, finances transactions so foreign customers can buy from American companies. These are transactions that private banks wouldn’t make because of the commercial and political risks inherent in these deals. It’s easier to be risky when it isn’t your money. By the way, does this seem like a money laundering scheme?

A Tax I Can Support, by Per Byland, at mises.org. This just might work. Unfortunately politicians would never pass it.

Justin Trudeau Elected Canada’s Prime Minister; Young Liberal Star Compared To Obama, at mercurynews.com. How could this happen? Were Canadian citizens not aware of what has been going on South of their border over the last seven years? Oh wait! What about this article? Obama Campaign Team Hands Canada Over To Lib-Left, at canacafreepress.com.

Is The New Higher Seattle Minimum Wage Destroying Restaurant Jobs In Seattle? at economicpolicyjournal.com. The answer is yes. Because the law of supply and demand states: Less is demanded at a higher price. This includes labor.

Actors In Los Angeles File Lawsuit Against Actors’ Equity Over Wage Hike, at latimes.com. I guess a minimum wage increase is only cool when it doesn’t affect you.

Michigan Governor Signs Bills Reforming Civil Asset Forfeiture, theoaklandpress.com. Some good news for liberty.

Rhonda Rousey Shuts Down Feminist.

There’s a difference between merit and value. You don’t get payed for how hard you work. You get paid for the value you produce. Who works harder; a man with a shovel digging a ditch, or a man on a backhoe digging a ditch? It doesn’t matter. The real question is; who produces the most value?

 

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 10/17/15

October 16, 2015

Kia is “pushing back on the frontier of ignorance”. Great Job Kia.

Dad fixes sons participation trophy.

Mom has clear vision of reality.

The Disgusting Corruption Of America’s Political Class, by Dan Mitchell, at freedomandprosperity.org. It may be disgusting but is perfectly reasonable when you consider the incentives. As Government increases its power, people will pay politicians to protect themselves from government regulation, or bribe politicians so they will keep competition our.

Fed’s Fisher Says 2015 U.S. Rate Rise ‘An Expectation Not A Commitment, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The Fed has been talking tough about an interest rate hike for the past year but have failed to pull the trigger. This shows how weak they think the U.S. economy is. The interest rate hike always seems to disappear like a mirage in a desert as you walk toward it.

Labor Force Shrinks, The Fed Has No Strategy, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. There are 94 million people of working age not in the labor force. This is 15 million fewer people working than were working in 2008. How can an economy be growing or healthy if fewer people are producing? The Feds only answer for a bad economy is to lower interest rates. Where do they go from zero percent? Negative interest rates?

One True Measure Of Stagnation: Not In The Labor Force, by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. This is a slightly different look at labor force participation in the US. Here is an excerpt from the article. “Heroic efforts are being made to cloak the stagnation of the U.S. economy. One of these is to shift the unemployed work force from the negative-sounding ‘jobless’ category to the benign-sounding ‘Not in the Labor Force’ category.”

According To Bernanke, This Was The “Biggest Impact Of QE“, at zerohedge.com. Bernanke said the biggest impact of QE was job creation. I think he needs to look at the work force participation rate chart that is on the Federal Reserve’s own website.

We All Know What Unions Don’t: Their History, by Amy Otto, at thefederalist.com. The Uber economy will make unions more extinct than the dinosaur that they already are.

Would-Be Killers Target Gun-Free Zones, by John Lott, at philly.com. HT libertypenblog.blogspot.com. Gun free zones are dangerous. From the article. “Since at least 1950, all but two public mass shootings in America have taken place where general citizens are banned from carrying guns.”

Fortune 500 Firms In 1955 vs. 2015; Only 12% Remain Thanks To The Creative Destruction That Fuels Economic Prosperity, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. The consumer is the ultimate judge on whether a company remains survives.

 

 

 

 

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 10/10/15

October 10, 2015

French Workers Attack Air France Executives Rip Off Their Clothes, at economicpolicyjuornal.com. How can businesses survive the costs of the benefits mandated by government? Compensation for working more than 35 hours a week, subsidized travel, restaurant lunch vouchers, paid days off for weddings and funerals, subsidized healthcare, guaranteed maternity and paternity leave, thirteenth month bonus pay, and minimum wage are just a few. Politicians who mandated all these benefits employers have to provide are the ones who caused these layoffs. These protesters are attacking the wrong people, they should be attacking the politicians for losing their jobs. We are not far behind France. Just look at the mandated benefits listed in the article; do they sound familiar?

Politicians Keep Chasing The Green Jobs Fantasy, at freedomandprosperity.com. Green energy is nothing more than a money and power grab. Green energy is not a viable alternative to fossil fuels. It can only become an alternative if its unsubsidized cost per kilowatt-hour is lower than the cost per kilowatt-hour from fossil fuels. Fracking has pushed the green dream farther into the future.

Michigan’s Wind Energy Mandate Costs Each Family $4,000, at michigancapitalconfidential.com. Because of the higher cost 24,000 jobs went away. When will we learn that central planning doesn’t work? Markets don’t necessarily pick winners. Markets allow the winners to be revealed. And it puts pressure on them to continue to please the consumer or another winner will take its place.

Recycling Was ‘Garbage’ In 1996, It’s Still That Way Today, And The Future Looks Even Worse, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Recycling is now seen as a moral imperative, when in reality it is a waste of resources, time and money. Quote from John Tierney: “We’re not just reusing our garbage, we’re performing a rite of atonement for the sin of excess.”

Adidas 3D Printing Is A Sneaker Industry Game Changer, at esquire.com.

Swash 10-Minute Clothing Care, at swash.com. Swash is like having a dry cleaner at home.

Chile’s Private Social Security System Should Be Globally Emulated, Not Locally Emasculated, by Dan Mitchell, at freedomandprosperity.com. Chili privatized its social security system in the 80’s. Its success speaks for itself. The governments recent drift toward socialism puts the pension money in the cross hairs of the central planners.

Government Planted Questions For ’60 Minutes’ Interview With Snowden, at economicpolicyjournal.com. What about the separation of press and state. Does this surprise anyone?

Two Journalists Banned From Debate On Whether Feminism Stifles Free Speech, at tamybruce.com. The headline says it all.

Why America’s Oil Output Refuses To Collapse, at bloomberg.com. Fracking comes with new ways to extract more oil from existing wells at a lower cost. Cooperation in a market produces better results than top down decision-making from central planners. If President Obama had his way he would have shut down fracking. He is trying to do it through EPA regulations like he crippled the coal industry.

TIME TO LAUGH

Bear Reacts Logically To Mixed Signals Given By Insane Lady

Video starts with insane lady talking to a bear.

Lady: “Thank you for leaving my kayak alone.”

Bear: No response

Lady: “I’m going to pepper spray you in the face, that’s what I’m going to do to you.”

Bear: “You insane b*$@#! Now watch what I do to your kayak.”

Her voice is like finger nails on a chalk board (click here).

 

PICTORIAL ESSAY: 18 Things I Did That My Grand-Kids Can’t Do Without Someone Getting Arrested, at theburningplatform.com.

Here are a few.

Guns!

We played Cops and Robbers! People DIED! We used ketchup as blood to make it look real. We took cap pistols to school …so we could play Cops and Robbers during Recess. I believe that in rural areas kids could even take bb-guns to school. No one gave a rats ass. Ever.

Sensible Punishment

Practically the only way to get expelled was if you actually put someone’s eye out. They didn’t expel kids willy-nilly for every imaginable offense.

Baths Were For Wimps

Even today, at age 81, my mom’s house is so clean you could perform open-heart surgery in any room. After playing outside all day, the chances of me walking in the house were exactly zero. I’d strip to my underwear, and mom would hose me down. She had a big heart though. In the winter time she’d use a warm bucket of water.

CARTOONS

Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

which-one-of-these-signs-will-prevent-an

Politicize-600-LI.jpg

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »