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Must Reads For The Week 8/9/14

August 9, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Federal Bake Sale Ban Set To Hit Schools This Fall, by Barry Donegan, at benswann.com. Someone must have slipped some fine print into The Healthy Hungry Free Kids Act (read here) of 2010 that added bake sales to the list of “foods sold on school grounds” that must meet “strict nutritional requirements”. This act was Michelle Obama’s baby, but in the “do as I say not as I do” world  that tyrants live in, she sang a different tune at a White House event this week (read here). She said she told her children, “….to use Instagram to take a picture of something really important rather than their food…I mean, No one really cares what you had for lunch“.  So let me see if I have this correct: No one cares about what you buy at a bake sale, except food Nazis.

FBI To Hire Contractor To Analyze Media Coverage Of The Agency, by Zach  McAuliffe, at benswann.com. In true tyrannical fashion, the FBI is warning reporters to be very careful about writing negative stories about the agency. Just like the IRS, the FBI can make the cost of writing a negative story very high. It”s a subtle threat, but a threat none the less.

Toledo Residence Should Be Complaining About Greedy Water-Hording Panic Buyers During The Cities Water Crisis, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. This is a great article that turns the tables on the conventional wisdom that always complains about “price gouging” during a temporary shortage caused by a crisis. Shouldn’t the greedy person that buys more than they need be the bad guy? If we would just shut up and let prices ration the goods that are in short supply, we wouldn’t demonstrate our ignorance about economic laws related to supply and demand.

Central Planners Fail To Herd Money Market Funds Into Over Priced Stocks, at zerohedge.com. Since the Fed has cut it’s QE money printing from $85 billion a month to $25 billion a month, the central planners have to figure out a way to make up the difference in order to keep the stock market bubble pumped up. They saw $2.5 Trillion sitting in Money Market funds and decided to to after it. The SEC changed the rules pertaining to these funds, creating an incentive to purchase stocks instead of keeping them parked in Money Market funds. They essentially raised the cost of parking. But like all central planners plans, people acted differently than planned. They purchased Treasury Bills instead of purchasing stocks. Central planners will never learn.

Gun Grabbing City Councilman vs. Concealed Carry Citizen, youtube. I wrote a post this week titled Anti vs. Pro-Gun Visions Of The World. The difference in these visions are on full display in this video of a city council meeting in Oak Harbor Washington.

GE Looking To Sell It’s Appliance Division, fool.com. The appliance division has had sluggish sales since the recession. Since GE is a crony capitalist entity, it wants to sell this division instead of compete in the market. It’s easier to have as many of their divisions as possible be subsidized by Government instead of having them compete in the market without Government subsidies . GE capital, aviation, healthcare, energy (wind turbins), feed off of our tax dollars.

Will Tea Partiers Sink Mitch McConnells Kentucky Senate Reelection Bid, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Mitch McConnells antics in his primary and his support of Thad Cochran in the Mississippi Senate Primary, have alienated conservatives, tea partiers, and libertarians. For many of these people this is the marginal straw that has broken the camels back when it comes to voting for him in the general election. He has upset the wrong people.

Is Thinking Obsolete, by Thomas Sowell, at jewishworldreview.com. I don’t have to say much about this article, just read and enjoy. Here is the money quote, “In an age when scientists are creating artificial intelligence, too many to our educational institutions seem to be creating artificial stupidity.”

The Ethanol Industry: An Engine Of Economic Destruction, by Joseph Salerno, at bastiat.mises.blog.org. The ethanol industry is a misallocation of scarce resources into an activity that wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t mandated by Government regulation and subsidized by tax dollars. This is a combination of environmental regulations going too far, and agribusiness seeing a pile of Government money that is there for the taking. What could have been produced with all of this wasted land, labor, resources, and capital?

 

 

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Must Reads For The Week 8/2/14

August 2, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Happy 102nd Birthday Milton Friedman, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. Although not a favorite of Austrian economists, reading his book Free to Choose started me on the correct road. This article has many great quotes, like this one: President Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”… Neither half of that statement expresses a relation between the citizen and his government that is worthy of the ideals of free men in a free society. “What your country can do for you” implies that the government is the patron, the citizen the ward. “What you can do for your country” assumes that the government is the master, the citizen the servant.

The Invisible Hand Of Government, at libertypenblog.blogspot.com. More Milton Friedman. Short video about incentives that exist in the market vs. incentives that exist in politics. It is our fault government has taken away so much individual freedom. We are the only ones who can restore this freedom, it can only happen from the bottom up.

More Evidence That Competition Breeds Competence, by Mark J. Perry At aei-ideas.org. Because Uber and Lyft are providing quality service to customers, Taxi companies are losing business. As a result cab drivers are taking a Hospitality Management program at South Seattle College. Consumers win in a free market, businesses win in a crony capitalist system.

DC’s Gun Restrictions Takes One Between The Eyes, by Ross Kaminsky, at spectator.org. Gun grabbers will be going crazy over this ruling.

The Worst Comment On Economics That You’ll Read All Day, by Chris Rossini, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Washington Post Columnist E. J. Dionne said, “..curtailing SNAP would be devastating…. food stamps also offer an immediate economic stimulus at moments when the economy is losing purchasing power“. Money that is taken {stolen} from me and given to another person doesn’t stimulate the economy, it merely transfers purchasing power. As Chris Rossini says, “Does theft now provide “economic stimulus”? What an interesting point of view. Remember that if you’re ever confronted by a mugger on a city street. His stealing of your money provides an “immediate economic stimulus”! He should be praised, and not cast as some sort of villain! You’re the villain should you seek to curtail him.”

What’s Wrong With Global Warming, by Greg Morin, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The “settled” science on global warming is becoming a bit unsettling for the true believers, because reality isn’t cooperating with what their scientific models have been predicting.

DHS Seizes Land Rover Over EPA Regulations, at foxnews.com. The lady in this video is in disbelief that something like this actually happened. She sums it up saying,  “I’m surprised that someone can come in and take your property“. Read article here. Can we all agree that this an example of Government being to big. They stole her vehicle, under the protective umbrella of EPA regulations. Things like this can’t happen to you; can they?

Cartoon Explaining Israeli-Arab Conflict, I saw this at tammybruce.com. This is a good, for a more in depth explanation read previous post, Define Winning and Losing In The Israeli-Arab Conflict.

Six Current Economic Myths And Realities, by Patrick Barron, at patrickbarron.blogspot.com. Austrian economist Patrick Barron lists six economic myths that the main stream media reports as truth.

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Must Reads For The Week 7/26/14

July 26, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

‘Guns Are Welcome”  At One Restaurant, Bucks A Trend, by Zach Noble, at theblaze.com. After seeing a story about a restaurant being robbed two days after posting a ‘No Weapons Allowed’ sign; Sharma Floyd posted a ‘Guns Are Welcome’ sign at her restaurant. The result was an increase in business.

Psych Patient Shoots Two At Hospital, Doctor Returns Fire And Stops Shooter, at philly.com. Here is an excerpt from the article, “It was not clear why Silverman, a doctor for nearly 25 years, was armed at the office. Bernice Ho, a spokeswoman for Mercy Fitzgerald, said Thursday it was against hospital policy for anyone other than security guards to carry weapons.”  Yeadon chief of Police Donald Molineux said Silverman, “without a doubt saved lives.”  Thank God Dr. Silverman disobeyed hospital policy and had a weapon. I bet it’s a 50/50 chance the Dr. will get in trouble for breaking the rule, because the anti gun crowd lacks any common sense.

White House ‘Quietly’ Exempts 4.5 Million People In 5 “Territories” From Obamacare, at zerohedge.com. American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Northern Marina Islands, and Virgin Islands were exempted from Obamacare because the cost of health care in these U.S. Territories was rising due to Obamacare. How can a State become a territory of the United States? It seems to be a much better deal.

To Make Elite Schools ‘Fair”, City Will Punish Poor Asians, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The admission process at New York’s specialized High Schools is being challenged by the NAACP in a civil-rights complaint against competitive admissions testing that has been around for 70 Years. The group that will be hurt most will be the growing  poor Asian-American immigrants whose kids do very well on the tests. When will these social engineers understand that people’s abilities can’t be made equal. You can’t produce a photo finish in a race by starting slower runners in front of faster runners, or by making faster runners wear a weighted vest. Can’t the social planners let each individual succeed or fail to whatever degree he chooses to define success or failure? Read the C.S. Lewis quote in my quote section.

The Administration Wants Economic Patriotism From Companies Dodging Taxes, at lasvegassun.com. Here is an excerpt from the article. “The President demanded ‘economic patriotism’ from U.S. companies who use legal means to avoid taxes and regulation through overseas mergers. “I don’t care if it’s legal”, Obama said, “It’s wrong”. The corporate tax rate in the U.S is one of the highest in the world. Of course these companies are going to try to legally pay as little tax as possible just like every other red blooded American does every April 15. The treasury is estimated to lose $17 billion over the next decade if the policy continues. That’s not even $2 billion a year, which is nothing compared to the Feds open market money laundering policy of printing 100’s of billions of dollars and purchasing government debt.

Man Chocked To Death by NYC Police For Selling Illegal Cigarettes, by Liz Klimas, at theblaze.com. and Young Girl Assaulted by Three Cops For Breaking Curfew, at libertypenblog.blogspot.com. The breakdown of the rule of law starts when our politicians and bureaucrats don’t have to comply with the law. As a result citizens are not as willing to comply with orders given by people in positions of authority who are lumped in with the bigger group of political and bureaucratic law breakers. Situations like these result in citizens having less trust in cops, and cops having less trust in citizens. You’ll see more and more of this if Government, laws, and regulations aren’t rolled back. On a side note, shouldn’t the President be in front of the cameras saying these cops “acted stupidly”, like he did when his friend, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr, was arrested by police (read here)?

Three Kansas City Cops Stop To Play Pick Up Game, After Seeing Boys Playing Hoops In Street, by Jonathon M. Seidl, at theblaze.com. Since I just blasted cops, it’s only right that I post this article. I’d like to think most cops are probably like these guys. Where are the  Andy Griffiths.

My Letter To The Financial Times, London re: Eurozone Needs Quantitative Easing, by Partick Barron, at partickbarron.blogspot.com. Patrick Barron torpedoes a few myths about the benefits of Quantitative Easing in one short paragraph.

Bordering On Madness, by Thomas Sowell, at jewishworldreview.com. Thomas Sowell’s analysis of the border situation, immigration policy, and cultures. This is Dr. Sowell at his best.

General Patton’s Summer of 1944, by Victor Davis Hanson, at victorhanson.com. I’ve always been interested in WWII because my Uncle was in the 82nd Airborne. He fought in the D-Day invasion, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge. This article brought back some memories of my Uncle, and of the movie Patton which, came out when I was in High School.

 

 

 

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Must Reads For The Week 7/19/14

July 19, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Home Depot Starts Selling 3-D Printers In Stores, at economicpolicyjournal.com. This technology will eventually change the way we do things in ways we can’t even imagine.

Amazon Asks Permission From FAA To Test Drone Delivery System, by David Streitfeld, at bits.blogs.nytimes.com. Another idea whose uses we have only scratched the surface of.

The EU’s Accelerating Unpopularity, by Giles Merritt, at econommicpolicyjournal.com. People in European countries don’t like the idea of giving up their sovereignty. Each country in Europe has it’s own unique culture, and these cultural divides go back centuries and will probably never change. The bottom line is, they just don’t like each other. Even socialist countries only like to be told what to do by their socialists central planners not by other socialist central planners.

Reasons To Vote Democrat, by Ty Andros, at economicnoise.com. Unfortunately these can also apply to a majority of elected Republicans. Government will continue to grow and individual freedom will shrink, as long as both parties can get people to look at everything as a battle between the R’s and D’s they both win. The real battle, as it has always been is, can the individual keep his freedom, or will politicians, bureaucrats, and Government agents use their power to take it away. Until individuals understand that the freedom to succeed or fail on their own is their best interest, and voting for R and D promises of goodies and security, are the shackles they may never be able to escape once they put them on.

Mixed-Race Student Sues University, Says It Misled Her To Promote Racial Diversity, by Dominic Lynch, at thecollegefix.com. I saw this at aei-ideas.org. A tyrant is someone in a position of power who makes decision benefiting himself, at the expense of the person he has power over. This is an example of tyranny. I love the fact that this courageous young lady is fighting back. In order for us to beat back tyranny we have to fight it every where it occurs.

Young Boy Takes On City Council … And Wins, by Jordan Richardson, at dailysignal.com. This nine year old boy built a free library in his front yard for Mothers Day, and was ordered to tear it down by city officials in Leawood Kansas. He fought back and the city council approved a temporary measure to allow his free library. I hope he eventually wins. We have to fight back against tyranny at every turn. I saw this at aei-ideas.org.

Senator Harry Reid Says The Southern Border Is Secure, by Oliver Darcy, at theblaze,com. Charles Krauthhammer questioned Senator Reids mental health after this comment. I’m not going to give Ried the mental health pass. This lie shows his contempt for we the people. With all due respect Senator Reid, “don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining“.

Nancy Pelosi Lies About Hobby Lobby Decision, Gets Corrected By Megyn Kelly, youtube video, Megyn Kelly does a great job explaining what the Hobby Lobby decision did and did not do. I disagree with her calling  Nancy Pelosi’s statement “misleading Hysteria”, I call it flat-out lying. Pelosi’s comments demonstrate why I loath politicians. With all due respect Mrs. Pelosi, “don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining“.

Watch This Optical Illusion. This is what goes on in my brain when I listen to Reid, Pelosi, McConnell, Boehner, or Obama speak.

 

These cartoons are from theburningplatform.com.

150818 600 Border Security cartoons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

150782 600 Chelsea Clinton speaking fee cartoons

150764 600 KIDS AND SUMMER cartoons

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Must Reads For The Week 7/12/14

July 12, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Border Patrol Agents Contracting Scabies, Agent Who Speaks Out, Given Cease And Desist Order, at benswann.com. The truth about the conditions in these detention centers is what individuals higher up the Government food chain don’t want anyone to find out. “Because I stood up and told the truth they are going to terminate me and I am going to fight it” says Agent Ron Zermeno. ‘He went on to say that his bosses are more worried about their promotions and their bonuses than protecting the country’. No matter what side of this issue you are on, can we all agree that politicians and bureaucrats in Government have made a complete mess of the situation because politics trumps logic and reason.

ER Use Skyrocketing With Obamacare, by Ed Morrissey, at hotair.com. Once again the unintended (or possibly intended) consequences of Government intervention in the free market rear their ugly head. Prices coordinate supply and demand. but when Government policies incentivise demand and constrain supply, well you figure it out.

The New US Tax Form, at zerohedge.com. This is supposed to be a bit of humor,but the question has to be asked: if individuals in the IRS don’t have to comply with the law, why would anyone expect the rest of us to comply with the law? The break down of the rule of law happens incrementally over a long period of time, and then at some point the marginal straw finally breaks the camels back.

Finally A Loss For Socialist Kshama Sawant In Seattle, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Do Uber and Lyft realize this is just an incremental step toward more Gov. control, and not a win for the free market. Here is an excerpt, “There will be no cap on the number of for-hire drivers: We have deregulated a highly regulated monopoly,” Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said. It should be noted, though, that this step is far from a complete free market step. UberX and Lyft will now be part of a new government created cartel, that will limit others from entering the Seattle taxi industry. The city will only issue 200 new taxi licenses over the next four years. Taxi and for-hire drivers will see their licenses “transfer into a property right” on the order of New York’s valuable taxi medallions.” This reminds me of the analogy Walter E. Williams uses, This is like someone who comes into your yard, rips out your tulips and plants roses, and then gets you to argue the merits of tulips vs. roses, instead of you telling him he had no right to rip out your tulips in the first place.

Canada Pulls The Plug On Delayed Keystone XL Pipeline: Will Instead Send Oil To Asia Via A New Pipeline, by Mark J. Perry, at aie-ideas.org. How many jobs did the President sacrificed at the altar of radical environmentalism. These lost jobs are the unseen consequences that are results of every Government intervention. The benefit of the jobs and wealth that would be created out weighs the risk, not a guarantee, just a minimal risk of a possible environmental problem. The environmentalists are not willing to trade-off any amount of risk, no matter how small, for any amount of economic gain, no matter how big.

Yet Another Leak In The Establishment Ship, by Chris Rossini, at economicpolicyjournal.com. This information age brought about by technological innovation that couldn’t have been imagined 15 years ago,  is starting to over take the status quo propaganda outlets of the Government central planning crowd. News papers and TV news have been in decline for years. Now Hollywood’s influence along with the education monopoly are loosing their hold. As the article says, “this is a positive sign for liberty”.

Freedom Summed Up In One Image, at zerohedge.com. When I saw this sign, I thought it was parody from The Onion. This sign shows how people in positions of power will wield it, to try to control everything you do. They are smarter than you!

Leaving Illinois For Texas, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. Another example of unintended consequences of Government intervention. People are leaving States when the cost of regulation and taxes gets too high. People on the margin leave, and the with the next round of regulations the next group of people on the margin will leave, (as long as there is a lower cost place to escape to).

When Steelers Steal, by Christopher Westley, at mises.org. This is our heavy lifting for the day. Bastiat talked about ‘that which is seen, and that which is not seen’. This article shows the history of the steel industry through the lens of unseen consequences. Government intervention doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The affects of the intervention are like the expanding ripples from a rock being tossed into a pond.

A Typical Day For Southwest Airlines, at economicpolicyjournal.com. This is just Southwest Airlines shown on this time lapse video. What do the skies look like if all planes from all airlines were shown? Well here it is, A Day In The Life Of Air Traffic Over The United States.

45 Perfectly Timed Photographs, at induldged.com. These are outstanding. I saw this at angryid.wordpress.com.

perfectly-times-photos-37

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Must Reads For The Week 7/5/14

July 4, 2014

Lets celebrate Independence Day.

This is Stars and Stripes Forever by Chet Atkins.

Ray Charles singing America The Beautiful.

Martina McBride singing God Bless America.

Let’s Think.

-Read Thomas Sowell’s recent article, America’s Birthday.

-Happy Fourth Of July: Fifth Of US Population Doesn’t Believe In American Dream, by Hannah Osborne, at ibtimes.co.uk.

 

Let’s Laugh.

 

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Must Reads For The Week 6/28/14

June 28, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

FEDERAL RESERVE,  MUST READS OF THE WEEK

 

Lets start with some humor, because the rest of the post isn’t very funny. I saw this video, Money Is Our God, by Tom Simmons, on Libertas Project / Facebook. Tom Simmons has the Federal Reserve figured out.

 

The State Of The Union: A Friendly Reminder Where We Stand Now, at zerohedge.com. These charts show how the Fed is attempting to keep the economy propped up with electronically printed counterfeit money. Their original money pumping caused the very problem their present money pumping is supposed to cure. It’s like an NFL player getting a concussion from a helmet to helmet hit, and trying to cure it by punching him in the face..

The Fed’s Hobson’s Choice: End QE And Zero Interest Rates or Destabilize The Dollar And The Treasury Market, by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. The Fed has been printing counterfeit money to purchase debt, and artificially keeping interest rates low in order to incentivize borrowing which is at record pace over the last 5 years. Policy makers at the Fed believe in the Keynesian theory that spending {consumption} stimulates production. But Say’s law of markets states, “One can only buy with what one has produced….The one product constitutes the means of purchasing another….”  In the market, production spending is always ahead of consumption spending. But when the Fed stimulates Keynesian consumption, without any corresponding production, it misallocates resources. Economic forces are trying to correct the misallocations brought about by the Feds counterfeiting. These forces will eventually prevail no matter how much the Fed tries to prop up it’s false reality with fake money.

The Civilian Employment -Population Ratio Chart, from the FRED {Federal Reserve Economic Data}. This chart represents the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population that is employed. This next chart shows the total Civilian Noninstitutional Population, which includes two groups of people who are not working, 1) people under 25,  2) retired people. This chart, Civilian Noninstitutional Population – 25 to 54 years, shows people in their prime working years. Now look at the M2 Money Stock chart. If we look at all of the charts starting from March of 95 to the present, here is what we see. The Fed has increased M2 money stock from $3.49 trillion to $11.22 trillion which is almost $8 trillion. During the same time period the ratio of employed people has decreased from 63.1% of the civilian population working, to 58.9% of the civilian population working. The civilian population has increased  from 198 million to 247 million. These numbers show that the Feds policy of electronically printing counterfeit money is a miserable failure, if its goal is to increase employment and keeping inflation in check. But the Fed’s zero interest rate policy, along with its policy of Quantitative Easing {electronically printing counterfeit money},works perfectly if the goal is to enrich the people who have access to this money first. But it doesn’t matter if that’s the goal or not, the result is still the same. ( The two articles below help explain fake inflation numbers, and enriching those with first access to this counterfeit money.)

Former Fed Governor Warsh Slams Fed’s “Reverse Robin Hood” Policies, at zerohedge.com. Reverse Robin Hood is a great way to explain this. People who don’t have access to this counterfeit money have had the value of what they own stolen. Counterfeiting is theft, even if, in the case of the Fed, it is legal.

Wow: Fed Economist On Fudging Price Inflation Data, at economicpolicyjournal.com. You can make the aggregate inflation rate look great if you don’t count sectors of the economy where the prices are obviously skyrocketing. You can’t believe the numbers stated in the headlines. You have to dig into the numbers to find what is really going on.

 

UNFORTUNATELY THE JOKE’S  ON US.

 

 

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Must Reads For The Week 6/21/14

June 21, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Video: Turning SWAT Teams Into Death Squads, at libertypenblog.blogspot.com, by John W. Whitehead. The Fourth Amendment states, ‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause….’ Law enforcement in the U.S. isn’t constrained by the Fourth Amendment anymore.

The US Government Doesn’t Want You To Know How The Cops Are Tracking You, by Trevor Timm, at the gardian.com. I saw this at libertypenblog.blogspot.com. Another example of Government abusing our Fourth Amendment rights.

US Captures The Benghazi Killings Mastermind (And Scapegoat), at zerohedge.com. Everything this administration does is for purely political reasons. We can’t possibly believe anything else. Excerpt from the article, “What is perhaps more curious is why it took Obama nearly two years to find a person who was openly living in Libya after the attacks, and in fact gave interviews several interviews with TIME magazine in 2012, but with AP in October 2013:” When this guy goes to trial, he can have President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, and Ambassador Rice testify that what happened in Benghazi was a spontaneous attack because of an anti Islamic video shown on the internet. No one could possibly challenge the veracity of these three witnesses.

U.S. Government Trying To Force Washington Redskins To Change Name, by Rachel Blevins, at benswann.com. Two things going here. 1) Government officials exercising force over peoples property rights. 2) Government officials enforcing something that is completely meaningless to the well being of American Indians, but is very meaningful to the ego of the Government officials. I have one question for these Government officials. How did the creation of Indian Reservations, by Government officials, work out for the American Indians who live on them? Read here.

Marc Faber Explains The Fed’s Dilemma In 15 Words, at zerohedge.com. Faber’s words, “The more they print, the more inequality there is, the weaker the economy will become.” The Fed is creating the very problem it is trying to cure with its double edge sword of electronically printing counterfeit money and zero interest rates.

Bobby Jindal Pulls Lousiana Out Of Common Core, by Robby Soave, at reason.com. The more that is known about Common Core, the more it is being rejected. Virginia, Texas, Minnesota, and Nebraska never adopted Common Core. Louisiana just pulled out, just as Indiana, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, recently pulled out. North Carolina and Missouri look like they are next. Liberty minded people are winning on this issue, because they are fighting at the State level.

Right To Work States Now Dominate U.S. Automobile Manufacturing, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. Business seeks lower costs, and labor is usually one of their biggest. When labor is free from Union coercion, it chooses against unions. This benefits labor,business, and consumer.

Big Labor (And Socialists) Hate Tipping, at economicpolicyjournal.com. First of all, I thought big labor is a bunch of socialists. Here is a quote about tipping from the minimum wage queen, Seattle City Councilmember Socialist Kashama Sawant; “We don’t want any worker to be beholden to the mood of the customer on any given day.” This is the difference between free markets and central planning. The consumer rules in a free market, and the planners rule in a socialist system. Seattle you are getting exactly what you deserve by electing this jewel into office.

Flight Attendant Makes Best Pre-Flight Speech Ever, at economicpolicyjournal.com. This is good.

 

I saw these cartoons at theburning platform.com.

149763 600 Obama Student loan plan cartoons

 

149652 600 VA Backlog cartoons

 

149531 600 Midas touch cartoons

 

 

149734 600 Tea Party Topples Eric Cantor cartoons

 

 

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Must Reads For The Week 6/14/14

June 14, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

 

Rehypothecation Evaporation Concerns Grow, As Copper Plunges Most In Three Months, at zerohedge.com. Rehypothecation is simply selling claims on a commodity, a good, a product, etc, above the amount that exists. If the owner of the Mona Lisa wants to store the painting in your art warehouse, you give him a receipt for the painting. This receipt is a claim on a particular painting by the owner, to be redeemed at any time. What if you make a counterfeit receipt and sell it. There are now two claims on the Mona Lisa. If you own a grain elevator, farmers will store their corn, measured in bushels, in your bins, and you give them a receipt for X amount of bushels to be redeemed at any time. You don’t have to give the farmer back the exact bushels of corn he brought in because bushels of corn are homogenous, unlike the Mona Lisa. What if you started selling counterfeit receipts for the corn? What if you have twice as many claims on bushels of corn as you have bushels of corn in your grain bins?  Your theft will remain hidden until such time that you don’t have enough corn to cover a receipt that is presented. The rehypothecation of copper, and the examples of the Mona Lisa and the bushels of corn, are examples of  how our Fractional Reserve Banking System works. Banks can loan out 10 times the amount of money they hold in reserve. If they have $1million in reserve, they can loan out $10 million. Money never exchanges hands, it is transferred electronically when a check {warehouse receipt} is presented. Its a sweet deal for the banks because they get to collect interest on the electronically printed counterfeit money {warehouse receipts}. Unfortunately this counterfeit money has been released in the market and is causing the unintended consequences of misallocating scarce resources and inflation. Read  more about this topic in my article here.

Texas Mom Outraged Because Her Daughters School Won’t Allow Sunscreen, by Rebecca Klein, at huffingtonpost.com. I love it when the rules central planners make come into conflict with each other. In this case officials at the district banned sunscreen because it is a toxic substance. But what about the central planners who have regulated tanning bed use by minors because of the possible danger of skin cancer. Central planners are all or nothing rule makers. They don’t understand that life consists of tradeoffs. But more importantly they don’t understand that decisions concerning these kinds of trade offs should be made by each individual or in this case the parent.  In this case the individual has to trade off one danger, the risk of the toxicity of the sunscreen against the risk of getting skin cancer. As I have learned from reading Thomas Sowell, their are no categorical solutions, just incremental trade offs. Central planners don’t understand that the more incremental decisions they take away from individuals, and make them categorical decisions for everybody, {except for themselves} the more strife they create between us and them.

LET’S LOOK AT MINIMUM WAGE REALITY

1) A Report From The Bakken Oil Fields, Where The Jobless Rate Is 0.9% And WalMart Is Paying 2.4 Times The Minimum Wage, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. The Federal minimum wage rate is $7:25, as is North Dakotas minimum wage rate. Will the central planners, at the federal and state levels, mandate that the wages of these workers at the bottom of the wage scale be dropped to $7:25 an hour just to be “fair” to the other minimum wage workers in other states?  Or should the central planners pass a law that mandates a maximum level of the minimum wage? These planners apparently have more knowledge about what wages should be than the knowledge the market can bring to bear on wage rates. The market in North Dakota is obviously wrong for paying these low skilled workers over double what the mandated minimum wage is. Don’t these central planners exist to correct the inequalities produced in the market?

2) Seattle Business Charges “Living Wage” Tax In Response To $15 Minimum Wage Hike, by Jessica Chasmar, at washingtimes.com. Plans by central planners can’t work like the planners planned. Why? Because there is still enough of a free market remaining that businesses have options other than just paying the new minimum wage rate. They can raise prices like this company, they can replace labor with technology. they can replace low skilled low wage labor with more productive higher skilled higher wage labor, or they can look to cut costs elsewhere in the production process. If raising the minimum wage for low skilled labor would increase production and profit, businesses would already be paying a higher wage, just like what is happening in North Dakota because of the oil boom.

NOW LETS HAVE SOME LAUGHS

12 Things Men Do Differently Than Women, at economicpolicyjournal.com.

Pee Wee Obama, at theburningplatform.com. I’ve been trying hard not to do this, but I can’t help myself.

Compare this video of President Working Out In Polish Gym, to this, Olivia Newton John, Physical video.

I saw these cartoons at theburningplatform.com.

WHEN THESE POWER PLANTS CLOSE, WHERE WILL THE ELECTRICITY COME FROM?

149321 600 Rates Skyrocket cartoons

 COAL POWERED CARS, I PADS, AND I PHONES

149426 600 Coal Industry cartoons

SOCIALIZED MEDICINE BY ANY OTHER  NAME…..

149459 600 Making Obamacare Look Good cartoons

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Must Reads For The Week 6/7/14

June 7, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Libertarian Candidate For Governor Arrested For Gathering Signatures, by Ben Swann, at benswann.com. Self interested government employees don’t like candidates who want to reduce the size of government. This is, “The Tyrany Of The Status Quo.”

How Fracking Has Saved Obama, by Richard Rahn, at washingtontimes.com. I saw this at Carpe Diem /aei-ideas.org. As hard as they might try the administration can’t even kill the goose that’s laying the golden egg.

Lefty Logic Confusion On Taxes, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Leftists have no understanding of economic reality even when the consequences of their actions hits them square in the face. If ignorance is bliss this lady is the happiest person you will ever meet.

European Central Bank Institutes Negative Interest Rate, at economicpolicyjournal.com. What is the consequence of a negative interest rate on savings? If you said individuals will spend money not save it, go the head of the class. This is the Keynesian idea that spending drives the economy when in fact spending is consumption, and consumption is the destruction of what has been produced. Savings allows an economy to produce more. Interest rates coordinate production across time, and artificially setting interest rates disrupts the production process. Central Bank {especially The Feds} manipulation of interest rates and money printing has created this economic mess, it is not the cure for the mess.

Harvard Grad Chuck Schumer Fails History, Credits Jefferson For Bill of Rights, by Stephen Dinan, at washingtimes.com. This reminds me of this clip from the movie Animal House.

Seattle Pacific University Student Tackles And Restrains Gunman During School Shooting, by Annabelle Bamforth, at benswann.com. Watch the four-minute press conference and see why I hate politics. After Police Capt. Fowler reports the facts, the rest is self aggandizing  political nonsense. Jon Meis, the student who stopped the shooter, was responsible for the safety of his fellow students  than the mayor, the police chief, or the fire chief. They are just trying to look important after the fact.

Skateboarding On Water With Sea-Do! People can do some amazing things.

The Fed Won’t Let Our Economy Heal, by Frank Shostak, at mises.org. I like how Frank Shostak explains abstract concepts. Here is an excerpt from the article, “Most commentators are of the view that the Fed’s massive monetary pumping of 2008 has prevented a major economic disaster. We suggest that the massive pumping has bought time for non-productive bubble activities, thereby weakening the economy as a whole…. To prevent future economic pain, what is required is the closure of all the loopholes for the creation of money out of “thin air.”

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