Utopia! It’s the holy grail of egalitarian busybodies far and wide. If only outcomes were equal, as defined by the egalitarians themselves, the world would become a place of balanced chi and seamless harmony. These societal engineers have long believed in their unique intellects and superlative abilities, which qualify them to distribute wealth and contentment […]
1968 In Vietnam One of the turning points of the Vietnam War was the 1968 battle called the “Tet Offensive.” North Vietnamese and Communist South Vietnamese forces realized they could not sustain the heavy losses they were suffering by battling American and South Vietnamese forces in traditional engagements, and so they decided on a strategy […]
Even though there are no surprises, it turns out the illegal drug business is more interesting than normally thought. Most people know drug dealers, large and small, must somehow transfer their illegally gained money into a legally accepted form in order to use it. The process is known as money-laundering. Bloomberg News reporter Michael Smith […]
As someone who teaches people about economics on a daily (or nightly) basis, I’m always on the lookout for a good object lesson, especially one that demonstrates a fundamental difference of principal between the “collectivist” and the “Free Market” outlook. And it would certainly be hard to pass up on the (Frank-Dodd) “Financial Reform” bill, […]
The first commercial cell phone was the Motorola DynaTAC8000x. Introduced in 1983, it had a retail price of $3,995. It was 10 inches high, not counting its rubber-duck antenna, and weighed almost two pounds. Today Radio Shack will sell you an LG 420G cell phone for $20. Probably more reliable than Motorola’s original, the 420G […]
What do the American financial ‘panics’ of 1785; 1792; 1819; 1837; 1857; 1873; 1893; 1907 and 1929 have in common with the one we are still dealing with today? They all eventually ‘went away’. Didn’t they? We are still here, aren’t we? We have had some real humdingers of financial panics throughout our history, […]
Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed H.R. 5175, the “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act”, by a vote of 219 to 206. Like most votes on Capitol Hill these days, the vote was highly partisan; of the 219 “aye” votes, only two were Republicans (Mike Castle of […]
Political opportunism reigns during election years. A candidate need make only one misstep, one errant statement, for an opponent to move in for the kill. Sometimes the blunder is real. Other times it’s a matter of spin and perception. Nevada’s ex-Senate candidate Sue Lowden, a Republican, learned this lesson firsthand. Lowden became a target when […]
Politics is a curious study and there are many ways of participation. For those of more than a cursory interest there have always been breakfast and lunch and evening get-togethers where friends discuss issues and people of interest. Today there is the internet with blogs, websites and email, which brings me to my tale. There is […]
It seems like it is never going to end, doesn’t it? It is getting to be ‘Kind of a Drag’, as the Buckinghams used to sing. There are lots of reasons why this recession is taking so long to break out of. We happen to think that the Obama White House and Congress have played […]
