There’s a short, simple column from Robert Samuelson on the Greek financial crisis as an example of a failed welfare state. Well worth reading. See Greece and the Welfare State in Ruins.
Economy
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Libertarian Cato Institute Deservedly Named One of World’s Leading Think Tanks
by JOHN ADAMS •
Congratulations to the Cato Institute, named one of the leading policy institutes in the world, following a major academic survey. Libertarians have reason for confidence in their views in any event, but the policy scholars at Cato are admirably advancing ideas for “individual liberty, free markets, and peace.” Now you know, and I know, that…
Economy, Free Markets, Planning
Why the Slow Recovery? – Cato @ Liberty
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy
Federal Deficit to Hit All-Time High
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Wall Street Journal, there’s a troubling story from Jonathan Weisman entitled, Deficit to Hit All-Time High. The situation is so alarming that a scholar from a left-leaning think tank is alarmed: Isabel Sawhill, a budget expert at the Brookings Institution, criticized the president’s goal – a deficit of 3% of GDP long…
Economy, Free Markets, Planning
Wall Street Journal: The U.S. Isn’t as Free as It Used to Be
by JOHN ADAMS •
No, it’s not, is it? The United States is losing ground to its major competitors in the global marketplace, according to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom released today by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. This year, of the world’s 20 largest economies, the U.S. suffered the largest drop in overall economic…
Development, Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Reason: Luck and Virtue in America and Haiti
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Reason.com, Steve Chapman writes about the earthquake in Haiti, and about prosperity in America, in an article entitled, Luck and Virtue in America and Haiti: Understanding the impact of the Haitian earthquake. From his essay: I look after the trees in my yard, making sure they get water, checking them periodically for signs…
Economy, Free Markets, Planning
“Red-Ink Tsunami: Why Old Ideas Can’t Fix the New Government Perma-Crisis”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Economics21.org there’s a succinct, useful article on fiscal policies that simply won’t solve America’s economic problems. “Red-Ink Tsunami: Why Old Ideas Can’t Fix the New Government Perma-Crisis” is a useful reminder – a warning, really – of state and local government’s limitations. Here are the five “Strategies of Yesteryear that Won’t Work Today”:…
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Rep. Paul Ryan on Business and Markets
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater, Wisconsin is divided between two congressional districts, one of which is served by Rep. Paul Ryan. The online Washington Examiner has a brief opinion piece called, “Paul Ryan’s Free-Market Populism.” The article mentions an essay that Ryan recently wrote for Forbes in which he decried the tendency of large corporations to seek government handouts…
Economy
Wisconsin: An Over-Taxed State
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin’s a smaller state, but she ranks in the top ten in property taxes, along with states with troubled economies like Illinois and California. The Wisconsin State Journal, in a story posted this afternoon, entitled, “Wisconsin ninth in median property taxes,” notes that “Wisconsin’s median real estate tax paid for 2008 was $2,963…” compared “…to…
Economy
The Overwhelming Case for Free Trade
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the post immediately before this one, I posted an editorial cartoon from Lisa Benson criticizing the federal administration’s decision to impose a tariff on Chinese tires. It’s a foolish decision — the tires are made more inexpensively than alternatives, and save consumers money. The case for free trade — free and unrestricted markets across…
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians, Planning
Reason.tv: Government Providing ‘Country Roads to Serfdom’
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s video Thursday at FREE WHITEWATER, and here’s a video from Reason.tv’s Rough Cut blog, about the failure of government spending to improve conditions for West Virginia. Here’s a description accompanying the video: For decades, West Virginia has looked to the government to solve their economic problems, only to find themselves falling further behind. Today,…
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
From Reason.tv: Bjorn Lomborg — What’s the Best Way to Live with Global Warming?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Reason.tv, there’s an interview with Bjorn Lomborg, asking, What’s the Best Way to Live with Global Warming? Here’s a description of the interview: What’s the best way for humanity to reduce suffering from man-made global warming? No individual has been a stronger voice for rational cost-benefit analysis on this issue than Bjorn Lomborg,…
Economy, Free Markets, Uncategorized
Machan: The Problems Are Not Due to Capitalism
by JOHN ADAMS •
Professor of economics Tibor Machan writes that opponents of free markets are wrong to blame capitalism for the current recession. That blame-casting is proving short-lived: more Americans each day are rejecting government intervention in the economy, and embracing free markets in labor and capital as a foundation of a dynamic, prosperous, and tolerant society. Machan’s…
City, Economy
Grim Forecast (with Local Implications) from the Congressional Budget Office
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Congressional Budget Office yesterday issued its latest economic outline, as of August 2009, as a pdf document. The CBO forecasts have been respected, traditionally, as accurate, non-partisan forecasts. They estimate both annual federal deficits, overall public debt, and unemployment to continue to rise in the near term, with annual federal deficits (and thus overall…