I received a message recently from the Phantom Stranger, whose storied career hardly need be recounted on these pages. He has been in Whitewater for a while, and dropped me a line. It’s my pleasure to hear from him. Here’s what he had to say, with my remarks thereafter in blue. Nice to see Walgreen’s…
Free Markets
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Reason.tv: Economist Lee Ohanian Explains the “Bailout Puzzle”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Note 1: Ohanian and colleague Harold Cole calculated in 2004 that “FDR’s policies prolonged Depression by 7 years,” as announced in a UCLA press release. Note 2: The actual study — not a press release — is considerable. Although the University of Chicago’s online version of the Journal of Political Economy is a subscription-only journal,…
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Reason.tv Asks: “Where’s My Bailout?”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Free Markets
Predictive Political Markets — Predictive, Indeed
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday, I posted about the political trading market at Intrade.com as a predictive political market. See, Political Market’s Election Prediction: Obama 364, McCain 174. (For an earlier post on this topic, see also Predictive Political Markets, about the Iowa Electronic Markets.) What did the traders say, as of yesterday morning? Electoral College: Obama 364, McCain…
Free Markets
A Political Market’s Election Prediction: Obama 364, McCain 174
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve posted before about predictive political markets. (See, Predictive Political Markets, about the Iowa Electronic Markets, and later I started following the market at Intrade.com.) What do they say for today, as of this writing, based on the trading preferences of large numbers of buyers and sellers at Intrade.com? Here we go — Electoral College:…
Economy, Free Markets
Fortune Comes Around on the Bailout
by JOHN ADAMS •
In September, it was “Paulson to the Rescue,” and Fortune asked: “The Steely-Eyed Treasury Chief is Betting Billions on Bailouts. Can He Save Us from a Meltdown?’ Now, in November, Fortune sees something different when it asks, “Who Pays for the Bailout? You Do, Of Course!” “Of Course!” Wait, wait, wait — you breathless cheerlearders…
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Saving Social Security: Run, Sonny, Run
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the final segment of a five-part series from Reason.tv entitled, Saving Social Security. The animated video comes from Lineplot, a company that creatively describes financial topics. I posted the first of the series, Pimp My Walker, on October 4th, the second part, Boom Baby Boom! on October 11th, the third, Policy Warrior on October…
Free Markets
Digital Millennium Copyright Act — Ten Bad Years Against Innovation
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Saving Social Security: Broken Trust
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the fourth part of a five-part series from Reason.tv entitled, Saving Social Security. The animated video comes from Lineplot, a company that creatively describes financial topics. I posted the first of the series, Pimp My Walker, on October 4th, the second part, Boom Baby Boom! on October 11th, and the third, Policy Warrior on…
Free Markets, Libertarians
Defending Freedom: Update
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday, I published a post entitled, “Defending Freedom: Welch vs. Weisberg,” in which I described the reply of libertarian Matt Welch to Jacob Weisberg’s attack on libertarian philosophy in Slate. Welch handled the issue well, I thought, and now he has an update, in which others take on Weisberg’s argument. He links to nine other…
Free Markets, Libertarians
Defending Freedom: Welch vs. Weisberg
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Reason’s Hit & Run, Matt Welch responds to the big-government loving author of In Defense of Government, Jacob Weisberg of Slate. Weisberg, in a Slate post entitled, “How the Financial Collapse Killed Libertarianism” contends that The best thing you can say about libertarians is that because their views derive from abstract theory, they…
Free Markets, Libertarians
Defending Freedom: Boaz vs. Meyerson
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Cato@Liberty, David Boaz posts “Gods That Fail,” in response to Harold Meyerson’s Washington Post column, “Gods that Failed.” Boaz defends capitalism against Meyerson’s contention that “Today, conservative intellectuals might want to consider writing a tome on the failure of their own beloved deity, unregulated capitalism. ” (The titles of the columns are plays…
City, Free Markets, Libertarians, Police
The Different Standard
by JOHN ADAMS •
Sometimes a story about one topic reveals more about another. In Pewaukee, there have been chronic concerns about the temperament and conduct of that community’s police chief. In early August, the Pewaukee City Council requested that the city’s Police and Fire Commission remove police chief Gary Bach from office. Among the Common Council’s charges against…
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Saving Social Security: Policy Warrior
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the third part of a five-part series from Reason.tv entitled, Saving Social Security. The animated video comes from Lineplot, a company that creatively describes financial topics. I posted the first of the series, Pimp My Walker, on October 4th, and the second part, Boom Baby Boom! on October 11th.