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…
Free Markets
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.
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Reason‘s Carnival of Posts Against the Bailout
by JOHN ADAMS •
Reason has a fine, single post linking to their many posts and videos against the federal bailout. The post is entitled, “Read Up on the Bailout and More Before Monday’s Opening Bell Signals More Losses!” It lists nearly twenty posts against the bailout, making a sound case against significant expansion of federal power. Among them…
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Saving Social Security: Boom Baby Boom!
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Saving Social Security: “Pimp My Walker”
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Free Markets
Chicago Tribune: “Scapegoating Markets”
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Chicago Tribune offers a solid editorial against the scapegoating of markets during the current financial crisis. Although capitalism has shown its superiority to other systems, it has always had plenty of detractors. The meltdown in the financial sector is their latest excuse to assert the dangers of greed, the need for greater government regulation…
Free Markets
Predictive Political Markets
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted previously about the Iowa Electronic Political Markets, where traders can purchase political futures contracts. I have visited the Iowa Markets over the last few elections. Recently, I’ve followed the political market at Intrade. Here’s a graph of 2008 Presidential Election Winner (Individual), for Barack Obama to win 2008 US Presidential Election —…
Free Markets
Four Minutes, Forty Seconds Against a Misguided Bailout
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Wall Street Journal, Barry Ritholtz, the blogger who publishes the economics blog entitled, “The Big Picture,” talks about the risks of a government bailout of large, failing financial firms. This has been an odd election year, with unexpected winners and losers along the way. We’ve still six weeks’ worth of…
Free Markets, School District
Microsoft Uses Apple
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last week, I posted on a failing Microsoft ad campaign, and Microsoft’s abandonment of Jerry Seinfeld as a pitchman. Microsoft decided to respond directly to Apple’s “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” campaign with an “I’m a PC” reply ad. Ready? When Microsoft created their reply ad, they used Apple hardware and Adobe software to…
City, Free Markets, University
Whitewater Common Council Meeting for 9/2: Student Housing (Part 2)
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Neighborhood Associations. The Housing Task Force encouraged the creation of neighborhood associations. These associations will be well intentioned, but when they act on their own, they’ll risk overly intrusive actions toward their neighbors. When they seek action from the city, they find either too much or too little support. When they’re on their own,…
City, Free Markets, University
Whitewater Common Council Meeting for 9/2: Student Housing (Part 1)
by JOHN ADAMS •
In this post, I will consider the Common Council discussion on university housing, and off-campus student housing. It was the most heated portion of the meeting, but some of the quiet, scattered remarks during the conversation were no less telling. On Enforcement. Consider the situation of Atty. Terry Race, who lives near the university. …
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets, University
Student Housing in Whitewater: Our Mistaken and Repetitive Approach
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are two stories from yesterday’s Janesville Gazette that describe the pressures of student housing: Students Spread Out in Whitewater City, School Address Housing Concerns. The stories ably describe arguments that residents of Whitewater have have made against student housing for years with no change in demand. I certainly don’t believe that demand for student…
Free Markets, Libertarians
Joe Biden: Not So Fond of Limited Government
by JOHN ADAMS •
Senator Obama chose another, and less impressive, senator as his running mate. Much sport will be had at the expense of Joe Biden, a gaffe-prone, entrenched incumbent. Look at him seriously, though, and you find something worse: a career politician who has neither time nor understanding for limited government. David Boaz recalls Biden’s theatrics in…