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…
Free Markets
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…
Free Markets
Free Market Parking
by JOHN ADAMS •
Does your town have shortages of parking spaces for customers, residents, and visitors? Many towns have these challenges, and free parking (which isn’t ever free) is no answer compared with free market parking. Over at the blog Pedshed.net, dedicated to “Walkable Urban Design and Sustainable Placemaking,” there’s a post on how Redwood City, California and…
Free Markets
Congressional Earmarks — 17 Billion Dollars Down the Drain
by JOHN ADAMS •
Free Markets
The Only Fair Trade is Free Trade
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Christian Science Monitor, Gene Callahan of the excellent Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) has a article describing how fair trade schemes actually hurt third world residents. Fair trade props up inefficient producers and pulls resources in people and land from their most efficient, productive uses. The article, excerpted from FEE’s own publication,…