There is an issue that – while extremely important today – receives too little attention not only in the traditional media but also in the blogosphere, and academia: the subversion of competition by special interests. Following Adam Smith, the vast majority of economists believe that competition is the essential ingredient that makes a market economy…
Free Markets
Dairy, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Language, Newspapers
Does Anyone at the Janesville Gazette Have a Dictionary?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Recently, the Janesville Gazette‘s editorialist tried to defend remarks from Trump’s secretary of agriculture, Sonny Perdue, about the demise of family farmers. See Our Views: Ag secretary’s reality check wasn’t callous. In that defense, one finds that the Gazette‘s editorialist neither understands the meaning of simple English words nor basic economics. The secretary of agriculture said…
CDA, City, Congress, Corporate Welfare, Free Markets, Gerrymandering, Government Spending, Local Government, Never Trump, Politics, Republicans, State Capitalism, That Which Paved the Way
F. James Sensenbrenner Heads for the Exit
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that F. James Sensenbrenner, the pro-Trump septuagenarian multimillionaire congressman from a gerrymandered district that stretches all the way down to Whitewater, is retiring when his current term ends. Consigned to the minority forever must look unappealing. How time flies! It was not long ago that then-chairman of the Whitewater Community Development Authority was scampering…
Economics, Economy, Free Markets
The Largest Electorate in any Community
by JOHN ADAMS •
One might not be much for standalone quotes (as they’re often taken out of context), but Anna Lappé’s observation about consumer choice is, in-and-of-itself, wholly right: Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want. Yes, indeed. No clique, no faction, no party, no political authority is an…
Agriculture, Bad Ideas, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Gov. Walker, Local Government, State Capitalism, Trade, Trump, WEDC
How Walker and Trump Destroyed Dairies in America’s Dairyland
by JOHN ADAMS •
One has heard so much these last eight years about how Wisconsin has been ‘open for business,’ and for Walker and the WEDC that has meant countless subsidies and tax breaks for conservatives’ preferred businesses. Walker was never a free-market man; his whole approach rested on state capitalism (government funding some producers) and crony capitalism…
CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Free Markets, State Capitalism, WEDC
Fruitless Embrace
by JOHN ADAMS •
Free-market economist Veronique de Rugy asks Why Are Republicans Embracing Economic State Planning?: China’s post-Mao economic boom has occurred only to the extent that the country became capitalist. With “Made in China 2025,” Beijing’s 2015 anticapitalist plan for an industrial policy under which the state would pick “winners,” China has taken a step back from capitalism. (It recently dropped the “Made…
Business, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Foxconn, Free Markets, Government Spending, Local Government, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC
Half-Right About the WISGOP
by JOHN ADAMS •
Thomas Edsall, writing in the New York Times, quotes Jerry Taylor and Will Wilkinson of the Niskanen Center think tank on Republicans’ political economics. Two quotes from Taylor Wilkinson stand out – one right, and one wrong (at least wrong for Wisconsin). From Will Wilkinson, a view of cultural issues’ importance: The G.O.P.’s success in…
Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Immigration, Local Government, Politics, Regulations, State Capitalism, That Which Paved the Way
Immigration as a Community Lifeline
by JOHN ADAMS •
Art Cullen writes Help wanted: Rural America needs immigrants: President Trump argues that keeping immigrants and refugees out of our country is a matter of vital national security. He has made it his campaign thesis and shut down the government over it. Here in Storm Lake, Iowa, where the population is about 15,000 and unemployment is under…
Business, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Hunger, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Planning, Poverty, State Capitalism, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, WEDC, Wisconsin
The Fight Against Gravity
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Trump Administration wants to bolster industries that are market failures, with coal as an example. Catherine Rampell writes of that effort in The Trump administration learns that fighting gravity is hard: The Trump administration is learning that, as new data show that the industries it has worked hardest to prop up — through bailouts, tariffs…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, CDA, Charity, City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Dogs, Economy, Education, Federal Government, Foxconn, Free Markets, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Police, Politics, School District, State Capitalism, State Government, University, UW System, WEDC, Wisconsin
The Broad Outlines of 2019
by JOHN ADAMS •
For many years, I would begin the year with predictions for the twelve months ahead. Events since 2016 have made predictions harder, but one can still discern some short-term developments for the city. These prospects, of course, form an online of topics to ponder, and about which to write (often requiring that one return to the…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Free Markets, Government Spending, Local Government, Mendacity, Open Government, Politics, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Tony Evers, WEDC, Wisconsin
The Walker Cabinet Officers’ Open Letter
by JOHN ADAMS •
Four cabinet secretaries of the Walker Administration have come forward to criticize the governor, and three of them have co-written an open letter against Walker’s relentless emphasis on political gain over sound policies. One of the signatories of the letter is Paul Jadin, who was Walker’s first Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation leader. It says all…
Culture, Economy, Ethics, Free Markets
The Theory of Moral Sentiments and the Morality of Markets
by JOHN ADAMS •
In Five myths about capitalism, Steven Pearlstein describes the primary myth as a misunderstanding about motivations of those choosing freely in the marketplace (broadly understood, these choices are about not only capital, but also labor or goods): Myth No. 1: Greed, a natural human instinct, makes markets work. Adam Smith, the father of economics, first pointed out in his…
Business, Congress, Economics, Economy, Federal Government, Free Markets
Elizabeth Warren & Capitalism
by JOHN ADAMS •
A reader wrote in to ask me whether I thought that Elizabeth Warren was a capitalist. The question stems from an article in The Atlantic by Franklin Foer (‘Elizabeth Warren’s Theory of Capitalism.’) Frequent readers know that I link to The Atlantic often. (I’m a subscriber.) I’m also a free-market guy, so here’s a quick…
Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Politics, State Capitalism, Taxes/Taxation, That Which Paved the Way
The Trump Tax Bill: The Illusory Pay Bump
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the spring, before and after a local election, the Whitewater Community Development Authority issued two press releases praising a part of the Trump tax bill as good for Whitewater. CDA executive director Dave Carlson presumably wrote the releases, and Larry Kachel, the CDA chairman, stars in one of them as offering gratitude for gerrymandered congressman…