During the last debate, Mitt Romney emphatically stated he would blast China for manipulating its currency the first day he takes office. Talk about priorities. Of all the nation’s pressing issues, the minute the oath is over, he’ll be calling out China for manipulating the yuan. A remark like that should cause exasperation for anyone […]
Laissez-Faire Today
Storm Economics in One Lesson
In a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy, the only thing people should fear more than the storm is the government’s response. Let us count the ways. Mandatory evacuations presume that politicians know the risks better than property owners themselves. That can’t possibly be true. In an information age, we all have access to the same […]
Swimming in the Jury Pool
As the old saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. The chronicling of my courtroom rant against drug laws has prompted a few readers to question my libertarian bona fides and label me as statist, self-righteous grandstander. My piece has given these readers a reason to take their eye off the state for the moment […]
Government Targets the Breeders
It occurs to every kid of a certain age. Let’s say the kid has a hamster, and then two, and they make babies. New value, new commodities. This is fantastic! Maybe the kid can breed hamsters, sell them, and make a few bucks. The capital investment is low and the returns are potentially very high […]
A Total Dedication to Sponges
I was strolling along the wharf in Bodrum, Turkey, and I was intrigued to see some natural sea sponges on a table with a merchant behind the table telling me something about them in Turkish. I vaguely recall seeing an item like this when I was a kid but I long ago dismissed them as […]
Can Jury Slaves Say What’s True?
Until last week, I had managed all of my adult life to avoid jury duty. As a young adult in Topeka, Kan., I was never summoned. For my two decades living in Las Vegas, I was able to call in a couple times declaring economic hardship. Most of the time, I seemed to be off […]
Kids: Smarter Than Adults
It’s happened yet again: I found another movie presumably made for kids that easily beats many of this season’s predictable box-office yawners. The movie this time is The Pirates! Band of Misfits. It is the story of a socially complex group of failed pirates — people doing their best to make a life for themselves […]
Is it Cronyism to Ride the Boom?
After the bust of 2008, well-connected corporations and banks lobbied for and received many billions in bailouts from the government. The public was outraged. The term “crony capitalism” came into new prominence as a designation for capitalists who live off the taxpayer. But how far do we want to take this language? In a mixed […]
You Will Be Betrayed
My neighborhood is filling up with political yard signs. Vote for this guy! Vote for that guy! I can’t understand why people are willing to give up precious real estate on their front lawns, make friends mad at them, and put their own credibility on the line to back some politico who will certainly betray […]
Is It Evil to Be Rich?
FRANKLIN Delano Roosevelt famously used the term “forgotten man” in a 1932 speech to describe those at the bottom of the economic pyramid whom, he felt, government should aid. But the originator of the phrase “forgotten man” — William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) — had a whole different meaning in mind. Sumner aimed to expose the […]