Growth Industry

The third-quarter GDP results were just announced, and they showed a 3.5% growth rate.  This has prompted Ben Bernanke to declare that, no matter what the uninformed masses standing in the ever-growing unemployment lines might think, the recession is probably over.  As if on cue, the media have been quick to parrot the Federal government’s [...]

Tooth Fairy Heralds Dollar’s Demise

My daughter is bouncing up and down with excitement.  This afternoon she lost another baby tooth (her third to date) and she knows that the tooth fairy will visit her tonight and leave her some money.  I remember the feeling.  As a kid, whenever I lost a tooth I could look forward to finding a shiny [...]

They’re the Kids in America

I have been stuck in Washington, D.C. for the past three days listening to a bunch of bureaucrats attempt to justify their existence while simultaneously threatening me and a thousand other people with fines and/or imprisonment if we don’t do exactly what they say.  For someone with my political leanings, it’s a lot like having [...]

The Desert Island Test

 “No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick.  If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.” 
Facebook users will no doubt recognize the above quote, which was recently posted as a “wave” by some supporters of socialized [...]

It’s Hard To Be Humble

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference.” 
Perhaps libertarianism would be more popular if it weren’t such a humbling philosophy.  One of the key insights of libertarian thought, particularly as it relates to economics, is that the collective [...]

The Public Option

My little girl started first grade last week at the public school here in our neighborhood. We sent her to a private pre-school for the two years prior to kindergarten in the hope that we would be able to keep her in private school for the duration of her academic career. As everyone knows, though, [...]

Borrowing Our Way Out of Debt

So now Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wants Congress to raise the national debt ceiling.  The debt ceiling is the statutory limit that Congress imposes on the federal government’s debt.  Of course, whenever the government’s debt approaches the maximum amount allowed by law, they simply raise the limit rather than doing anything nutty like cutting spending.  [...]

The Land of Milk and Honey

Senator Chuck Schumer recently introduced S1542, the “Milk Import Tariff Equity Act.”  If signed into law, the bill will impose quotas and increase tariffs on imported milk protein concentrate, or MPC.  MPC is not currently subjected to the same degree of protectionism as other dairy products, and food producers have naturally shifted to MPC as [...]

Demon Soda

According to the US government, I am overweight.  I’m 5’8” tall and this morning I weighed in at 187 pounds, which gives me a body mass index (BMI) of 28.4.  That’s pushing the upper limits of the “overweight” category, trending toward the dreaded “obese” label.  I have resolved to lose weight, not only for personal [...]

Lagniappe – July 2009

National People’s Radio – I’ve been listening to NPR a lot lately, and I realized that they’ve really only got one story.  Someone somewhere depends on some government program, and that government program is underfunded.  That’s it.  That’s the only thing happening in this country on any given day according to NPR.  You’d think that, [...]