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Bill de Blasio and his Horses
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A new political leader is swept into power. The voters, with their bleeding hearts and gleaming eyes, are ready for change. They want a great leap forward. “Out...
View ArticleThe problem with wind and solar as power sources
Re: Renewable energy fiasco in Germany Here are the basics of electricity generation–it must provide either base power or on-demand power, and it cannot be stored. Base power today is provided mostly...
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Unemployment Benefits and the Disutility of Labor
Nineteenth century American politician and newspaper editor Gideon Tucker once wrote, “no man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.” The quote has been popularly...
View ArticleHelp a Real Victim of the Minimum Wage
It is easy to sympathize with 33-year-old Acsana Fernando. Since immigrating to Canada from Bangladesh as a refuge in 2002, she has struggled to find her footing. Bouncing from job to job trying to eke...
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The CBC is no good, and is not a Public Good
“In the beginning was The Hockey. And The Hockey was with the CBC. And The Hockey was the CBC.” For almost all of us, “Hockey Night in Canada” was an essential part of growing up (or being grown up)....
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The Dao of the Austrian Investor
Reprinted from Mises.org [The Dao of Capital: Austrian Investing in a Distorted World. By Mark Spitznagel. Wiley Press, 2013.] The economy is extremely complex. As Leonard Read taught, no single...
View ArticleA Question for Ford Motor Company
Re: Ford threatens to leave Britain if Britain leaves the EU Would Steve Odell change his mind if, at the same time that Britain left the EU, it adopted unilateral free trade? I don’t see why he would...
View ArticleTens of thousands of Canadians flee Canada
Canada is amongst the top countries in the world when it comes to safety and security. So what could be so bad that it enticed tens of thousands of Canucks to flee the country in 2013? How about...
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How Government Cutbacks Ended Sweden’s Great Depression
Reprinted from Mises.org During the recent financial crisis, Sweden has emerged as one of very few financially sound economies. The country’s strong position, setting it apart from most Western...
View ArticleMy letter to the Wall Street Journal re: Central bankers cannot “buy time”...
Re: Euro Zone Must Defeat the Deflation Ogre, by Simon Nixon Dear Sirs: Simon Nixon does an admirable job of showing that “cronyism, corruption, and vested interests” are a greater threat to the Euro...
View ArticleHealthcare: High Prices and Few Kidneys
Start with a simple proposition: America does not have a healthcare problem. The services provided are the best on this planet, and people from around the world travel to its hospitals and clinics to...
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Legislating Banking Confusion through Conflicting Laws
What do the following road signs share in common? You probably answered that they are all confusing, and I would agree. Some of you would have answered that they all involve conflict, and that too is...
View ArticleMy letter to the NY Times re: The Boston Fed as Community Organizer
Re: Boston Fed as Community Organizer Dear Sirs: This PR campaign by the Boston Fed is not authorized by its mandate. More importantly, the Fed has no idea what businesses to support. This is the...
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The Case against Public Science
Reprinted from Cato Journal For libertarians, economic growth is the growth that barely speaks its name. That is because conventional opinion asserts that economic growth is the gift of government....
View ArticleMy letter to the NY Times re: Reviving New Deal Fallacies
Re: Confronting an Old Problem May Require a New Deal, by Eduardo Porter Dear Sirs: Mr. Porter recently trotted out every discredited economic idea of the New Deal, from Keynes’ fallacious idea of...
View ArticleMy letter to the NY Times re: Looking for answers in all the wrong places
Re: Wall Street’s New Housing Bonanza, by Michael Corkery Dear Sirs: If Representative Mark Takano (D, CA) is concerned that securitizing investment in rental properties will result in a new,...
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Who Is Really Crazy
On the surface, Cass Sunstein seems like a put-together guy. A former Obama administration official, he currently holds a prestigious teaching position at Harvard Law School. Throughout his career, he...
View ArticleMy letter to the Wall Street Journal re: Anglo Bank didn’t bailout itself
Re: Trial of three former officials at Anglo Irish Bank begins Dear Sirs: Anglo Irish Bank did not bailout itself. Why aren’t the politicians who gave the money to Anglo, which led to the collapse of...
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NASA, the Aerospace Welfare Queen
Reprinted from Strike-the-Root.com The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a textbook example of how to quash free scientific inquiry. It also is a lesson in transforming...
View ArticleBitcoin Bank Run, Take 2
Enough people were upset with my previous post claiming that Mt. Gox is suffering a bitcoin bank run because it is holding only a fractional bitcoin reserve that it caused me to think twice about the...
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