"He's a snake in the grass, I tell ya guys; he may look dumb but that's just a disguise; he's a mastermind in the ways of espionage." Charlie Daniels, "Uneasy Rider" rent-seeking - TT`s Lost in Tokyo

Is CEI "libertarian", or another cynical supporter of statist beneficiaries of the status quo? by TokyoTom

CEI funds, staffs and supports the relatively young, growing and interesting " Bureaucrash " grassroots libertarian social action site , by which CEI tries to tap into some of the discontent with government that has bloomed over the Bush presidency...

In which I try to help Bob Murphy figure out just what the heck I`m talking about (when I say he`s entangled in a partisan, rent-seeking game) by TokyoTom

I recently posted a copy of a comment to Bob Murphy , trying to explain Roe Romm`s attack on Bob`s effort to explain some of the stupidity behind "green" or "clean" jobs, and how it is that Bob just doesn`t seem to be (and is in fact...

Rent-seeking: CEI's Chris Horner comes clean and acknowledges that climate denialists and alarmists are peas in the same pod by TokyoTom

In an earth-shaking ;) essay in today's Human Events, CEI 's Chris Horner comes clean and acknowledges that climate denialists and alarmists are peas in the same rent-seeking pod. We have encountered Horner, former lawyer and now full-time scourge...

Note to William Anderson: Limited liability is a key to understanding the Great American Ponzi scheme by TokyoTom

William Anderson (an adjunct scholar of the Mises Institute and economics prof. at Frostburg State University) has a thoughtful New Year's Day post , pointing out how Paul Krugman fails to understand the causes of ouir economic stagnation and financial...

Limited liability produces both pollution and political meddling: Block on Environmentalism by TokyoTom

In my recent post on limited laibility , I argued that one of the perverse consequences of limiting shareholder responsibility for corporate torts was to create the moral hazard by which investors could capture the upside of risky activities that imposed...
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[Revised] Corporations, the state, limited liaibility and rent-seeking: Some criticisms of Huebert and Block's criticisms of Long by TokyoTom

[Update: Items 2 & 3 revised and an item 4 added.] J.H. Huebert and Walter Block have posted a critique of Roderick Long 's recent Cato essay . Allow me to make a few comments: 1. Huebert and Long argue that "There Is No Such Thing as Corporate...
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CEI joins enviros and others in broad coalition to LOBBY against ethanol subsidies by TokyoTom

The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the American Conservative Union have joined with environmental groups such as the Earth Policy Institute and the Environmental Working Group and with meat growers, food processors and others in the " Food...
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Ron Bailey/Reason: Gore's proposal to generate all of our power carbon-free in 10 years is on the scale of our Iraq frolic by TokyoTom

On July 17, Al Gore challenged our nation to produce " 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly carbon-free sources within 10 years ". Ron Bailey , science correspondent of Reason online , has examined whether Gore's...
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Jared Diamond: Those in stateless societies "enjoy" lives that are murderous and short by TokyoTom

Jared Diamond has an interesting essay at the current issue of New Yorker, " Vengeance Is Ours ", that is worth considering. In the essay, Diamond not only describes the moral and political economy of cycles of personal and inter-tribal vengeance...
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Frank Zappa: Slime is the tool of the Government (and of modern politics) by TokyoTom

[I ran this originally as a "page" rather than as a "post", when I had simply put up Zappa`s lyrics. Since "posts" might be more visible to visitors I`ve decided to post this as well.] I ran across some interesting and topical...
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Frank Zappa: Slime is the tool of the Government (and of Republicans and Hillary?) by TokyoTom

I ran across some interesting and topical Frank Zappa lyrics the other day, so I`m putting them up here. Does these resonate with anyone else? I have noted a few thoughts further below. I'm The Slime I am gross and perverted I'm obsessed 'n...
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Nick Kristof on politics: why we conclude that I'm right, and you're evil by TokyoTom

Here's a very interesting piece by Kristof at the New York Times about the reactions of Obama and Clinton supporters, and introducing cognitive science studies of why more information often polarizes, rather than bringing people together . Divided...
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April Fools?! WSJ starts an enviro blog! by TokyoTom

"No, your computer isn't misfiring. Welcome to a new Wall Street Journal blog, Environmental Capital." So says the WSJ's announcement of its new blog, which replaces its Energy Roundup blog and, in addition to continue to track daily...
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Fighting over the wheel of government by TokyoTom

[update below] Fundamentalist states on an interesting thread : "Most Americans are outright socialists; the rest are socialist sympathizers. They believe that only the government can save them from capitalists." In response, I raised the following...
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