There are some people who think that leaving the setting of many of the terms of California's energy trade to politicians and bureaucrats constitutes a substantially regulated, not a deregulated, energy market. Just because there were some aspects of this trade that were removed from the province of California's government, it does not follow that the market was deregulated--meaning, set free.
It is time for Argentines to cash in their experience with government power, government law, government regulation, government money, and government care. They attended a hard school and paid high tuition. It taught all who cared to learn that, after every conceivable political device has been tried and found wanting, there remains freedom.
Every year, hundreds of people donate a kidney or a piece of their liver to a family member or a friend who is in dire need. If payment were allowed, we would see more of this type of activity--and not just from acquaintances--thus saving numerous lives.
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and others who claim that the Enron scandal will be a watershed for regulation miss the point. Government regulation already dominates our economic landscape. Tossing on a few more rules might do damage, but it will not prevent fraud from occurring in the future.
The City of New York monopolizes the distribution of water, and as such the supply is always in jeopardy. Rather than study the details of the city's recently adopted Drought Management Plan, New York residents would be wiser to pray for rain.
Freedom needs no help from the state—which is its natural enemy, not its ally. Freedom promotes natural order, inequality, and the decentralization of enterprise, wealth, and culture.
Given the support unions have provided for so many politicians, their support for PLA "sweetheart deals" for unions on public construction contracts is hardly surprising, particularly since very few Americans know about them. But they are doing no favors for taxpayers or for the vast majority of workers who are not union members.
There has been a lot of talk recently about foreigners who hate our prosperity and civilization, and seek ways to inflict violence in retaliation. Well, here is another case in point, except these are not swarthy Islamic terrorists; they are diplomats and statesmen on nobody's list of suspicious characters.
How does the left get away with describing right-wing thought as Talibanish, especially when compared to the left-wing agenda of speech codes, economic regulation, and authoritarian intervention in every aspect of American private life?
In most cases, it is difficult to rein in a government's spending and taxing. It is the nature of government to expand its functions and imposts, even if there is no mandate to do it. This is the nature of democracy today, tomorrow, and yesterday. Any tax or office--no matter how ridiculous or cumbersome--will always find pals in Congress.
