- Iraqi Fuel Distribution New Priority (UPI): “It is an ironic mess of epic proportions. Iraq is a country practically floating on oil, yet lines for diesel fuel stretch for hours and sometimes days throughout the country. Benzene, what Iraqis call the gas they put in cars, is in a better state, but kerosene and cooking oil are severely stretched. A Babylontour guide with a degree in German literature collects wood every day to cook dinner for her family. Black market gas stations -- usually just teenage boys with plastic canisters of fuel -- line the streets.”
- Technological Improvements are CausingUnemployment (CNN.com): at least according to the increasingly common account, which is nothing but the resurrection of fallacy.
- Bush’s Biggest Lie on Iraq (USA Today): “The “16 words” — as Bush defenders characterize his reference to the attempted uranium purchases in his State of the Union address — were not the most brazen example of trampling the truth on the road to war. From January onward, Bush constantly portrayed the United Statesas an innocent victim of Saddam Hussein’s imminent aggression.”
- Nafta Panel Says Tariffs High but OK (boston.com): “An international trade panel yesterday rejected Canada’s claim that the United States had no basis to impose tariffs on softwood lumber used to build homes, but said the duties may be too high. The panel of three American and two Canadian judges, set up under the North American Free Trade Agreement to deal with trade disputes, upheld US claims that Canada subsidizes its timber industry and is therefore subject to tariffs. The legally binding ruling means the Commerce Department must recalculate -- and probably reduce -- the tariffs within 60 days. The decision also could put pressure on Canadato reform its timber industry and move toward a more market-based system.”
- Germany in Recession (BBC): “Germany is officially in recession, after recording a 0.1% economic contraction in the three months to June. The figure combines with a 0.2% fall in the previous quarter to produce six straight months of shrinkage - the technical definition of a recession. Germany’s economy has effectively been at a standstill for a year, after seeming to recover from a modest recession at the end of 2001.
Central Planning Follies
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