Rothbard Instituut
Congratulations to Michael Bauwens and all the organizers and faculty of the new Murray Rothbard Institute in Antwerp, Flanders. Murray would be thrilled.
Easy Money, Easy Lies
Strange how campaign season leads to the usual political drama over taxes. Republicans have learned the hard way that they should never raise them, at least not in ways that are noticeable. They accuse Democrats of plotting secret increases. The Democrats deny it but draw attention to mounting debt and hint that solving the problem will require serious measures. These serious measures might involve sacrifice. The voters are suspicious. And so the battle lines are drawn.
How Can You Oppose Health Care for Children?
Congress has again passed an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), only to have it vetoed again. That has given its backers yet another chance to proclaim how much they care for children and rehash attacks against President Bush, as when Lois Capps (D-CA) called it “denying vital healthcare to some of the most vulnerable in our society,” and promise to try again next year. Unfortunately, however, their assertions are less than convincing. Proponents begin by criticizing Bush’s veto because of his previous fiscal profligacy.
Ethanol: Government vs. the Environment
This article from MSNBC shows how government-sponsored ethanol may seriously harm the environment, as fertilizer from the increased corn production makes its way to the Gulf of Mexico and kills sea life. So not only does ethanol hit taxpayers twice — first through subsidies and then through higher prices for corn and related products such as milk — it also harms the environment.
Stockpiles and Speculators
Although most commentators concede that the free market does a decent job providing regular goods and services day in and day out, for some reason they believe that when it comes to unlikely but catastrophic events, government intervention is necessary.
An excellent example of this misguided mindset, writes Robert Murphy, is the recent argument over what to do with the federally administered Strategic Petroleum Reserve. We’ll see that government involvement only makes things worse, and that the free market — if only allowed to do its job — would solve the alleged problem.
How Can You Oppose Health Care for Children?
Congress has again passed an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), only to have it vetoed again. That has given its backers yet another chance to proclaim how much they care for children and rehash attacks against Bush, as when Lois Capps (D-CA) called it “denying vital healthcare to some of the most vulnerable in our society,” and promise to try again next year. Unfortunately, however, their assertions are less than convincing.
Proponents begin by criticizing Bush’s veto because of his previous fiscal profligacy. So critics attack him for spending too much (for policies they usually would spend even more on), then use that to criticize him for spending too little. Unfortunately, while his administration certainly can be criticized for its rapid growth in spending, that is not an argument for him to continue that pattern.
Proponents begin by criticizing Bush’s veto because of his previous fiscal profligacy. So critics attack him for spending too much (for policies they usually would spend even more on), then use that to criticize him for spending too little. Unfortunately, while his administration certainly can be criticized for its rapid growth in spending, that is not an argument for him to continue that pattern.
Libertarianism according to Mother Jones
Here is a neat timeline put together by Mother Jones. It is attached to a long article on, who else?, Ron Paul in the latest issue.
Barron’s on The Last Knight
Global Warming: How Scholastic Publishing Gets ‘Em Young
The Science and Public Policy Institute carries this report on a book on global warming for schoolchildren written by Film Director Laurie David and published by Scholastic Publishers, the producers of such staples for American schoolchildren as the Weekly [News] Reader.
The slow, systematic destruction of the dollar’s purchasing power
It’s interesting to look the producer price index and consider how extreme and relentless are price increases over time, and it strikes me that the lack of public outcry about this must represent some sort of price-trend acculturation that has taken place. We have come to expect it, the way we expect government to rob us of 30-40% of our income through one means or another. 
