Price Control Chaos
From the Times:
Time for Another Revolution
The Americans insisted, writes Frank Chodorov, that in the nature of things all rights inhere in the individual, by virtue of his existence, and that he instituted government for the sole purpose of preventing one citizen from violating the rights of another. Sovereign power, they said, resides in the individual; the government is only an agency of his will. If it fails to carry out its duties properly, or if it itself presumes to invade his rights, then the moral thing to do is to kick it out.
New Economics Department Rankings
Rabah Amir (University of Arizona, Eller College of Management) & Malgorzata Knauff (Warsaw School of Economics) have published Ranking Economics Departments Worldwide on the Basis of PhD Placement (2005). Here is the abstract:
Using the Fear Factor to Hate China and Wal-Mart
The headline reads: “What to do when everything is Made in China?: A one-week attempt to avoid products from there meets with little success.” Of course this is a push on the part of the Buy American-Protectionist crowd to scare people away from China’s imported goods and thus support the move toward the regulation of trade with China.
Downsize the Federal Government?
It’s easy to think of ways the federal government could be reduced right now, and a recent book from the Cato Institute catalogs many of them in the hopes that lawmakers will see the light.
No Furrin Catfish for me!
If it does not say US, it is not 100% American catfish, or so says the Catfish Marketing Association, which is just oh so concerned about your health, and also very concerned that that Chinese catfish is about 2/3 cheaper than that raised in Alabama.
Forget price floors. Can we have an “ignorance floor”?
I frequently come across writings on economic issues that make me think, “If I wrote that, the people who taught me economics would slap me upside the head.” That crossed my mind as I read about the Supreme Court wrestling with the question: Are price floors good or bad?
Is Intellectual Property the Key to Success?
The repeal of intellectual property legislation, writes Jeffrey Tucker, would do nothing to remove from business its capacity to create, innovate, advertise, market, and distribute. The repeal of IP might create for it an additional cost of doing business, namely efforts to ensure that consumers are aware of the difference between the genuine product and impersonators. This is a cost of business that every enterprise has to bear. Patents and trademarks have done nothing to keep Gucci and Prada and Rolex impersonators at bay. But neither have the impersonators killed the main business. If anything, they might have helped, since imitation is the best form of flattery.
Inching Toward Commercial Freedom
It’s not often I can say it, so enjoy: the Supreme Court did the right thing. It has reversed a century-old rule that criminalized retail price agreements. Good. Great. There are 10 million bad regulations to go.
Voting Against Tax Increases
Since I never vote for the lesser of two evils, I never vote for individuals. However, I do vote against tax increases if I am given the chance.
I pointed out last year that the voters in my county (Escambia) in Florida foolishly voted to extend a 1 percent local option sales tax for another ten years, thus retaining our sales tax rate of 7.5 percent (one of the highest in Florida).
