A Struggle for Power
A very insightful and fresh look at the Iraqi elections by Sudha Shenoy blogging at Liberty and Power. “Once again, ordinary people are the helpless meat in the sandwich between contenders for power.”
Mises Debunks the Religious Case for the State
In 1920, Ludwig von Mises wrote a comprehensive critique of the economics of socialism that launched the “calculation debate.” The significance of his seminal essay, “Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth,” as Mises Institute Senior Fellow Joseph Salerno writes in a postscript, is that it “extends far beyond its devastating demonstration of the impossib
A Free Market in Workplace Regulations
In a true free-market secured to private property rights, writes Ninos Malek, employers can determine employee qualifications on any grounds whatsoever.
Cato, Lessig, and Intellectual Property
Now this is kind of interesting. In the Winter 2004-2005 issue of Cato’s Regulation, Thomas M. Lenard of the Progress & Freedom Foundation responded to a previous article in the same publication by Lawrence Lessig, Coase’s First Question, which apparently suggests, using purportedly Coasean reasoning (see below for more on this), that we should create a market for international trading rights.
No Financial Deregulation Anytime Soon
Iraq under the rule of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani could find itself burdened with some rather complicated banking regulation.
World’s Largest Cradle
The population of India is expected to eclipse that of today’s largest country, China, by about 2010. So the “social safety net” now being mooted in India will move that country down the road to collectivism by a vast quantum.
Endowment Taxation?
This paper by UCLA’s Kirk Stark (”Enslaving the Beachcomber: Some Thoughts on the Liberty Ojbections to Endowment Taxation“) seems like a good critique of an idea I’d never heard of, which would tax people based not on their income only but on their “earnings capacity.”
Taxed Tickets
The screw is tightened: “The NBA on Jan. 1 began withholding income tax from its referees to account for the two complimentary tickets they get per game.... Players say they are angry that about $10,000 will be withheld from their paychecks for what is supposed to be a fringe benefit....”
Let the Looting Begin
Harold Ford of Tenn., via Talking Points and Brad DeLong, points the way to a likely consensus on Social Security reform (politics being the art of a compromise to tax you more, and all that): in exchange for private accounts, the cap on FICA taxes will be lifted, so that the 20% of the population that earns more then $87,000 has to pay the 6.8%x2 tax on the full paycheck.
It’s the Market, Stupid
In spite of my criticism of the auto industry for its banking business models, there’s some good going on in the auto business, too. With one eye studying for an exam, and the other eye flipping through the boob tube channels, I came across an interesting interview. The local PBS show I love to watch, Autoline Detroit, had as its guest Dieter Zetsche, on the Board of Management DaimlerChrysler, and CEO and President of the Chrysler Group.
