Two interesting articles caught my attention: What I Like About Scrooge by Steven E. Landsburg and In Defense of Markets and Misers.
Wal-Mart opens in poor communities? You’re kidding. Who would’ve guessed that a deep discounter specializing in off-brand products and requiring a low-productivity workforce would overlook downtown San Francisco and midtown Manhattan as target markets? Of course, I’m sure the “negative and significant relationship” between Wal-Mart presence and low incomes means that Wal-Mart causes low incomes.
William Peterson reviews Michael Novak’s new book (The Universal Hunger for Liberty: Why the Clash of Civilizations is Not Inevitable (Basic Books, 2005)) in the Washington Times, and it does appear that Novak brings a wonderful message that is in line with the spirit of the old liberalism he generally supports. He argues that peace is possible through market freedom, and praises Mises while making his case. And yet, one wonders how, in Novak’s view, this applies in the real world.
In yet another free-market blow to Microsoft’s much-vaunted “monopoly power,” Wal-Mart is offering cheap desktop computers equipped with three non-Microsoft operating systems.
Having ruled out higher payroll taxes (for now), the Bush administration is now dropping hints that it will consider other revenue changes to fund “privatization” (a word that seems to cry out for scare quotes these days), e.g. raising the ceiling on income subject to SocSec taxation. (ABC News via MargRev).
The Economist reports that “Baghdad’s petrol stations are drier this month than they have been since just after the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Some drivers wait for as much as 24 hours, sleeping in their vehicles.”
