The Real Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was a Lockean who believed in the natural right of property and in the rights of the states as independent political entities to determine their own destinies. That so many scholars are unwilling to face these truths, write Marco Bassani, reflects the bias and wishful thinking of the academic class.

Parasites in the Heartland?

In a recent article, New York Times writer Paul Krugman puts out a clever analysis of state demographics. He alleges that the pro-Bush states have more crime, divorce, single moms and net-tax eaters than the pro-Gore states. Krugman’s analytic knife, however, doesn’t cut deeply enough to get to the truth of the matter.

The Death of Disinflation

The burdens imposed upon producers by easy money and their consequent lack of profitability are among the main reasons why there is no significant capital expenditure. The overhang from the 2000 capital-spending boom only partly exacerbates this, since much of the outlay undertaken then was wastefully misallocated and is not germane to the needs of the current economy anyway.

Prior Knowledge

The modern state, by its very nature, is incompetent, self-serving, mendacious, unresponsive, irresponsible, provocative, bellicose, and deadly. Above all, it is unaccountable. Just ask yourself what would happen to a private security firm that permitted a September 11 kind of disaster, even without foreknowledge. Let’s just say it wouldn’t get a raise.

The Misleading Indicators

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the academic panel that dates U.S. business cycles, moved a step closer to declaring an end to the recession that it said began in March 2001. The panel often waits for months before calling the end to a slump, in order to ensure that there is not be a renewal of economic weakness.

Enron’s Long Shadow

It was only a matter of time before the Feds realized that political capital could be created from the Enron mess. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is now investigating all electricity sellers for evidence of pricing schemes employed during California’s energy crisis. In true Soviet-like fashion, the FERC has issued a deadline by which suspected firms must “admit or deny” their complicity in engaging in spurious pricing schemes during the time period.

Cuba’s Post-Soviet Socialism

On January 1, 2002, the Cuban government celebrated the 43rd anniversary of the revolution that put Fidel Castro in full control of the state. With the dictatorship still in place and the economy under tight central planning, not only has Castro’s rule survived the breakdown of the Soviet Union but the government has been able to establish new trade relations and foreign direct investment agreements with several European countries, Canada, and the transition countries in Eastern Europe and in Asia.

Fast Track to Protection

Free trade creates wealth, writes Gary Galles. But when free trade threatens the wallets of interest groups, support for government restrictions to protect them in order to assure “fair” trade suddenly blossoms--only because that sounds better than “gimme money.” It is still just a form of welfare, which can only impoverish Americans by restricting our access to lower-cost sources of supply.
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