Here’s another news appearance from my new youtube channel. I chat about the importance (or lack thereof) of a possible ratings downgrade for the United States government. You’ll see that I’m not overly impressed by Moody’s and the rest of the rating agencies.
Daily Analysis
In Symbol of Government Stupidity, the Nanny State Meets the Quota Cops
Here’s the kind of story that makes me fear for the future of the nation. It is a disturbing example of both government stupidity and soft tyranny. The police may not be ticketing for smoking in the parks, but they are still ticketing parker visitors for crimes…
An Unofficial Death Panel in England Shows How to Save Money in a Government-Run Healthcare System
This is rather remarkable. According to a story in the UK-based Daily Mail, a man was left to die, on a hospital floor, over a period of 10 hours. I’m not sure whether this is the worst example of government-run healthcare (or non-healthcare, to be more precise). I’ve…
Obama Wants American Taxpayers to Bail Out Greek Politicians and Dig the Debt Hole even Deeper
Here’s some completely depressing news. CNBC is reporting that President Obama is putting American taxpayers on the chopping block to bail out Greece’s corrupt politicians. But, to show he doesn’t discriminate, he also encouraged the German Chancellor to rape her…
The Chicago Way of Corruption and Crony Capitalism
Here’s a stomach-turning story from the Chicago Sun Times about how the political class uses special insider deals to get rich (or richer). What’s remarkable is that there may be nothing technically illegal in this story of crony capitalism and government contracts….
If We Want to Fix the Healthcare Mess, We Better Understand the Real Problem
This is the most depressing – but revealing – thing I have read in a long time: “the health-care sector has twice as many clerical workers as nurses and nine times as many as doctors.” That passage is from a very good column by Robert Samuelson, in which he covers a…
Government Fiscal Estimates: Always Wrong, Usually Biased
My good friend Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University did a very illuminating interview with Bloomberg about the serial inaccuracy of government fiscal forecasts. Veronique uses health care as an example, giving particular attention to the…
Too Bad Obama Cares More about Kowtowing to Unions rather than Saving Tax Dollars and Improving Quality of Air Travel
I used to have lots of posts about TSA inefficiency and stupidity, but then I got discouraged and stopped. It seemed pointless to discuss the issue when there was no hope for improvement. I still think that’s the case, at least so long as Obama is in the White House…
How Redistribution Creates a Poverty Trap
I’ve beaten up on Newt Gingrich for his views on global warming and his attack on the Ryan budget plan, but I’m completely on his side in the faux controversy about whether it is racist to call Barack Obama the “food stamp president.” This story from ABC News should…
Even World Bank Research Shows Economic Liberty Is Better than Government Dependency
Regular readers know that I’m not a big fan of the international bureaucracies. I don’t like the International Monetary Fund because it encourages bad policy by bailing out nations such as Greece. I don’t like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development…