Every experience I’ve had with speed cameras has been negative. That’s hardly a surprise, but the other common experience is that they always are set up in places where the speed limit is absurdly low (a 45-mph limit on a stretch of interstate highway in…
Daily Analysis
More Regulation Will Increase Systemic Risk
One bonus of speaking at the Global Financial Services Centres Conference in Dublin last week is that I got to listen to Paul Atkins, a former Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unlike many others who have served in that role, Paul understands…
More on Obama and Socialism
More on Obama and Socialism. I got some interesting feedback about my pseudo-defense of Obama against the accusation that he is a socialist. It was a faux defense because my goal was simply to point out that Obama is guilty of a different form of statism. For those…
The Right Way for Banks to Bail Themselves Out
The politicians are urging big taxes on banks, using rhetoric designed to trick people into thinking that this is a way to make the banks pay for their own bailouts. But a general tax on all banks simply means that well-run banks subsidize the reckless banks – a…
The Greek Bailout.
I get a lot of email asking me about Greece, especially since I don’t give the issue much attention on the blog. I am paying close attention to what’s happening, especially since Greece is a canary in the coal mine. But I generally try to avoid being…
Boycott General Motors?
Any company that steals money from taxpayers is despicable, but General Motors is especially reprehensible for dishonesty. Taking money from the left pockets of taxpayers and putting it in our right pockets is not a repayment, as explained by Shikha Dalmia in a column…
Robert Samuelson Punctures Obama's VAT Trial Balloon.
His article doesn’t completely slam the door on a value-added tax, but Robert Samuleson’s piece in the Washington Post does highlight some of the very serious problems with a VAT – including more government spending, burdens on families, additional…
The Ronald Reagan of New Jersey?
He’s only been Governor for a couple of months, and we have seen other elected officials start strong and then get captured by the special interested, but it certainly appears that Governor Christie of New Jersey genuinely intends to rescue his stated from…
Obama Is Not a Socialist.
Newt Gingrich writes in the Washington Post to defend his assertion that Obama is a socialist. He cites several examples of the President’s big-government agenda, which are excerpted below. These are all examples of bad policy, to be sure, but other than the…
Paying for Pro-Bureaucrat Propoganda.
The government is wasting so much money in so many ways that it takes something really odd to shock me, but this story from the Federal Times certainly meets that test. The Office of Personnel Management is actually squandering money on a marketing campaign to improve…