In a rational world, Switzerland would be a role model for other nations. It is quite prosperous thanks largely to a modest burden of government. There is remarkable ethnic and religious diversity, but virtually no tension because power is decentralized (sort of what…
Daily Analysis
Where's PETA When You Need Them?
I’m not sure if this is better or worse than the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, but the U.K. government has been spending millions of dollars in a futile effort to exterminate a duck. And because they are relying on government bureaucrats to kill the ducks, the…
Great Moments in Local Government.
Since we’ve been talking about the snow, here’s a story about city that must have no real crime. At least, that’s the only sensible thing to conclude after reading that cops in Harrisonburg, VA, arrested two college kids for the horrific offense of…
Maybe Greece Should Go Bankrupt.
The fiscal crisis in Greece is fascinating political theater, in part because the Balkan nation is a leading indicator for what will probably happen in many other countries. The most puzzling feature of the crisis is the assumption in other European capitals,…
The Federal Government Is Bribing States to Create More Welfare Dependency?!?
If you want to get depressed or angry, the New York Times has an article celebrating the effort by politicians at all levels of government to lure more people into the food stamp program. New York City is running ads in foreign languages asking people to stick their…
Politically Correct Agenda at the SEC Is Misguided, but It Demonstrates Why Democrats Are Smarter than Republicans.
It’s almost amusing to see the Securities and Exchange Commission jumping on the sinking ship of global warming alarmism. After all, only a government bureaucracy would take such a step at precisely the moment that the scam has been exposed. But I said…
The Phony Cost of Shutting Down the Federal Government.
For the fourth day in a row, the federal government is shut down because of snow. This causes me mixed feelings. Because federal workers already are so vastly overpaid, part of me is irritated that they are getting what are, for all intents and purposes, extra…
Bureaucrats vs. Taxpayers, Part VII.
Here’s another depressing column about how government workers are getting showered with high pay and lavish benefits while people in the productive sector of the economy are bearing the economic pain of financing a bloated welfare state: …government…
Government Is too Big and It Is Doing too Much.
Paul Light of New York University has a column in the Washington Post that acknowledges an ongoing pattern of incompetence by the federal government. He admits that the bureaucracy is too big. He notes that bureaucratic success is unrelated to merit and that it is…
Bureaucrats vs. Taxpayers, Part VI.
I’m going to have to stop this series soon because it is getting too depressing. This Wall Street Journal column contains more surprising data, including the fact that pension costs for California bureaucrats jumped by 2000 percent in just one decade (revenues…