Washington is Fantasy Land. Only in this corrupt city can you turn increases into cuts merely by increasing spending by less than previously planned. And almost every politician magically knows how to transform “spending” into “investment.” So I’m used to Orwellian…
Daily Analysis
How Government Condemned Us to Dirty Clothes by Mandating Sub-Standard Washing Machines
Sam Kazman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute has a withering critique of dumb government policies that have taken away our freedom to buy low-cost and effective washing machines and instead forced us to buy expensive machines that don’t do a good job of cleaning…
A Perfect Michael Moore T-Shirt, Ideal for Christmas or Birthdays
It’s a long time until Christmas, but this clever t-shirt I saw linked on Instapundit is going to be near the top of my list. And unlike the Ben Bernanke toilet paper, this gift will be visible to everyone you see, not just people who visit your bathroom. On the other…
Do You Have a Right to Be a Bum on Public Property?
I confess to mixed feelings on this type of issue. If taxpayers are financing sidewalks, does that mean anybody has a right to use them for any purpose, at any time? Here’s a blurb from the People’s Republic of San Francisco. San Francisco police officers have started…
The Billion Dollar-o-Gram
Some of these numbers are a bit dodgy, and some of the assumptions are pathetically flawed (more spending by government leads to less poverty being a clear example of faulty thinking), but this comparison of big numbers is very interesting. I now know, for instance,…
Top ten ways to tell if you might be a member of a public-sector union
A buddy from Monaco was at a different conference in the same hotel in Switzerland, and he sent me this great humor from David Letterman. Here are the top 10 ways to tell if you are a bureaucrat. 10.) You take a week off to protest in Wisconsin and your office runs…
Instead of Supporting Higher Taxes, Rich Leftists Should Deal with Feelings of Guilt by Giving Their Money to Me
I posted yesterday about the horrible unfairness of life (i.e., I’m not rich). Interestingly, there are a number of rich left-wingers that feel guilty about having a lot of money. In a burst of genius, I came up with an idea that will kill two birds with one stone….
Five reasons Why Switzerland Is Better than the United States (but Five Reasons Why I’ll Stay in America)
Greetings from Montreux, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva. There aren’t many places where palm trees are framed by snow-capped mountains. Heck, even I managed to take a decent photo. But let’s shift back to the world of public policy. Every time I’m in…
School Choice in Pennsylvania Is a Bigger Threat to the Left than the Loss of Union Power in Wisconsin
Forget the victory over the union bosses in Wisconsin. Yes, that was important, but school choice is an ever bigger threat to the left. Breaking the government education monopoly would reveal the inefficiency and incompetence of government, while simultaneously…
Suddenly, I Like Soccer (at least When It Confirms Supply-Side Economics, Tax Competition, and the Laffer Curve)
I don’t particularly like soccer and I’m not normally a fan of the research of Professor Emannuel Saez, so it is rather surprising that I like Professor Saez’s new research on taxes and soccer. While Saez may have a reputation for doing work that often is used by…