On several occasions, I’ve observed that the poverty rate in America was steadily falling, but that progress came to a halt in the mid-1960s when the government declared a War on Poverty. And I almost always included a chart showing the annual poverty rate over several decades. Moreover, I posted graphs showing how government programs trap people in dependency because of very high implicit […]
read more...Like John Stossel and Thomas Sowell, I’m not a big fan of the Federal Reserve. It’s not just that I’m a libertarian who fantasizes about the denationalization of money. I also think the Fed hasn’t done a good job, even by its own metrics. There’s very little doubt, for instance, that easy-money policies last decade played a major role in creating the housing […]
read more...An underwhelming proposal.
read more...I hate to dredge up bad memories so early in a new year, but we need to remind ourselves of the awful TARP bailout of 2008. Our financial system had gone out of whack because of bad monetary policy from the Federal Reserve and unsustainable housing subsidies from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Some financial institutions gambled on […]
read more...Remember Sandra Fluke, the 30-year old student who got her 15 minutes of fame last year by becoming the poster child for subsidized birth control? She’s fortunately faded away, but the issue is still with us because the courts are being asked to decide whether government has the right to coerce people into decisions that […]
read more...Perhaps because he wants to divert attention from the slow-motion train wreck of Obamacare, the President is signaling that he will renew his efforts to throw more people into the unemployment line. Needless to say, that’s not how the White House would describe the President’s proposal to increase the minimum wage, but that’s one of […]
read more...I’ve shared several videos that make the case against Obamacare. Here’s one narrated by a Dutch woman warning that America shouldn’t repeat the mistakes of European government-run healthcare. Here’s one from Reason TV about how free markets produce lower healthcare costs. Here’s one explaining the need to deal with the government-caused third-party-payer crisis. And I […]
read more...I’ve certainly offered more than my fair share of Obamacare criticism. Since I’m a public finance economist, I’m mostly concerned that the law increases the fiscal burden of government. But I’m also irked that Obamacare will worsen the third-party payer crisis, which it the main problem with our health care system in America. And it […]
read more...I’ve written about how Obamacare is a costly boondoggle. I’ve written how it victimizes children, low-income workers, and retirees. And I’ve explained how it exacerbates the real problem in our healthcare system. I’ve even pointed out that there’s something good in the law. But I’ve never bothered to discuss how bad laws usually aren’t as […]
read more...I’ve written before that Obama’s Solyndra-style handouts have been a grotesque waste of tax dollars. I’ve argued that they destroy jobs rather than create jobs. I’ve gone on TV to explain why government intervention in energy creates a cesspool of cronyism. I’ve even shared a column from Obama’s hometown newspaper that criticizes the rank corruption […]
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