Tuesday
Economic Thinking
The folks at Cafe Hayek say it might be the best blog post ever. They exaggerate, but it's awfully good. The economist/blogger pits conventional economic thinking against free market economic thinking . . . and leaves the pitiful liberal ideas in the mud. So what are the liberal economic ideas?
Modern life is complicated, and so we need government to regulate. Government can do so well, and will not be regularly corrupted. Since markets fail very frequently the government should step in to fix them. Without a big government ee cannot do certain noble things (Hoover Dam, the Interstates, NASA). Antitrust works. Businesses will exploit workers if government regulation and union contracts do not intervene. Unions got us the 40-hour week. Poor people are better off chiefly because of big government and unions. The USA was never laissez faire. Internal improvements were a good idea, and governmental from the start. Profit is not a good guide. Consumers are usually misled. Advertising is bad.
Why are free market ideas better? Simply because they've been borne out . . . repeatedly:
Unions raised wages for plumbers and auto workers but reduced wages for the non-unionized. Minimum wages protected union jobs but made the poor unemployable. Building codes sometimes kept buildings from falling or burning down but always gave steady work to well-connected carpenters and electricians and made housing more expensive for the poor. Zoning and planning permission has protected rich landlords rather than helping the poor. Rent control makes the poor and the mentally ill unhousable, because no one will build inexpensive housing when it is forced by law to be expensive. The sane and the already-rich get the rent-controlled apartments and the fancy townhouses in once-poor neighborhoods.
Regulation of electricity hurt householders by raising electricity costs, as did the ban on nuclear power. The Securities Exchange Commission did not help small investors. Federal deposit insurance made banks careless with depositors' money.
The post makes a few points that won't be acceptable to the Catholic mindset, but no matter. It's a strong piece, and it should be acknowledged and grappled with by every politician who thinks that, this time, another statute or regulation will work.
Good Late Night
Monday is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. Or as it was known in 1812, “The War.” Jimmy Fallon
A man in the UK has been accused of hacking into the PBS website. That finally answers the question – “who's the world's lamest hacker?” Jimmy Fallon
It's being reported that more and more elderly people are being incarcerated in this country than ever before. Well, of course. They're easier to catch. Leno
There was a report in the paper today that the city of Detroit will go broke in two weeks. Are you surprised by that? Didn't you think Detroit went broke, like, 10 years ago? Leno
