Free kibbles

SOCIALISM:

Socialists abandon socialism because it's failing. This isn't new. Lenin did the same thing with his New Economic Policy.

How Obama is using the Labor Relations Board to promote unions against the will of workers like those at Delta who have repeated voted against unionizing.

It's funny how this diagram which obviously shows socialism in action is attributed to capitalism.

ECONOMY:

Democrats blame the economic crash on Wall Street. Republicans blame Fannie and Freddie. These arguments are partisan clap-trap intended to distract Americans from the real problem: the Fed coupled with massive interventions in our economy supported by both parties.

TAX AND SPEND:

The supposed huge spending cuts in Britain are really minuscule.

Cato guy estimates the US federal debt at $120 trillion.

Investigation into the culture of corruption in the Greek government that has produced widespread corruption throughout society. What about every other government?

"Along street after street of opulent mansions and villas, surrounded by high walls and with their own pools, most of the millionaires living here are, officially, virtually paupers.
How so? Simple: they are allowed to state their own earnings for tax purposes, figures which are rarely challenged. And rich Greeks take full advantage.Astonishingly, only 5,000 people in a country of 12 million admit to earning more than £90,000 a year — a salary that would not be enough to buy a garden shed in Kifissia.Yet studies have shown that more than 60,000 Greek homes each have investments worth more than £1m, let alone unknown quantities in overseas banks, prompting one economist to describe Greece as a ‘poor country full of rich people’.

Manipulating a corrupt tax system, many of the residents simply say that they earn below the basic tax threshold of around £10,000 a year, even though they own boats, second homes on Greek islands and properties overseas."

This shows what the Greeks are willing to voluntarily pay for their government. Spending should be reduced to that level.

This shows what the Greeks are willing to voluntarily pay for their government. Forcing tax compliance, effectively dramatically increasing taxes, is not the solution. Spending should be reduced to that level.

"With Greek President George Papandreou calling for a crackdown on these tax dodgers — who are believed to cost the economy as much as £40bn a year — he is now resorting to bizarre means to identify the cheats."

This is backwards. The people not paying taxes are boosting the economy by keeping that money in the private sector. With an estimated GDP of $310 billion, if the government suddenly stole $40 billion from taxpayers, the Greek economy would implode. It would be devastating.

"But faced with the threat of a crackdown, money is now pouring out of the country into overseas tax havens such as Liechtenstein, the Bahamas and Cyprus."

Even the threat is harming the economy. The Greek government's days are numbered. Public sector employees are already staging massive strikes. When they piss off private sector employees to the same extent, the country will finally collapse. They spent themselves into a hole they can't get out of. They may be able to stay in power a while longer by pulling out of the euro and starting their own currency, but that won't save them in the longer run.

"As a result, for example, the Greek school system is now an over-staffed shambles, employing four times more teachers per pupil than Finland, the country with the highest-rated education system in Europe. ‘But we still have to pay for tutors for our two children,’ says Helena, an Athens mother. ‘The teachers are hopeless — they seem to spend their time off sick.’"

So much for money solving the education problem.

REGULATION:

Because of government's interference in the credit card fee market, banks will raise debit card fees.

European overreaction to the E. coli scare.

"It is remarkable how an outbreak limited geographically to an area surrounding the city of Hamburg, which led to an initial ban on organic Spanish cucumbers, could end in the complete cessation of all vegetable trade between hundreds of millions of people!"

Protectionism was one of the big burdens that extended the Great Depression.

"Ultimately, as it turned out, Spanish organic cucumbers were cleared of all charges. The E. colibacteria found on Spanish cucumbers were in fact of a nonvirulent strain and thus harmless. Given that organic cucumbers are nourished by fertilizer derived from manure, or cow feces, is it really surprising to discover some bacteria upon them? Are we not all well-aware that vegetables should be washed? Who doesn't already know this?"

Government action isn't based on what normal people consider rational.

"What we are really witnessing is the "new protectionism" — that of food-safety standards. The European Union has already been using "health and safety standards" to punish third-world producers for decades. Farming lobbyists have guided protectionism into an increasingly sophisticated and hard-to-measure form. "Quality standards" have become the new trade barriers. For example, EU standards to protect consumers against aflatoxin cost African exporters of nuts, cereals, and dried fruits $650 million a year and reduced their exports by 64 percent. The World Bank estimates that the policy, which is exceedingly costly for many Africans, may prevent one death per billion people in Europe per year.[3]"

That's the kind of reason used by government.

"The first thing to be thrown out the window in this fiasco was of course the law itself."

Governments make laws for us peons. It doesn't obey them itself.

"As mentioned above, there already exist numerous international food-safety agreements, none of which were adhered to during this crisis."

Government regulations are worse than worthless. - they cause and exacerbate problems - but naturally the call is for more regulation.

"As Saint Thomas Aquinas explained, "A small error in the beginning leads to a great error in the conclusion."[8] If you begin with the assumption that the government is needed to regulate food safety, soon social forces and special interests inexorably propel the world into establishing a global food-regulation agency. One must strike at the root of the problem, however, by debunking this initial assumption. It is time for governments to get out of food safety, because, if not for their meddling, the ancient honor of the Spanish cucumber would never have been called into question."

Well said.

FEDERAL RESERVE:

Fed paper notes:

"Policymakers are aware of the possibility that a persistent policy of exceptionally low interest rates could result in a misallocation of credit and inflate asset prices."

As I keep saying Keynesians don't believe their own dogma. More evidence that Bernanke and other politicians are evil, not stupid.

HEALTH CARE:

This study claiming cutting calories,whether they be protein or carbs, is key to weight loss, is a bunch of baloney.

"Curbing calories is the key ingredient for diabetics seeking to lose weight, and low-fat diets that are either high in protein or high in carbs are equally effective, researchers say."

"The researchers randomly assigned the participants to one of two groups: a low-fat/high-protein group or a low-fat/high-carb group."

The experiment starts with a low-fat bias. So much for objectivity. Both groups were crippled because of the low fat aspect of the diet. The claim that diets have to be low fat is just wrong. People need healthy fat. Had the study included a group fed healthy fat and protein and reduced carbohydrates, that group would have been vastly more successful than the two in the study. In addition, people can't adhere to diets that cut out proteins or fat because the fat, proteins and the nutrients that come with them are necessary for life. The researchers set up conditions that doom dieters to failure. This is another politically motivated, pseudo-scientific study meant to provide support for the SAD that is making Americans and everybody else who adopt it fat and sick.

GLOBAL WARMING AND ENERGY:

Bad economy in Europe wipes out governments' green programs. Another bubble bursting.

Al Gore busted for lying about western snow pack.

Since Katrina, global hurricane activity is near historical lows, just as Joe Bastardi predicted.

The last thing I want is new technology that makes it easy for the government to control the electricity in my house. Take your smart grid and shove it. Americans should be working to get off the grid, not give government even more control over it.

Winter weather advisory in California.

POLICE STATE:

Cops arrest woman for filming them from her own property making another arrest, then later they come by and ticket all the cars outside her house.

Whitey Bulger's FBI connections.

WAR:

International court issues warrant against Qaddafi for crimes against humanity. I thought foreigners and rebels started this war.

It turns out Republicans did the right thing voting against at bill billed as cutting off funding for the Libyan war.

"The first bill that Republicans voted on would have authorized the Libyan military adventure to continue for a year. Most Republicans voted against it. The second bill would have prohibited funding "except for: (1) search and rescue; (2) intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; (3) aerial refueling; and (4) operational planning." This time, 89 Republicans voted against it, 81 of whom also voted against the previous bill."

The second bill was in fact an authorization of Obama's illegal war, not a vote to defund it as advertised. Orwell would be proud.

FOREIGN POLICY:

Obama brokers deal between Israel and Turkey to face down Syria. It's disturbing to see Lew Rockwell defend Syria while Assad murders people in the streets. But this seems like bad foreign policy. It looks like the Syrian people are going to take Assad down without our interference. If Israel or the US get involved, this would make matter worse, not better, because it would lend credence to Assad's claims that the protests are being fomented by foreign conspirators.

The ruling class fears the public's desire to end our foreign policy of aggression.

POLITICS:

This observation is dead on.

"Ron Paul: Of all the candidates not named Romney, the Texas congressman has the most proven record of raising a lot of cash for a presidential race. In 2007 alone, he collected more than $27 million for his bid — including nearly $20 million in the final three months of the year. A sign of Paul’s fundraising confidence? He spent $31,000 — the most of any candidate — on a prime spot at Iowa’s Ames Straw Poll in August. Still, no matter how much money Paul has, he has not proved that he can reach outside his ardent — but tiny — electoral base."

Let's hope he gets a lot more votes this primary. This poll showing Paul tied for second in double digits is promising.

A corrupt court (they're all corrupt) found a corrupt governor (they're all corrupt) guilty of corruption. You can bet since the court is still part of the government and the governor is not, the people are losers here. The Blago conviction along with others illustrates the Illinois Democrat Party is the most corrupt in the nation, and they're now in power in Washington.

LOCAL:

Thanks to the SAD, local kids are getting fatter.

I'm skeptical of this report that big banks could give away homes to local government. There's something going on here that isn't being reported. The banks are getting something in return or government is shaking them down. I don't know which. But can you imagine local government becoming a player in the home market? This is going to be trouble. The good news is this might help housing prices reach their floor faster, something government has been fighting since the housing bubble popped. Any way you look at it, people are going to be burned and angry.

MISC:

Not too long ago I claimed Microsoft would ruin Skype after purchasing it. Now we get news that Microsoft has patented technology for eavesdropping on VoIP.

In an article lamenting that the Supreme Court dismissed the class action suit against Walmart, the New York Times explains why women tend to make less money than men.

"True, Wal-Mart is hardly alone in demanding that rising managers sacrifice family life, but few companies make relocation such a fixed policy, and few have employment rolls even a third the size."

Women are less likely to relocate, that so that reduces their value to the company and their opportunities for work, both of which lead to reduced salaries.

"The workweek for salaried managers is around 50 hours or more, which can surge to 80 or 90 hours a week during holiday seasons. Not unexpectedly, some managers think women with family responsibilities would balk at such demands, and it is hardly to the discredit of thousands of Wal-Mart women that they may be right."

Women in general are less likely to work the long hours required of a management position, therefore they are less likely to be promoted to a management position. That leads to reduced salaries. This is economic reality, not discrimination and not unfairness.

Praise for entrepreneurship at McDonalds.

"So certain is the company that these [internal renovations] are going to make a difference, it is spending a minimum of $1 billion on the renovations in all 14,000 US restaurants. The first 800 will be complete in 2011, costing some $250,000 per store. Our own local restaurant started renovations in early June and completed them in a mere two weeks time — all the while keeping the drive-through window open and doing a vigorous business."

Government has been working on improving I-75 through here for about 15 years and plans to work another decade more before it finishes.

"Let's be clear here. It's not the case that the management of this company has an unusually high devotion to the well-being of humanity. The management is following the pricing signals and making entrepreneurial judgments all in the service of the consuming public. It is a great competitor, relentlessly reinventing itself in an effort to win the affections of the eating-out public."

"The managers here might be the greatest humanitarians in history or they might be the greediest and most selfish people on earth. It really doesn't matter. The market is the driving force and the profitability signals are the test of whether the company is or is not doing the right thing."

And therefore providing a service so valuable it makes billions.

"When the reinvention of this company began in 2009, it was not preceded by national campaigns and platforms. There were no public votes. Billions were not spent on lobbying for change. There were no public debates, advertising campaigns, frenzied conventions, or door-to-door campaigning. It was a decision made by the management — an entrepreneurial judgment that could be right or could be wrong — in an effort to please the stockholders who are the owners. And the final test is always the same: are people willing to buy?Meanwhile, in the world of politics, decade after decade goes by with endless rounds of "reinventing government," school reform, bureaucratic reform, rearrangement of spending priorities, and regulatory change to make stuff work better. In the end, it amounts to little or nothing. Crucially, there is no real test to determine whether these changes were worth the cost or whether they really accomplished the goal. In politics, it is not even clear what the goal is! And, of course, the result is predictable. There is no change, no reinvention, no real improvement."

Things get worse, not better. Great contrast.

"The crucial way to tell a predominantly market-based company from a state-based company is to investigate its primary institutional interest: does it serve the state or does it serve the consuming public? There can be no question where McDonald's is on this spectrum, and the result is not just a beautiful model for serving up food but a beautiful model for social service in general."

I agree. McDonald's passes this test. Where I disagree with Tucker and many other at Mises.org is I believe Apple fails this test. They love Apple. I think Apple's new temple to the ruling class, a gigantic white elephant with every politically correct tribute to government, is a perfect example of its failure to focus on creating the best product possible for the marketplace.

Possible source of the epithet against silver spoons: they kill germs so rich people had a survival advantage.

America is suffering from a glut of lawyers, so lawyers try to create more work for themselves. This is very bad for the rest of us.