More Gov, More Taxes

The government may not raise income taxes for low-income and middle class families, but the proposed government health-care plan and cap and trade will both certainly raise the tax burden for both groups:

• Dem Senator Warns of 'Big, Big Tax' on Middle Class in Baucus Bill
  
• Obama Admin: Cap And Trade Could Cost Families $1,761 A Year

Articles on Healthcare

With the healthcare debate raging strong, I thought I'd share the articles that I've been reading on the subject. 

Here's a direct link to HR 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.

Some of the websites that I look to regularly for news and information on the debate are Conservatives for Patient's Rights and the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.  I also recommend reading The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care by Sally Pipes. 

The articles:

• Annals of Medicine The Cost Conundrum Reporting & Essays The New Yorke (...).url
  
• BigGovHealth.URL
  
• Britain's cancer shame as 15,000 elderly patients could be saved every (...).url
  
• Browns' Tweet nothings for NHS Mail Online.url
  
• California’s Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics Kevin Hassett - Bloomberg (...).url
  
• Canadian Health Care The End of Innovation - ABC News.url
  
• Chuck Norris Dirty Secret No. 1 in Obamacare - Townhall.com.url
  
• CNSNews.com - Conyers Sees No Point in Members Reading 1,000-Page Heal (...).url
  
• Democratic Health Care vs. Democracy Will Wilkinson Cato Institute C (...).url
  
• Economic View - The Pitfalls of the Public Option in Health Care - NYT (...).url
  
• Europe's 48-hour working week will be 'catastrophic' for patients, say (...).url
  
• FDA Takes Cheerios to Task for Boastful Labels - Political News - FOXN (...).url
  
• Fury as NHS trust says only women between 39.5 and 40 years old can ha (...).url
  
• Get the facts about the stability and security you get from health ins (...).url
  
• Graham Cost Estimates a 'Death Blow' to Calls for Public Health Care P (...).url
  
• Hands OFF My Health - Educating Americans About the Risks of Governmen (...).url
  
• Health care in India Lessons from a frugal innovator.url
  
• Health Care Infomercial Airs Despite Objections - Political News - FOX (...).url
  
• Health-Care Myths at Emac’s Stock Watch Fox Business.url
  
• HOSP-ITALITY ABU$E - New York Post.url
  
• House Health-Care Proposal Adds $600 Billion in Taxes (Update2) - Bloo (...).url
  
• In health bill, billions for parks, paths - The Boston Globe.url
  
• Intensive Obamacare Michael D. Tanner Cato Institute Commentary.url
  
• Investors.com - Canada's Single-Prayer Health Care.url
  
• Investors.com - Rushing Ahead In Health Care Wonderland.url
  
• Iowa Woman Owes State Almost $300,000 for Veteran's Health Care - Loca (...).url
  
• Massachusetts Sued Over Cost of Health Care - NYTimes.com.url
  
• Medicare Administrative Costs Are Higher, Not Lower, Than for Private (...).url
  
• MICHIGAN Obama Time To 'Stop Clinging To' Unworkable Health Care Syste (...).url
  
• My Way News - Health care debate could derail over gov't plan.url
  
• Obama confident of passing healthcare reform Special Coverage Reuter (...).url
  
• Obama Health Care Reform Riles Up Whole Foods CEO John Mackey - ABC Ne (...).url
  
• Of NICE and Men - WSJ.com.url
• Parsing the Health Reform Arguments - WSJ.com.url
  
• Pelosi says any health-care plan must halt cost spiral Front page Ch (...).url
  
• Rasmussen Reports™ The Most Comprehensive Public Opinion Data Anywhere.url
  
• Reaction to my Health Care Piece Being Pulled - John Stossel's Take.url
  
• Reality check Canada's government health care system - CNN.com.url
  
• Reform Needs Healthy Life Incentives - WSJ.com.url
  
• Rep John Fleming (R, LA-04) So, you want a Government-run health care (...).url
  
• Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress).url
• Sprightly pensioner dies in 'zoo' hospital after 'catalogue of blunder (...)​.url
  
• The Greenroom » Forum Archive » Statist health care, by the numbers.url
• The health-care debate Will the blue dogs bolt The Economist.url
  
• VA Medical System in Shambles, Veterans Groups Say - Political News - (...).url
  
• When the Government Runs Health Insurance - Kaiser Health News.url
  
• White House Launches Web Site to Battle Health Care 'Rumors' - Politic (...).url
  
• White House Open to Deal on Public Health Plan - WSJ.com.url
  
• White House uses Web against Drudge attack - Yahoo! News.url
  
• WUSA9.com Washington, DC Cardin Town Hall Meeting On Health Care Get (...).url

Forced Unionization of Health Care Workers?

Mark Mix, the president of the National Right to Work Committee has an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal today about the government's health care plan, "Read the Union Health-Care Label".  Specifically he discusses the legislation that authorizes the Secreatary of Health and Human Services to regulate health-care workers. 


Speaking of Secretary Kathleen Sebelius:

Ms. Sebelius will be taking her marching orders from the numerous union
officials who are guaranteed seats on the various federal panels (such
as the personal care panel mentioned above) charged with recommending
health-care policies. Big Labor will play a central role in directing
federal health-care policy affecting hundreds of thousands of doctors,
surgeons and nurses.

Big Government, Big Labor, Big Problems.

Taxed to Death

I remember hearing how middle class Americans wouldn't see tax increases under Obama?  Maybe I was mistaken?

I dismissed the notion when I originally heard it.  Democrats are notorious for raising taxes, not just on the rich, which actually decreases the velocity of circulation, but on the middle class and poor as well.  The trick, though, is to give you a cut in one area and then tax the hell out of you somewhere else. 

Our politicians are spending money in ways that are unfathomable.  I honestly don't think the politicians and bureaucrats responsible for this drunken spending binge have any concept of what money is.  None the less, a spending they will go.  TARP funds, GM bailout, Fannie/Freddie, GMAC, increases here, spendulus there and finally we're gearing up for Obamacare⁷.  This entitlement will be the granddaddy of them all.  In 20 years 100% of government spending will be taken up in entitlement programs Medicare, Medicaid and Universal Healthcare when it passes.  That doesn't include infrastructure, defense, or any other near and dear government programs.  Think about that for a second.

So how the hell do these retards spending OUR money plan to pay for Obamacare if they're not going to raise income taxes on the middle class?  Here's a list of proposed taxes in other areas^1&7:

• taxes on food items: such as soda, sugar based drinks, alcohol
• a possible VAT tax
• taxes on employer based health insurance

While these taxes aren't directly affecting your income, they will affect your disposable income as the price of goods go up.  And as taxes are applied to goods, whether VAT or otherwise, fewer of those goods will be purchased.  The result will be declining revenue for the Treasury and eventually the government will find new taxes to levy on all of us. 

Sometime later today, or possibly next week the government will release their proposed Obamacare bill.  Next week ABC will run their government propaganda machine straight from the White House⁸.  It's being promoted as a Special on Obamacare: "Questions for the President: Prescription for America".  What ABC has refused to do, though, is offer an opposing viewpoint to government run healthcare, such as Rick Scott's CPR.  Scott apparently contacted ABC about running a commercial during the time slot, but ABC refused. 

CPR has been running infomercials recently against government run healthcare².  Just today on their website is a post about the pending ABC News program⁵:

As the administration prepares for its health care program on ABC News, the one steadfast detail about their health care agenda is: no one knows the details. What we do know is a government-run health care system will increase health costs and crowd out private insurers, leaving American health care in the hands of bureaucrats and not doctors. Reports of partisan bickering and exploding costs are hindering the proponents of a government-run health care system. The incomplete budget score has left Democrats on the Hill doing anything they can to cut costs, except creating a plan that doesn't include a $1.6 trillion government-run health system.

http://www.cprights.org/2009/06/government-run-health-care-system-is-not-the-solution.php

Isn't it enough that the government is going to spend $2 TRILLION ⁴ dollars this year?  When is it enough? 

Even the AMA opposes government run healthcare⁵ .  That should be an eye-opener. 

 

Resources:

1. The AP: House eyes new taxes as senators pare health bill
2. Fox News: Health Care Infomercial Airs Despite Objections
3. CPR: Conservatives for Patients' Rights
4. USA Today: Benefit spending soars to new high
5. CPR: Government-Run Health Care System is Not the Solution
6. NSO: The AMA Opposes Government Health Plan
7. CATO: Intensive Obamacare
8. Fox News: ABC News Teams Up With Obama White House to Present President's Health Care Plan

The AMA Opposes Government Health Plan

The AMA has finally taken a public stand against the government's plan to provide universal health coverage in the United States.  An article in the New York Times, Doctors’ Group Opposes Public Insurance Plan, discusses the AMA's discontent with the plan:

While committed to the goal of affordable health insurance for all, the association had said in a general statement of principles that health services should be “provided through private markets, as they are currently.” It is now reacting, for the first time, to specific legislative proposals being drafted by Congress.

Check out the Conservatives for Patients' Rights site, an opposition group headed by Rick Scott.  CPR is a non-profit group that wants health care reform, just not government mandated health care reform.  From their website:

Conservatives for Patients' Rights is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and informing the public about the principles of patients rights and, in doing so, advancing the debate over health care reform. Those principles include choice, competition, accountability and responsibility. We believe the path to effective health care reform must be based on the patient-doctor relationship and not from a top-down, big government perspective. Anything that interferes with an individual’s freedom to consult their doctor of choice to make health care decisions defeats the purpose of meaningful health care reform.

 

Rick Scott has been featured in Fortune magazine as well: "Who is Rick Scott trying to heal?"  Scott was once CEO of the Columbia hospital corporation.  He was ousted as the CEO in the late 90's, but is back in the healthcare arena with the Solantic Urgent Care centers in Florida.

Solantic is a novel approach to health care:

 

Cell Phone Taxes & Monkey Fees

The NY Post published an article concerning the high rate of taxes and fees place on consumers for cell phones.  

The article struck a nerve with me because on Thursday I had updated my cell phone plan in Texas.  When I was finished I realized I was paying almost $15 dollars in additional taxes and fees.  Fortunately the amount was considerably less than if I lived in New York.

A gentleman interviewed for the article put the subject into context:

"If there was a $5 monkey fee, even if they couldn't explain it, you would still have to pay," sniped Danny Schluck, 28, of Bushwick.

Here's the original article: http://www.nypost.com/seven/04132009/news/regionalnews/phone_taxes_are_cell_hell_164180.htm

KFC & Poor Service

Steven Levitt over at the Freakonomics blog has an interesting hypothesis about bad service at KFC restaurants: Something to Think About While You Wait in Line at KFC

His theory states that KFC caters to a poorer clientele and that poorer people are less willing (or unable) to pay for better service.

There's a KFC around the corner from my house and and the few times I've been in there I have never received good service.  Several times the service was downright appalling.  Every time I was in there, though, I noticed there was five or less employees working.

Federal obligations exceed world GDP

MONEYNETDAILY
Federal obligations exceed world GDP
Does $65.5 trillion terrify anyone yet?

---

Posted: February 13, 2009
11:35 pm Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

As the Obama administration pushes through Congress its $800 billion deficit-spending economic stimulus plan, the American public is largely unaware that the true deficit of the federal government already is measured in trillions of dollars, and in fact its $65.5 trillion in total obligations exceeds the gross domestic product of the world.

The total U.S. obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits to be paid in the future, effectively have placed the U.S. government in bankruptcy, even before new continuing social welfare obligation embedded in the massive spending plan are taken into account.

The real 2008 federal budget deficit was $5.1 trillion, not the $455 billion previously reported by the Congressional Budget Office, according to the "2008 Financial Report of the United States Government" as released by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The difference between the $455 billion "official" budget deficit numbers and the $5.1 trillion budget deficit cited by "2008 Financial Report of the United States Government" is that the official budget deficit is calculated on a cash basis, where all tax receipts, including Social Security tax receipts, are used to pay government liabilities as they occur.

But the numbers in the 2008 report are calculated on a GAAP basis ("Generally Accepted Accounting Practices") that include year-for-year changes in the net present value of unfunded liabilities in social insurance programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

Under cash accounting, the government makes no provision for future Social Security and Medicare benefits in the year in which those benefits accrue.

"As bad as 2008 was, the $455 billion budget deficit on a cash basis and the $5.1 trillion federal budget deficit on a GAAP accounting basis does not reflect any significant money [from] the financial bailout or Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, which was approved after the close of the fiscal year," economist John Williams, who publishes the Internet website Shadow Government Statistics, told WND.

Find out what's behind the chaos at the White House, in the No. 1 best-seller "Obama Nation"

"The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fiscal year 2009 budget deficit as being $1.2 trillion on a cash basis and that was before taking into consideration the full costs of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, before the cost of the Obama nearly $800 billion economic stimulus plan, or the cost of the second $350 billion in TARP funds, as well as all current bailouts being contemplated by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve," he said.

"The federal government's deficit is hemorrhaging at a pace which threatens the viability of the financial system," Williams added. "The popularly reported 2009 [deficit] will clearly exceed $2 trillion on a cash basis and that full amount has to be funded by Treasury borrowing.

"It's not likely this will happen without the Federal Reserve acting as lender of last resort for the Treasury by buying Treasury debt and monetizing the debt," he said.

"Monetizing the debt" is a term used to signify that the Federal Reserve will be required simply to print cash to meet the Treasury debt obligations, acting in this capacity only because the Treasury cannot sell the huge of amount debt elsewhere.

The Treasury has been largely dependent upon foreign buyers, principally China and Japan and other major holders of U.S. dollar foreign exchange reserves, including OPEC buyers purchasing U.S. debt through London.

"The appetite of foreign buyers to purchase continued trillions of U.S. debt has become more questionable as the world has witnessed the rapid deterioration of the U.S. fiscal condition in the current financial crisis," Williams noted.

"Truthfully," Williams pointed out, "there is no Social Security 'lock-box.' There are no funds held in reserve today for Social Security and Medicare obligations that are earned each year. It's only a matter of time until the public realizes that the government is truly bankrupt and no taxes are being held in reserve to pay in the future the Social Security and Medicare benefits taxpayers are earning today."

Calculations from the "2008 Financial Report of the United States Government" also show that the GAAP negative net worth of the federal government has increased to $59.3 trillion while the total federal obligations under GAAP accounting now total $65.5 trillion.

The $65.5 trillion total federal obligations under GAAP accounting not only now exceed four times the U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, the $65.5 trillion deficit exceeds total world GDP.

"In the seven years of GAAP reporting, we have seen an annual average deficit in excess of $4 trillion, which could not be possibly covered by any form of taxation," Williams argued.

"Shy of the government severely slashing social welfare programs, federal deficits of this magnitude are beyond any hope of containment, government or otherwise," he said.

"Put simply, there is no way the government can possibly pay for the level of social welfare benefits the federal government has promised unless the government simply prints cash and debases the currency, which the government will increasingly be doing this year," Williams said, explaining in more detail why he feels the government is now in the process of monetizing the federal debt.

"Social Security and Medicare must be shown as liabilities on the federal balance sheet in the year they accrue according to GAAP accounting," Williams argues. "To do otherwise is irresponsible, nothing more than an attempt to hide the painful truth from the American public. The public has a right to know just how bad off the federal government budget deficit situation really is, especially since the situation is rapidly spinning out of control.

"The federal government is bankrupt," Williams told WND. "In a post-Enron world, if the federal government were a corporation such as General Motors, the president and senior Treasury officers would be in federal penitentiary."

Harris must pay $525,000 for sign blocked by I-10 bridge | Front page | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

I'm outraged this morning over an article  I read in the Houston Chronicle regarding a Clear Channel billboard near I-10 (West-bound & Highway 6).  Judge Jacqueline Lucci Smith ordered the county to pay Clear Channel the $525,000.  Apparently Judge Smith doesn't believe motorists can still see the sign.

Harris must pay $525,000 for sign blocked by I-10 bridge | Front page | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

BILLY SMITH II CHRONICLE

At issue is a 25-foot limit on surrounding structures that Clear Channel has rights to from when it purchased the visibility easement in 2001.  The HOV off-ramp apparently violates the visibility easement agreement. 

What really upsets me is that half a million dollars is being paid to Clear Channel AND they get to raise the billboard by the city.  I passed the billboard this morning and it is CLEARLY visible (see photo below). 

Then Harris County Toll Road Authority Director Gary Stobb is quoted blowing off the size of the settlement as just an additional cost to the Katy Freeway expansion project.  And that is the problem with public officials spending tax dollars.  It isn't their money so they JUST DON'T CARE.  

Stobb downplayed the significance of the settlement, saying the amount is a fraction of the $250 million HCTRA invested in the Katy Freeway expansion. The highway project cost $2.8 billion overall. "It's not like we built the wrong ramp ... ," he said. "It just is an additional cost to that design solution that wasn't apparent until after it was under construction.

I'm outraged over this settlement.  I will be writing officials about this misuse of our tax dollars. 

Here's a photo I took from my office of the billboard in question.  As you can see from the Chronicle's photo above that the billboard has been stripped to its frame I have outlined the billboard in my photo in yellow.  Click on the photo below to open the full size.

Big Three Auto - ProCon.org

A colleague sent me a link to ProCon.org which hosts non-partisan data on the "Big 3" auto-makers alongside Toyota and Honda.  They have an excellent table that lists:

• US Market Share
• Global Sales
• Employees
• Revenue per Employee
• Average Hourly Wage and Benefits
• # of Legacy Employees
• Annual Cost of Legacy Employees
• CEO 2007 Compensation
• # of Plants (US)
• # of Brands (US)
• Income Before Tax 2007
• Federal Income Taxes Paid/Refunds Received in 2007
• Net Profit or Loss 2007
• Non-Auto Related Assets (millions)
• Links to 2007 Annual Reports
• Links to SEC Filings: 2007 Annual Report

Go check it out:  Big Three Auto - ProCon.org

One of the Unhappiest Places on Earth

An Associated Press story quantifying the inflation in Zimbabwe:

Zimbabweans battle money shortages as collectors buy hundred billion dollar notes on eBay

The Associated Press ,  Harare   |  Wed, 07/23/2008 7:13 PM  |  World

Amid Zimbabwe's mind-boggling hyper inflation, a new $100 billion bank note has more value as a novelty item on eBay than on the streets of the capital.

The note, launched this week, is worth enough to buy a loaf of bread -- if you can find one on Zimbabwe's depleted store shelves. Meanwhile on eBay, the bill was on offer for nearly US$80.

Notes in the millions of dollars are useful only as toilet paper and it's cheaper to light a fire with low denomination bills than with newspaper.

In the political and economic turmoil since disputed March 29 elections, prices have risen almost daily. Factories and businesses have shut down amid empty order books and chronic shortages of gasoline, power, water and spare parts for equipment repairs.

President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed an agreement Monday to hold talks about power- sharing to end the crisis and restore economic stability. But the news failed to move the exchange rate, since little cash is available.

House prices and lottery prizes are quoted in quadrillions -- that's with 15 zeros. Zimbabweans says it's only a matter of time before big ticket items will be priced in the quintillions, which have 18 zeros.

Official inflation is quoted at 2.2 million percent but independent finance houses say it's closer to 12.5 million percent.

One major commercial bank said its automated teller machines are not configured to dispense multi-zero withdrawals and freeze in what it called a "data overflow error." Software writers are busy writing programs to try to overcome the problem.

Urgent electronic transfers in trillions also take several days as electronic accounting systems grapple with transactions in 12 zeros.

Bank transfers command a special rate. A hundred billion dollars is worth US$5 at the official rate, $1 at the black market rate -- but just 30 U.S. cents in a transfer because by the time the funds are processed the Zimbabwe currency can be expected to be worth a lot less.

Shops have dropped six zeros from price tags, adding them again after totals are tallied at tills.

Zimbabwe has 27 denominations of bills and no coins. Lower value bills -- 10 million Zimbabwe dollars -- are all but obsolete, even in brick-sized bundles. Beggars and street urchins rarely bother to pick up such bills dropped on the street.

But one recent day in Marondera town outside Harare, traffic stopped and business came to a halt when someone -- apparently upset by the dizzying rate of inflation -- started throwing 50- billion-dollar notes from a moving car. Residents scrambled to collect the money.

The biggest bakery in Harare shut down this month and sent 1,200 workers home on forced leave because flour stocks recently ran out. For years, the bakery donated free loaves every week to a home for the handicapped and charity-run hostels.

One Internet provider has invited customers to pay their fees in gasoline coupons that hold their value.

A 58-year-old Harare financial director who asked not to be identified said his monthly salary is paid in local money which converts to US$50 at the bank rate. When available at his local sports club, a hamburger costs the equivalent of US$12. He hasn't eaten out in a year.

A cup of coffee at a government-owned five-star hotel was 130 billion Zimbabwe dollars, or US$5.30 this week. A waitress at the hotel said she earns 100 billion Zimbabwe dollars, US$4 a month.

A German company stopped shipments of bank note paper to the central bank's printers this month as the European Union looked to strengthen sanctions.

The release of new money slowed as the central bank said it was looking to Indonesia and Malaysia to supply the specialized paper.

The daily grind for Zimbabweans to survive in the economic meltdown has won them a rating as the world's unhappiest people in the World Values Survey of the Michigan Institute for Social esearch.

Zimbabweans were slightly unhappier than Armenians and Moldovans, also victims poverty and "the legacies of authoritarian rule," the researchers said.

Dereck Nhamo, who manages a warehouse, says he wants to join the teeming ranks of unemployed because he can't afford to work any longer.

Nhamo earns less than his bus fare to the warehouse in Harare but adds to his monthly income by selling firewood collected on weekends in outlying woodlands.

"It doesn't make sense to go to work any more," Nhamo said.

The Cato Institute on Zimbabwe's Inflation

The Cato Institute has a fascinating article comparing Zimbabwe's runaway inflation with post WWI Germany and early 1990's Yugoslavia (under the now-dead war criminal Slobodan Milosevic).

 

Hyperinflation: Mugabe Versus Milosevic

by Steve H. Hanke

Steve H. Hanke is a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

Added to cato.org on July 21, 2008

This article appeared in the August 2008 issue of Globe Asia.

When a country's monthly inflation rate exceeds 50% – that is close to an annual rate of 13,000% – it qualifies as a hyperinflation.

Episodes of hyperinflation are rare. they have only occurred when the supply of money has been governed by discretionary paper money standards. No hyperinflation has ever been recorded when money has been commodity-based or when paper money has been convertible into a commodity. The first hyperinflation occurred during the French Revolution (1789-96). As the accompanying table indicates, the French episode was followed by 28 additional hyperinflations—all in the twentieth century.

Perhaps the most well-known was the great German hyperinflation of the 1920s, when the monthly inflation rate peaked at approximately 30,000% in October 1923. The two most virulent hyperinflations ever recorded – Hungary (1945-46) and Yugoslavia (1992-94) – curiously remain little known. Perhaps this is because the peak monthly inflation rates were so high as to be incomprehensible. This problem can be overcome by thinking in terms of daily inflation rates, however. On that metric, the highest daily inflation rate ever recorded was in Hungary on July 10, 1946, when the daily rate was 348.46%.

The accompanying chart plots the destruction of the German mark against the US dollar during the world's most well-known hyperinflation. It also plots the decimation of the Yugoslav dinar against the US dollar during the last great hyperinflation of the twentieth century. Under Slobodan Milosevic's rule, Yugoslavia recorded the second-highest monthly inflation rate in history, a whopping 313 million percent in January 1994. While much higher than the German peak-monthly rate, the Yugoslav rate was much lower than the record monthly rate which was chalked up by Hungary in July 1946. This brings us to the world's thirtieth, and this century's first, hyperinflation. Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe has been engulfed in a hyperinflation since March 2007.

Absent current data, we don't know exactly what today's inflation rate is. However, we do know the course of the Zimbabwe dollar against the US dollar (see chart). The destruction of Mugabe's dollar is approaching that which visited the German mark in the 1920s but it's not yet close to the ruin of Milosevic's Yugoslav dinar. Everyone knows that high inflation rates inflict untold damage on a country's economy and misery on its suffering citizens. Zimbabwe's inflation has pushed its inhabitants into poverty and forced millions of Zimbabweans to emigrate. Between 1997 and 2007, cumulative inflation was nearly 3.8 billion percent, while living standards fell by 38%.The source of Zimbabwe's hyperinflation is the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's money machine. The government spends, and the RBZ finances the spending by printing money.

The RBZ has no ability in practice to resist the government's demands for cash. Accordingly, the RBZ cannot hope to regain credibility anytime soon. To stop hyperinflation, Zimbabwe needs to immediately adopt a different monetary system.

Three choices

Any one of three options can rapidly slash the inflation rate and restore stability and growth to the Zimbabwean economy. First is "dollarization." This option would replace the discredited Zimbabwe dollar with a foreign currency, such as the US dollar or the South African rand. Second is a currency board. Under that system, the Zimbabwe dollar would be credible because it would be fully backed by a foreign reserve currency and would be freely convertible into the reserve currency at a fixed rate on demand.

Third is free banking. This option would allow commercial banks to issue their own private notes and other liabilities with minimum government regulation.Central banking is the only monetary system that has ever created hyperinflation and instability in Zimbabwe. Prior to central banking, Zimbabwe had a rich monetary experience in which a free banking system and a currency board system performed well. It is time for Zimbabwe to adopt one of these proven monetary systems and discard its failed experiment with central banking.

Will this happen any time soon? The answer is not clear. It is surprising how long the perpetrator of a hyperinflation can stay in power. Yugoslavia's hyperinflation peaked in January 1994 but Yugoslavs suffered for nearly eight more years of high inflation until Milosevic reluctantly conceded defeat after the September 2001 elections.

Yugoslavia's experience with currency destruction, hyperinflation and a determined dictator is sobering. Those who believe hyperinflation will bring down Robert Mugabe rapidly might, unfortunately, be engaging in wishful thinking.

That said, there is room to end on an optimistic note: the life of most governments that have used the printing presses to create hyperinflation have been much shorter than Milosevic's. And there are proven remedies to bring hyperinflations to an abrupt halt.

Gross National Love?

Below is a neat study on love versus GDP around the world. The United States, though, wasn't surveyed.

The article is from the Freakonomics blog at the NY Times.


February 14, 2008, 9:32 am
The Macroeconomics of Love: A Valentine's Day Analysis
By Justin Wolfers

Who says there's no romance in macroeconomics? Betsey Stevenson and I are currently working on a paper for a forthcoming Brookings Panel, assessing the relationship between levels of economic development and various measures of subjective well-being.

We are working with an absolutely fabulous data set: the Gallup World Poll. The good folks at Gallup are now surveying people in more than 130 countries every year. And they are asking all sorts of interesting questions about subjective well-being.

In honor of Valentine's Day, let me give you a sneak peek of our findings on love and economic development.


It turns out that love is incredibly democratic, and is as common in poor countries as it is in rich countries. And, encouragingly, about 70 percent of us report feeling a lot of love on any given day. This isn't as obvious as it may sound, as love's enemy, anger, is significantly more prevalent in poor countries than in rich.

The data suggest some interesting places to look for love: the Philippines, Rwanda, and Puerto Rico top the "love tables." Meanwhile those in Armenia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan are feeling the least love. (Unfortunately, the love question wasn't asked in the United States.)
While subjective data are relatively new to economics, I'm very excited by what we can learn, and will be sure to get back to you with more results as our research continues.

Now that we can measure something about Gross National Love, you can be sure that economists will start theorizing about it, and crunching these data to test their theories. What is your theory of love, and how might we test it in the data?

The Unintended Consequences of Al Gore

Below is an excellent piece from the folks that brought us Freakonomics. The article discusses the unintended consequences of growing and pushing for biofuels.

This article doesn’t mention it, but last year the price of corn tortillas skyrocketed in Mexico due to the demand for corn as a biofuel. I bet Al Gore never intended to gouge the poor for one of their staple commodities. But he did and like many other things good intentions end up damning us all.



Global Warming and the Minefield of Unintended Consequences
By Melissa Lafsky

Dubner and Levitt recently wrote a column discussing the unintended consequences of legislation intended to help the neediest segments of society.

Few movements for change have met with as many unintended consequences as the efforts, both in the public and private sector, to combat global warming. Take biofuels (another topic Dubner has addressed here and here). Hailed as the darling of the alternative fuel market, this new energy source, led by the most popular form, ethanol, was declared the solution to burning fossil fuels in 2006. It has since been embraced by companies from luxury car makers to airlines. To meet the growing demand for ethanol, U.S. farmers and agribusiness firms invested millions in growing corn (a move that has already come back to bite them financially). Biofuels have become such a staple of international plans to combat climate change, reports the Times, that governments are even legislating and subsidizing their use:

The EU has mandated that countries use 5.75 percent biofuel for transport by the
end of 2008. In the United States, a proposed energy package would require that
15 percent of all transport fuels be made from biofuel by 2022. To reach these
goals, biofuels production is heavily subsidized at many levels on both
continents.

Fantastic! A worldwide movement to cut emissions and halt what a growing number of scientists call a massive global crisis. Except it all hit a roadblock last week, when two newly-released studies reported that the net environmental effect of using biofuels may be even more harmful than burning the gasoline they were created to replace.

The first study, led by Princeton University environment and economics researcher Timothy Searchinger, found that replacing fossil fuels with corn-based ethanol could actually double greenhouse gas emissions for the next thirty years. As Scientific American writer David Biello explains it:

“Prior analyses made an accounting error,” says [Searchinger]. … “There is a
huge imbalance between the carbon lost by plowing up a hectare [2.47 acres] of
forest or grassland from the benefit you get from
biofuels.”

Growing plants store carbon in their roots, shoots and
leaves. As a result, the world’s plants and the soil in which they grow contain
nearly three times as much carbon as the entire atmosphere. …

By
turning crops such as corn, sugarcane and palm oil into biofuels — whether
ethanol, biodiesel, or something else — proponents hope to reap the benefits of
the carbon soaked up as the plants grow to offset the carbon dioxide (CO2)
emitted when the resulting fuel is burned. But whether biofuels emit more or
less CO2 than gasoline depends on what the land they were grown on was
previously used for…

The second study, led by Joseph Fargione, a scientist at the Nature Conservancy, found that by switching to biofuels, we could essentially be worsening climate change for the next 93 years, in that “[t]he clearance of grassland releases 93 times the amount of greenhouse gas that would be saved by the fuel made annually on that land,” according to the Times. Not to mention the fact that, by switching to growing corn, U.S. farmers have turned away from growing other crops, such as soy. As a result, Fargione told the Times, “‘Brazilian farmers are planting more of the world’s soybeans — and they’re deforesting the Amazon to do it.’”

So in a matter of days, biofuels go from a celebrated fossil fuels alternative to a rainforest-killing disaster, with scientists already calling for government reform on biofuel policies. If anything, this provides a window into how little we actually know about this issue, and the wide lengths left to go in reaching a viable solution.

Che & Obama (Justin's Take)

Justin's take on Hillary's proposal:

I guess it doesn't matter anymore man.

I just love how biofuels are pitched as 'green' because they are made from ingredients that humans can consume, and therefore MUST be better for the environment. Never mind the fact that biofuels pollute nearly 2x as much (according to a recent study on ethanol).

Now for the 'play by play':

Hillary's Green Jobs Plan will (raise taxes):

• Modernize 20 Million Low-Income Homes to Improve Energy Efficiency (this money will come from increased tax on individuals as well as businesses).
• Provide emergency energy assistance for Maryland families facing skyrocketing heating bills (this vote buying measure will again be paid for by tax revenue).
• Invest $5 billion in accelerated energy efficiency and alternative energy investments to jumpstart green collar job growth (this $5 billion will just grow on trees...you and I won't have to pay a dime here).
• Create a $50 Billion Strategic Energy Fund and Demand that Oil Companies Invest in Clean Energy (Oil companies are OIL COMPANIES, if the public demand is such, "NEW" industry could emerge and challenge the Oil Companies).
• Raise Fuel Economy Standards. Hillary has proposed a plan to raise fuel economy standards to 40 mpg by 2020 and 55 mpg by 2030 (Kiss your truck good bye, you'll be driving a go kart).
• Help Automakers Retool Plants (why do they need to be retooled? Is she talking about machine tools....or Corporate 'tools'?).
• Promote Plug-In Hybrids (PHEV) (Ahh..yes. PHEVs are soooo green. They take electricity from your HOME, and store it in LEAD and ACID batteries that after a few years must be sent to special 'HAZMAT' landfills. Go Green. Go PHEV!!!).
• Create a Green Building Fund to Make Public Buildings More Energy Efficient (this "Fund" will no doubt be paid for by taxes).
• Train "Green Collar" Workers (what is a "Green Collar" worker anyway?I understand Blue Collar, I understand White Collar...where does green fit in?).

In short...taxes will go up, wealth will be redistributed, industries will crumple, and landfills will be inundated with dead PHEV batteries. Go Hillary!!! WOOHOO!!!!

Oil companies are the cornerstone of our economy, and the only sector not facing SEVERE hardships right now. Sure they make massive profits, it's not like they just throw it in the bank and sit on it. No, they spend it. Oil creates jobs, lets make them unprofitable so we can all be equally miserable. The only thing she'll 'accelerate' is the demise of my beloved
USA.

Che & Obama

This quickly gets my blood boiling. Aside from the fact that Obama's forNationalized Healthcare, a ban on semi-automatic weapons, a complete ban onhandguns, big government and a nanny state, this just adds one more item tothe list of why you'll never find me left of center.

Granted the flag may not have been endorsed by Obama
himself, but itcertainly represents to his campaigners and staff the momentum
and directionhis campaign is headed.

This flag of Che Quevera hangs behind the desk of the
person in charge ofthe Obama campaign office here in Houston. The Fox reporter,
Ford Atkinson,did not ask any questions about the flag and it was only shown
briefly,probably not intended to have been seen.

Kooky economic theories, class warfare and forced
redistribution of wealth -it's not just a Cuban phenomenon. The revolution has
finally spread to thebrand new Barack Obama office.
If you were running a
candidate's local campaign office, what would you puton the wall? Old Glory? The
Texas flag? Or maybe the banner of a hostileCommunist police state?

Fox
has the video

Clinton's Insane Ideas

I dislike Clinton's platform immensely. On the one hand she discusses
harnessing "America's entrepreneurial spirit" to tackle renewable energies
and in another breathe she's talking about forcing private companies to pay
for R&D into other technologies. Why doesn't she just come out and state
that she's going to nationalize energy companies? Essentially she's trying
to do something similar! It's insane.

The market will find a better way when the technology finally comes to
fruition. It can't be FORCED! People just don't want to hear that no
matter what has been discovered to date, fossil fuel is the most EFFICIENT
fuel out there. Our trucks, ships, planes and home energy demands will not
be met with hopes and good intentions.

And how exactly does the President create new jobs??? Jobs are created in
the private sector in response to demand causing businesses and sectors to
grow.

Below is the egregious blog post from Clinton's campaign site:

Feed: blogHillary
Posted on: Monday, February 11, 2008 12:55 PM
Author: Crystal Patterson
Subject: Hillary's Plan to Create a Green Jobs Revolution: Creating New,
High-Wage Jobs of the Future

Today, at the General Motors Allison Transmission Plant, in White Marsh,
Maryland, Hillary outlined her Green Jobs plan, which will stimulate
economic growth, end our dependence on foreign oil and provide good-paying
jobs in Maryland and around the country. Hillary's plan will transform the
way we use energy, finally require large oil companies to pay their fair
share towards renewable technologies, and create at least five million new
jobs in the process.

Hillary's Green Jobs Plan will:

* Modernize 20 Million Low-Income Homes to Improve Energy Efficiency.
* Provide emergency energy assistance for Maryland families facing
skyrocketing heating bills.
* Invest $5 billion in accelerated energy efficiency and alternative
energy investments to jumpstart green collar job growth.
* Create a $50 Billion Strategic Energy Fund and Demand that Oil
Companies Invest in Clean Energy.
* Raise Fuel Economy Standards. Hillary has proposed a plan to raise
fuel economy standards to 40 mpg by 2020 and 55 mpg by 2030.
* Help Automakers Retool Plants.
* Promote Plug-In Hybrids (PHEV).
* Create a Green Building Fund to Make Public Buildings More Energy
Efficient.
* Train "Green Collar" Workers.

Hillary believes our climate crisis presents us with a significant
opportunity. She is prepared to harness America's entrepreneurial spirit and
make the bold investments necessary to lead us to an energy independent
future, of which green-collar jobs are the cornerstone. Read more on
<http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=5909> Hillary's plan
to create a Green Jobs revolution.

View article... <http://www.hillaryclinton.com/blog/view/?id=43265>

FW: Like hope, but different

This is very interesting.

Feed: Democracy in America
Posted on: Monday, February 11, 2008 2:07 PM
Author: Democracy in America
Subject: Like hope, but different

Anti-McCain viral video

View
<http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2008/02/like_hope_but_dif
ferent.cfm> article...

GOP Valentine's Day Cards

Below are some funny "Liberal" Valentine's Day Cards from the GOP:
http://net.gop.com/valentine/Default.aspx

http://net.gop.com/valentine/images/vec_obama4.jpg

http://net.gop.com/valentine/images/vec_clinton1.jpg

http://net.gop.com/valentine/images/vec_obama1.jpg

http://net.gop.com/valentine/images/vec_clinton2.jpg

http://net.gop.com/valentine/images/vec_obama3.jpg

http://net.gop.com/valentine/images/vec_clinton3.jpg

Clinton health plan may mean tapping pay

So rather than just bill someone for healthcare received because they're
uninsured, Hillary would authorize yet another way for the government to
come into our lives to punish us... don't we have enough things going on in
our lives that we don't need to juggle the demands and pressures of the
government, too? Seriously, Hillary, STAY OUT OF MY LIFE.

A quote from the article "Clinton
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080203/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_rdp_31> health
plan may mean tapping pay":

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she might be willing to garnish
the wages of workers who refuse to buy health insurance to achieve coverage
for all Americans.

Life with Housing Czarina Hillary

This is a fantastic piece from the National Review on the subprime credit
"crisis" in the US. An excerpt:

Life
<http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MmQyNzE5NmQwNTRlNWViNmRkYmM0ZmEyMzVjOG
JhMTM=> with Housing Czarina Hillary

"What about programs to help out renters who didn't make any money in this
bubble because we were responsible? What about government intervention to
lower the still-high housing prices so we aren't locked out of the market? A
natural correction in the housing market is in order, but the government
seems hellbent to prevent it from taking place. In the meantime, we are
priced out of the market because we aren't willing to get in over our heads
financially (unlike some of these revered homeowners)."

Sorry, responsible Americans. There's no seat at the next State of the Union
address, or the next Hillary Rescue roundtable, for you.

When Health Care Becomes Personal

Below is an excerpt from a Cato Institute article regarding the quality of
healthcare in the US. The entire article is worth a read, but one part in
particular I wanted to share.

As part of my personal argument against government interference in health
care, and specifically against the nationalization of the healthcare system,
I argue that when the government pays for healthcare, the government becomes
the customer. Hospitals, insurance companies, big pharma, et al will no
longer react to the demands of the patients, rather they will react to the
demands of the government. A passage in the article discusses this
principle specifically and I've copied it below.

Government is the Customer

When consumers are in the driver's seat, best practices tend to spread. In a
market economy, if you fail your customers, you go out of business. BJC,
which is regarded as one of the best hospitals in the country, should go out
of business. It should be driven out by hospitals that function more like
its subsidiary, the Rehabilitation Institute.

Internists and specialists who do not like to touch old people should be
driven out of business. They should be driven out by hands-on doctors and by
gerontologists who take a more holistic view of patients.

The reason that medical care works the way it does is that government is the
customer. Government pays health care providers for time and materials.
Shannon Brownlee and others believe that government could come up with
better compensation schemes that would help promote quality. I doubt this.

Trying to influence medical care from a government bureaucracy sets up a
game between bureaucrats and doctors. The object of Medicare Administrators
will be to get the largest change in behavior with the least increase in
compensation to health care providers. The object of the health care
providers will be to get the biggest increase in compensation for the least
change in behavior. The health care providers are bound to win. They control
the information flows ("you want to see reports that demonstrate quality?
we'll give you reports that demonstrate quality.") More importantly, they
have the most organized lobbyists, so that any "pay-for-performance" schemes
that do not work in doctors' favor will be shut down.

Medicare is wonderful for relieving the elderly from the burden of worrying
about health care expenses. By the same token, it is wonderful for relieving
doctors of the burden of worrying about the elderly as customers. You get
paid for understanding the billing system, not for understanding your
patients.

The original article can be viewed from the "view article" link below:

Feed: Cato Daily Commentary
Posted on: Monday, January 28, 2008 11:00 PM
Author: Cato Daily Commentary
Subject: When Health Care Becomes Personal by Arnold Kling

"Despite a rapidly growing elderly population, the number of certified
geriatricians fell by a third between 1998 and 2004. Applications to
training programs in adult primary-care medicine are plummeting, while
fields like plastic surgery and radiology...

View article... <http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9123>

A Hannah Montana Concert (as Seen Through the Eyes of an Economist)

This is pretty good.

A
<http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/a-hannah-montana-concert-a
s-seen-through-the-eyes-of-an-economist/> Hannah Montana Concert (as Seen
Through the Eyes of an Economist)

Hannah Montana is the hottest thing going. Her concerts are all sold out and
scalpers are netting thousands of dollars for her tickets,
<http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/12/montana.tickets/> according to
media reports. What is an economist who wants to see a Hannah Montana show
to do? Here is the true story of one such escapade. (The economist in
question has asked me to keep his identity secret, out of fear that his
reputation as a doting father will eclipse his economic accomplishments.)

His story starts just the way you might expect:

I had been working especially long hours recently. My family capital was
running dangerously low. My oldest daughter Annika is a huge Hannah Montana
fan. I figured it would be a good time to refill the tank and spend some
quality time with Annika, so I announced gloriously in the morning that
Annika and her papa were to see Hannah Montana that evening.

Our hero had not, however, mentioned to dear Annika that he didn't actually
have tickets to that night's concert.

I quickly realized how out of touch with reality I am-the event was "sold
out" and the ticket prices on various scalper sites were beyond reach for
this academic's salary. I concluded that I would take Annika to the local
Wal-Mart and buy her a Hannah Montana CD and doll in lieu of the show.

This economist has raised far better children than I have, as you'll see.

Annika raced in the house after school wondering when we would leave for the
event and where we would be sitting. I shamefully broke the news that I had
yet to find tickets. She took the news well, claiming that she really only
knew half of the Montana songs anyway. Deep inside she yearned to go to the
concert, but was not willing to admit that her papa let her down.

Shame is a powerful motivator.

After some reflection, I boldly announced that we would hold the course;
Annika and I would leave at 5 p.m. for the show. I figured this would get us
to the United Center by 6 p.m., with plenty of time to find a ticket scalper
on site and get situated. After pilfering the family stash, I had enough
cash in hand to pay up to $200 per seat, which I figured would gain us
access to the restricted viewing seats (situated behind the stage).

If only it were this simple.

With heavy Chicago traffic, we arrived at the United Center just after 6:10
p.m. I wasn't worried yet, as we still had 50 minutes to find tickets and
get to our seats for the concert opening. For the first 15 minutes, we
searched for tickets without much luck. No one was selling, and the euphoria
around the stadium was beginning to get to Annika. Her eyes gleamed, and my
willingness to pay shot up to $300 per seat...better find the closest cash
machine!

Around 6:30 p.m., we came in contact with the first ticket scalper. He
offered us some not-so-good, restricted view tickets, for $400 each. Glumly,
Annika and I passed. I did not even have that much cash available. After
haggling with a few other scalpers, the best offer I could find was $300
each for restricted view tickets. The price was too high.

The economist then does something so stupid and out-of-touch that only an
economist would think to do it.

I decided to approach the United Center ticket box to inquire about
available tickets.

Unfortunately for our hero, the show had been completely sold out for four
months, and the woman behind the counter reminded him of that when he got to
the front of the line. All the others in line had pre-ordered tickets and
were collecting them at the will-call window. But as deluded as the
economist was that he was going to be able to buy tickets at the box office
minutes before the show, the strategy had an unintended benefit.

As I got into line, the ticket scalper who had stood firm at $300 for the
restricted view tickets suddenly offered them for $275 each. "No thanks," I
said. Time was running out-6:45 and still no tickets. Annika told me to just
buy the tickets for $275 each, but I told her to be patient.

Undeterred, the economist continued along the same path.

I approached a different ticket office. Once again my approach was
interrupted by the ticket scalper who now offered the restricted view seats
for $250 each. The official at the ticket box again refused my request, but
I felt I was onto something. When I approached the ticket box, the ticket
scalpers became anxious, trying hard to sell me their tickets. It dawned on
me that the United Center must be releasing tickets slowly. Perhaps they had
some tickets in hand that were still available.

There is obviously no way that there are any tickets left.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught another ticket box, this one different
from the others-it had a disabled sign placard clearly displayed. I
approached the official at this window and asked if he had two tickets.
"Yes," he replied. "Two seats in the second row." I was stunned. I openly
wondered how this could be the case, and he informed me that they were just
released to the public. I happily paid $66 per ticket.

Hurray! Against all odds, little Annika would get to see the concert from
the second row. Oops, not so fast. This is an economist, after all.

I had gotten extremely lucky. Given the ticket prices I had been quoted by
the scalpers, these two tickets were likely worth at least $1,000 apiece. If
I acted quickly, I could sell them, and then go find the scalper with the
two restricted view seats. His price might be down to $225, in which case I
would net roughly $1,400 in profit, and Annika would still get to see the
show.

Brilliant plan, except for one small detail:

I quickly explained my plan to Annika. We didn't have time to dither. I
strode off in search of buyers for our tickets. When I turned around to
beckon Annika to follow me, I saw silent tears streaming down her face.

Torn between what he knew was the right thing to do (sell those tickets for
as much as possible) and appease his daughter, the economist faced a tough
choice. He knew he would be criticized later, but it had to be done.

I grabbed Annika's hand and we headed for our seats. My colleagues would
berate me at faculty lunch, but I would forgo this wonderful money-making
opportunity and watch Hannah Montana from the second row.

The story ends happily:

Upon our arrival at the seats, one of the backup singers named Candace
greeted us. Annika gave her a hug for good luck. As she left, Candace said
that she would wave to Annika. Our seats were so close that Hannah even
touched Annika's outstretched hand at one point. Annika was kept busy
singing and dancing the entire show. The smile never left her face.
Remarkably, during the show, Candace even kept her promise. Her wave to
Annika was heartfelt.

Don't Hobble Houston with Land Planning by Randal O'Toole

From the CATO institute: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9107

Don't Hobble Houston with Land Planning

by Randal O'Toole

This article appeared in the Houston Chronicle
<http://www.chron.com/index.html> on January 19, 2008.

Houston is the freest major city in America, with no zoning and only
moderate government intrusions into how property owners use their land. This
freedom has made Houston the most affordable major city in America, with
housing costs that are less than half of most other major urban areas. This
freedom has also created an innovative and growth-friendly environment that
is creating tens of thousands of new jobs each year.

Despite these benefits, the recent controversy over the Bissonnet/Ashby high
rise has inspired local planning advocates to call for an increased amount
of government planning of land in Houston.

Proposals have ranged from a "general plan" for the entire city "based on
citizen vision, values and goals" to a variety of ordinances that appear to
be aimed at limiting dense developments.

Though planners may have the best of intentions, such planning is likely to
lead to higher living costs, more traffic congestion and dramatically
reduced job growth.

We can see this by looking at other cities with zoning and planning.

In a sense, American cities have engaged in a controlled experiment with
planning, with Houston and a few other cities doing very little, many other
cities doing some planning and some cities doing highly restrictive
planning.

Advocates of planning say that it will make cities more livable, but the
results of many experiments across the country show just the opposite.

Cities with strong planning authority, such as Portland, Ore., and San Jose,
Calif., almost invariably have the least affordable housing, the fastest
growing traffic congestion and growing taxes and/or declining urban
services. In the long run, these problems tend to suppress urban growth and
job creation.

The national real estate firm Coldwell Banker reports that, in 2007, a
Houston family could buy a four-bedroom, two-and-one-half bath, 2,200-square
foot home for $170,000. The same house would cost more than twice that much
in Portland and more than eight times as much in San Jose.

Such huge variations in the cost of housing from city to city did not exist
50 years ago. Today, they are mainly due to artificial housing shortages
created by heavy regulations and land-use planning.

Planning also imposes huge costs on businesses. The same land shortages that
drive up housing costs also increase the costs of retail, commercial and
industrial developments. Congestion increases the costs of delivering
freight and other goods to and from businesses. Higher taxes and more
government regulation also make heavily planned cities less growth-friendly.

The result is that growth once attracted to places like California and
Massachusetts is now attracted to less heavily planned states like Georgia
and Texas. Between 2000 and 2006, California's population grew by 7 percent
— mostly foreign immigration — while Georgia and Texas populations grew by
12 to 14 percent.

Advocates of planning say that it will make cities more livable, but the
results of many experiments across the country show just the opposite.

As Harvard economist Edward Glaeser observes, "places with rapid [housing]
price increases over one five-year period are more likely to have income and
employment declines over the next five-year period" because the rules that
drive up housing prices also drive away employers.

Government planning spins out of control when it attempts to be
comprehensive, prescriptive and long term. Comprehensive planning attempts
to account for all of the impacts of any government action.

Prescriptive planning attempts to control how private landowners use their
land. Long-term planning attempts to look decades into the future. No one
can really predict the future, so such plans do far more harm than good.

Instead of comprehensive, prescriptive, long-range planning, government
agencies should limit themselves to the short-term plans needed to carry out
their missions. Houston comes closer to this ideal than any other major
American city.

Houston's lack of zoning and heavy regulation have led to an evolving system
of private covenants and deed restrictions that respond to changes in tastes
and demand for housing. The Harris County Toll Road Authority builds roads
in response to transportation needs as expressed by people's willingness to
pay tolls.

Houston should not attempt to write a comprehensive land-use plan or try to
control or limit land uses in a misguided effort to improve livability by
controlling where or how residents live. To preserve Houston's livability,
affordability and growth-friendly environment, Houston should focus on
maintaining a responsive government that provides the services people need,
not one that is merely carrying out the latest planning fads.

_____

Randal O'Toole <http://www.cato.org/people/otoole.html> , a senior fellow
with the Cato Institute, is the author of The
<http://www.catostore.org/index.asp?fa=ProductDetails&method=&pid=1441366>
Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your
Pocketbook, and Your Future.

Say no to fascist big brother nanny state politicians!

Before I get to the heart of my argument I want to clarify that I think the
UK is a wonderful place. I don't think I could live there for more than a
year at a time, though, because it really is a big brother nation.

So, how seriously do we take our freedoms and more importantly our stance
against fascism? A nanny state or big brother government is nothing more
than fascism with a different name. We are in serious danger of allowing
California drawing us closer to the UK in the ridiculousness of laws and
government intrusion in our lives.

California, the government of California, wants to come in to its citizens
homes to control their thermostats!

* California Seeks
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/us/11control.html> Thermostat Control

Consider in the UK a drama troupe that must register plastic weapons with
the police:

* Amateur
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=508797&in_page_id=1770> dramatics group ordered by police to use plastic
swords - and keep them under lock and key

This from a country renowned for its use of CCTVs... a definite direct tie
to Orwell's 1984 "Big Brother". Consider this:

* Tens
<http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23412867-details/Tens+of+thousan
ds+of+CCTV+cameras,+yet+80%25+of+crime+unsolved/article.do> of thousands of
CCTV cameras, yet 80% of crime unsolved

There are stories every week about groups of 'yobs' who get drunk and kill
innocent men in front of their homes:

* Until
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=508616&in_page_id=1770> Britain changes - we will NEVER have justice, says
wife of father kicked to death by thugs

* Murdered
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=408063&in_page_id=1770> for ticking off gang of yobs

* Dad
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=404518&in_page_id=1770> killed after confronting yobs

* Secretary
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=504479&in_page_id=1770> dies on dual carriageway 'after yobs pelt her car
with stones'

* Judge
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=496125&in_page_id=1770> attacks 'cowardly knife culture' after father's
murder by teenaged yobs

* The
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=475655&in_page_id=1770> innocent lives destroyed by drunken yobs

* Gang
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=474950&in_page_id=1770> attack man 'plagued by yobs'

* Judge
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=506864&in_page_id=1770> accused of 'joke justice' frees yobs who battered
hero father for protecting his son

* 'Let's
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=396378&in_page_id=1770> brick them' cry yobs as they attack wedding party

* Sick
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=481223&in_page_id=1770> yobs degraded disabled woman as she lay dying in
street - and filmed it all on a mobile phone

And if you try to stand up for yourself or others, the government will fine
you:

* Given
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=491052&in_page_id=1770> a police caution, the rail guard who was sacked
for defending commuters from yob

* War
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=504773&in_page_id=1770> hero's daughter facing arrest for tackling yobs
who 'trashed war memorial'

* Park
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=481988&in_page_id=1770> warden arrested after tackling yob urinating in
paddling pool

So under a neo-fascist liberal nanny-big-brother state, you won't be allowed
to protect yourself and the government won't protect you. If you do try and
become a 'vigilante' or protect yourself and others, you will be fined by
the courts.

This certainly can't be the future we want for our nation?

Make sure you don't vote for a big government politician, liberal or
conservative.

Not-so-rich buy Texas Lottery's $50 ticket

On rare occasions I enjoy gambling a bit in a casino, generally playing
Black Jack. I always set a low limit to how much money I'm going to gamble
with and if I run through it then I am finished. I usually walk away having
lost very little money.

I don't play the lottery though, just like I don't play many of the other
casino games. Your potential payout can be huge, but the odds are
overwhelmingly against you.

I think it's sad that the state uses the lottery to fund education.

Here's an interesting study which finds that the majority of lottery players
are those who don't have the means to play (and lose) continually. Yet,
many are habitual gamblers.

Not-so-rich buy Texas Lottery's $50 ticket

Top lottery officials had hoped the $130 Million Spectacular — the priciest
lottery ticket in the nation — would appeal to the affluent. But sales
indicate it's most popular among those who can least afford the gamble.
<http://feeds.chron.com/~r/houstonchronicle/metro/~4/216274124>

…

Estrada harbors no illusion: She knows the lottery is a money drain for
habitual players like herself. But it's her favorite hobby. So she doesn't
calculate the losses; she concentrates on the wins, like the $200 she
collected on a $50 ticket. She has to think hard about how many $50 tickets
she's bought to win that one — between six and 10, she estimates.

Her reason for continuing to play? "I have to try to get my money back."

View
<http://feeds.chron.com/~r/houstonchronicle/metro/~3/216274124/5451633.html>
article...

Clinton Doesn't Understand Economics

Hillary Clinton's call for an "economic stimulus package" is nothing more
than rhetoric. No economists or other learned person would consider the
welfare programs she's suggested as economic stimuli. Her dribble is
nothing more than populist offerings to the poor and uneducated.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7842.html

Clinton econ plan aimed at struggling Dems

By: Mike Allen

January 11, 2008 02:14 PM EST

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) plans to propose a $70 billion economic
stimulus package - including emergency housing and heating assistance - as
part of an effort to reinforce her appeal to non-affluent Democrats.

Clinton is to announce her "plan to jump-start America's ailing economy" at
a union training institute in City of Commerce, Calif., (part of Los Angeles
County) Friday at 2:15 p.m. Eastern.

California, the nation's most populated state, is part of the huge round of
Feb. 5 primaries, which could determine the Democratic nominee.

The Hillary Clinton for President event will include questions from the
audience.

The plan is part of the senator's appeal to voters who need a president, as
opposed to the more upscale Democrats where Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has
won substantial support.

As part of her leadership pitch, Clinton casts the plan as what she would do
if she were president now.

The senator is releasing the plan at a time when both the White House and
Democratic leaders in Congress are making moves toward passing a stimulus
package amid signs the U.S. could be tipping into a recess.

As part of her successful closing argument in the New Hampshire primary,
Clinton deliberately made news at one of her events by citing new
unemployment data to declare Jan. 5: "I think the economy is slipping toward
recession."

Pocketbook issues are moving to the fore as gas prices go up and housing
foreclosures increase. Indeed, strategists in both parties speculate that
the economy could be a bigger issue than national security in next fall's
general election.

"Hillary believes we need real action now," says a policy paper to be issued
by the Clinton campaign Friday. "While economists may still be debating
whether we've met the technical definition of a recession, for hard-hit
middle class families that question has already been answered.

"That is why today Sen. Clinton called on the president and congressional
leaders from both parties to enact an aggressive, fast-acting stimulus
package based on common-sense economic principles."

The elements of the package, as described by the campaign:

- Establishing a $30 billion Emergency Housing Crisis Fund to assist states
and cities in mitigating the effects of foreclosures: "Her $30 billion fund
would provide immediate, time-limited resources to states, cities and
community organizations to help prevent unnecessary foreclosures. States and
communities could also use the funds to offset the costs associated with
vacant properties by supporting efforts like community-level anti-blight
programs and helping local housing authorities buy up vacant properties and
rent them to working families."

- Providing $25 billion in emergency energy assistance for families facing
skyrocketing heating bills: "The grants will the purchasing power of energy
assistance to where it was five years ago. And they will ensure that
hardworking families and seniors on fixed incomes will not have to choose
between heating their homes, putting food on the table or purchasing
prescription drugs this winter."

- Accelerating $5 billion in energy efficiency and alternative energy
investments to jump-start green collar job growth: "The immediate actions
that could be part of a 2008 stimulus could include a crash weatherization
program to cut home energy costs by up to 20 percent this winter; expanded
tax credits to encourage families and businesses to accelerate purchases of
hybrids and other low-emission vehicles and to reduce energy costs by
purchasing efficient appliances, new windows and other clean, efficient
technologies; and acceleration of a Green Building Fund and green collar job
training program to put tens of thousands of people to work making schools
and other public buildings energy efficient."

- Investing $10 billion in extending and broadening unemployment insurance
for those who are struggling to find work: "By strengthening our
unemployment insurance program and extending unemployment insurance for
workers who are laid off for extended periods, this effort will empower more
Americans to re-enter the labor market in good-paying jobs."

All are new proposals. Clinton is billing it as a five-point plan,
including this previously announced plan for mitigating the housing crisis:
"Sen. Clinton has called for a 90-day moratorium on subprime foreclosures
and an automatic rate freeze on subprime mortgages of at least five years or
until servicers have converted the unworkable mortgages into loans families
can afford."

Alex Conant, press secretary of the Republican National Committee, said:
"Clinton says she wants to 'put money in people's hands,' but her plans
require massive tax increases on hardworking families. Clinton's campaign
says that every spending proposal 'must be paid for,' but she can't tell the
American people how she will finance nearly $800 billion in new government
spending."

One of Clinton's rivals for the nomination, former Sen. John Edwards of
North Carolina, announced a $25 billion job creation plan in Iowa in
December.

Big Brother

This is what big government ultimately wants... to come into our homes and
control every aspect of our lives. The question is why do people continue
to allow government to grow into a monster.

California is the ultimate example of a state government gone big brother:

California <http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/11/america/calif.php> wants
to control home thermostats

Next year in California, state regulators are likely to have the emergency
power to control individual thermostats, sending temperatures up or down
through a radio-controlled device that will be required in new or
substantially modified houses and buildings to manage electricity shortages.

Chavez the Wizard

Hugo Chavez and Robert Mugabe must have seen the same economics cartoon on
TV (even though they failed to understand it).

Hugo, in a bid to grapple with inflation, redenominated the Venezuelan
currency, the Bolivar. In addition, he renamed the Bolivar to the "Bolivar
Fuerte" or in English the "Strong Bolivar". In a fit of madness, the man
renamed the currency by adding the word "strong" in front of it as though
through magic the adjective is going to actually manifest its meaning on the
currency.

Rather than reforming the economy by lifting price controls, this idiot is
playing mind games with his people. It's such a shame, too, because with
the natural resources Venezuela has there is absolutely no reason why it
should have the highest amount of inflation in all of South America.

Here's an excerpt from the Economist article:

Venezuela's
<http://economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10436099> new
bolívar

With aggregate demand exceeding supply, introduction of the bolívar fuerte
will do nothing to stabilise prices, despite government claims to the
contrary. In fact, the easing of some price controls is likely to boost
inflation further. In addition, the government remains reluctant to cut back
significantly on its spending. Although the Economist Intelligence Unit
forecasts a gradual decline in public expenditure as a percentage of GDP,
this will not be enough to prevent an increase in the central government
deficit to 2.6% of GDP this year (from an estimated 1.4% in 2007). The true
fiscal position will be worse, as a rising burden of expenditure will be
placed on entities other than the Treasury (such as the state oil company,
Petróleos de Venezuela).

Nationalized Healthcare Fails Again

One would be remiss to believe the same Kafkaesque bureaucracy would not occur here under a conceived Hillarycare.   Nationalized healthcare has disastrous effects.
 
 

Young mother condemned to die after doctors spend six months arguing about treatment funding
 
"I've just got to wait and see if they clear on their own. I've worked all my life and paid my taxes, but when I needed the NHS the most they abandoned me.
"The doctors have said that I can't go on having chemotherapy to treat the cancer, I will die if I don't get a bone marrow transplant. It was all down to money. It is so upsetting that a bureaucrat can decide whether people live or die."

Zimbabwe's Crisis Grows

Zimbabwe has been in bad shape for years.  Under the dictator Robert Mugabe, the country has been oppressed and is now in an economic nightmare thanks to Mugabe's denial of economics.  That's right, he's openly stated that he has no time for "bookish economics" or economists as a whole. 
 
To this end, his following statement is absolute nonsense:

President Mugabe has accused foreign governments of trying to interfere in Zimbabwe's affairs - saying some businesses had raised prices without justification as part of a Western plot to oust him.

For Zimbabwe's sake, Mugabe had better fall fast.
 
[The following article is from the BBC]
 

Zimbabwe flour shortage warning 
 
Bread shortages could further boost inflation

Zimbabwe's main bread producer has warned it only has two days' supply of flour, state media have reported.

The company, Lobels Bread, said a flour shortage had already forced it to scale back its operations by 80%.
 
Reports say 36,000 tonnes of imported wheat are blocked in a Mozambican port owing to foreign exchange shortages.
 
A foreign currency crisis caused inflation to rise to 7,638% in July. Government price controls have been blamed for worsening shortages.
 
Lobels' operations director, Lemmy Chikomo, said stocks would run out after two days if they were to cease production.
 
He said the firm could only guarantee 40,000 loaves of bread per day, as opposed to 200,000 previously.
 
Critics have blamed President Mugabe's policies, especially the seizure of farms, for ordinary Zimbabweans' hardship.
 
For his part, President Mugabe has accused foreign governments of trying to interfere in Zimbabwe's affairs - saying some businesses had raised prices without justification as part of a Western plot to oust him.

 

Che Guevara

I found this to be an interesting article from the Houston Chronicle.

 
Fresh from CIA scrapbook: A lock of Che's hair

MIAMI — A former CIA operative and Cuban exile plans to auction what he
says is a lock of Che Guevara's hair, snipped before the Argentinian
revolutionary and friend of Fidel Castro was buried in 1967.

Gustavo Villoldo, 71, was involved in Guevara's capture in the jungles
of Bolivia, according to unclassified U.S. records and other documents.
He plans to auction the hair and other items kept in a scrapbook since
the joint CIA-Bolivian army mission 40 years ago.

"It's time for me to put the past behind and pass these on to someone
else," said Villoldo, also a veteran of the ill-fated Bay of Pigs
invasion of Cuba.

The scrapbook also holds a map used to track down Guevara in Bolivia,
photos of Guevara's body, intercepted messages between Guevara and his
rebels and a set of Guevara's fingerprints taken before his burial.

It's hard to predict how much the collection will net at auction
because there is nothing comparable on the market, said Tom Slater,
director of the Americana department at Heritage Auctions of Dallas,
which will put the collection on the block Oct. 25-26.

"We cannot recall ever having seen artifacts relating to Che's dramatic
career and death appearing on the auction market, and we expect this
offering to excite broad bidder interest," Slater said.

The Cuban government announced in 1995 that its anthropologists had
uncovered Guevara's remains from Bolivia, and re-interred them in Cuba
without doing DNA testing. Villoldo and other exiles and experts say
the body is still in Bolivia.


Brought to you by the HoustonChronicle.com

 

Hillary Announces Agenda To Improve the Quality of Health Care for All Americans

Hillary's plan to social healthcare is LADEN with buzzwords...

I don't have time at the moment to scrutinize her blog post, but rest assured I will blog about it later.

There is sure is a lot of empowerment going on in her 'plan'.

I am still shuddering at the use of all nefarious word usage. She even invented a '"Best Practices" Institute'!

I've highlighted the disingenuous words used below. When I get a chance later I will actually comment on the substance and meaning. Right now it's just difficult to read the post because of the blatant disregard for respect to the English language and our intellect.

Hillary Announces Agenda To Improve the Quality of Health Care for All Americans

via blogHillary by Crystal Patterson on Aug 23, 2007

Today in Lebanon, New Hampshire, Hillary outlined her plan to improve the quality of health care for all Americans.

As President, Hillary would fundamentally reform the nation's health care system by lowering costs, improving quality, and covering all Americans. Earlier in the campaign, she announced a multi-faceted plan to lower costs and increase value in the nation's health care system, which taken together would lower national health spending by at least $120 billion a year. Today, she announced several proposals that build on those initiatives to ensure high quality care by empowering health professionals, patients, and private and public payers to improve the financing and delivery of health care that every American receives. And next month, she will unveil her proposals to ensure universal coverage, so that every American will have quality, affordable health care.

Hillary's agenda returns patients to the center of the health care system again by empowering and relying on the skill of those who provide care - physicians, nurses, other clinicians, and health care organizations - to improve that care continually.

Background

While health care in the U.S. has enormous strengths, many Americans worry about the quality of care they receive. In 2006, a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and AHRQ found that 51 percent of Americans were dissatisfied with the quality of the American health care system. Per capita health care spending in the U.S. is far greater than in any other industrialized country, yet other nations have better health outcomes, including longer life-expectancy, lower rates of obesity and related conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, fewer years of life lost due to failure to treat treatable conditions, and lower infant mortality.

According to a RAND study, adults in the U.S. on average fail to receive about half the recommended care that modern clinical science says they need. In fact, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1999 reported that between 44,000 and 98,000 people die each year in our nation's hospitals as a result of preventable injuries from medical care. In short, for the amount of money that we spend in health care, Americans should be getting better quality care. Improving the quality of our health care system can and will reduce costs.

Hillary's Agenda: Reforming Health Care by Focusing on Quality

A reformed high-quality healthcare system must include a strong evidence base so we know what treatments work best, a quality measurement infrastructure based on this evidence to assess the quality of care patients receive from their health care providers, the integration of those quality measures into the delivery of care through health information technology, reimbursement incentives and accountability, and a commitment to placing patients at the center of the system, through increased transparency and greater access to information. To achieve this, Hillary will:

Empowering Providers:

1. Empower Physicians to Improve Quality Through Physician-Driven Certification Programs

2. Recognize Independent Private-Public Quality Trust and Improve Quality Measures

3. Emphasize Quality in Health Care Workforce, with Focus on Nurses

• Address Nurse and Nurse Faculty Shortages
• Prioritize the Retention of New Nurses
• Increase Number of Direct Support Professionals
• Address Diversity and Cultural Competency in the Healthcare Workforce
• Link Nursing Education and Quality

Empowering Patients

4. Empower Patients with Information on Provider Performance

• Develop a Patient-Friendly Quality Database
• Develop Patient-Friendly Decision Aids to Promote Informed Patient Choice
  

5. Reduce Health Care Disparities

• Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities as Part of the National Quality Agenda
• Require More Accurate Data Collection
• Improve Cultural Competency in Clinical Care
• Prioritize the Development of Medical Homes Designed to Improve Quality for Racial and Ethnic Minorities
  

Empowering Purchasers and Payers:

6. Incentivize Quality Through Increased Federal Payments

• Financially Reward Excellence in Care
• Develop New Reimbursement Models to Encourage Innovative Care Delivery Systems that Reward Quality -- Not Assembly-Line Care

7. Prohibit Payment of "Never Events" in FEHBP and all Federal Programs

These proposals to improve quality build on Hillary's existing health care agenda:

• Institute a New "Paperless" Health Information Technology System
• Transform Care of Today's Chronically Ill Population to Improve Outcomes
• Create an Independent "Best Practices" Institute and Invest in Research for New Treatments

Zimbabwe inflation hits new high

The following article just shows how bad Zimbabwe, under Robert Mugabe, is spiralling out of control.

Also worth noting are these paragraphs from the article:

Last month, the International Monetary Fund warned annual inflation could
reach 100,000% by the end of the year.

Unemployment stands at about 80%
and there are mass shortages of fuel and foodstuffs.

Zimbabwe inflation hits new high

via BBC News World UK Edition on Aug 22, 2007

Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate jumps to 7,638% in July according to the first official figures for three months.

Economic Illiteracy

I think the following is a fascinating article:



Economic Illiteracy
By John Stossel

When I speak on college campuses, students often ask what can be done about the "problem" of young people who don't care enough to vote. I always say that I don't see it as much of problem "because most of you don't know anything yet. I'm OK with you not voting!" The students laugh, but I'm not joking.

It wasn't until I was about 40 that I started to believe I had acquired a good sense of what domestic policies might serve people well. (I still have no clue about international affairs.) I only started to think I knew what ought to be done after years of reporting and reading voraciously to absorb arguments from left and right. The idea that most voters vote without having done much of that work is, frankly, scary.

I'm not alone in this concern. An economist at George Mason University, Bryan Caplan, says few people think about their vote or even see any benefit in doing so. His new book, "The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies", argues that most voters cast their ballot on the basis of irrational biases about economic matters. That's why so many candidates hostile to free markets, profits, free world trade and immigration get elected. People tend to acquire their wrong opinions about economic policy packaged in worldviews they inherited while growing up. They never test their views against the evidence because that would be unsettling. No one likes having his worldview challenged. So people vote for candidates who make them feel good. They vote irrationally.

Caplan stresses that most voters see no reason to do otherwise because they don't bear the consequences of their choices. This irrationality does not carry over into their personal lives because there they bear the brunt of their own decisions. But when irrationality is free, notes Caplan, people will indulge their biases.

Caplan divides them into three categories: antimarket bias, antiforeign bias, make-work bias and pessimistic bias. Antimarket bias describes people feeling that trade and profit are zero-sum games, that one person's gain is another person's loss. They haven't learned that free exchange is win-win and that in a free market, profit comes from cost-cutting innovation. Antiforeign bias, perhaps a vestige of primitive man, consists of distrusting "them" even though our prosperity increases according to how global the division of labor is. Foreigners don't want to invade us; they want to sell us useful things. Make-work bias is the belief that what makes us rich is jobs, rather than goods, and so anything that eliminates jobs is bad. If that were really true, we could prosper by outlawing all inventions created after 1920. Think of all the jobs that would create! Finally, pessimistic bias is the view that any economic problem is proof of general decline. Lots of people actually think we're poorer than our grandparents were!

As a result of these biases, people often support price controls, foreign-trade barriers and laws against job "outsourcing," and oppose immigration. Most economists are eager to demonstrate that these policies are bad for society, but most people aren't interested in evidence. They're interested in what confirms their worldview and makes them feel good. So they often vote for protectionists, anti-immigration advocates and other opponents of the free market.

Caplan's book isn't calculated to cheer up those of us who favor more market and less democracy. He offers some solutions that aren't likely to be adopted any time soon, such as permitting only the economically literate to vote, or giving them more votes, or eliminating get-out-the-vote campaigns (which serve only to get out the uneducated vote).

More practically, he thinks that "Everyone who knows some economics" should grab every opportunity to teach it. That's what I try to do with my "20/20" segments, television specials and the Stossel in the Classroom program, which brings economic ideas to high-school and college classrooms.

I hope we will create some rational voters in the process.