Working for a better economy, better government and a better society
Is It Within Bounds To Ask: Is Obama A Socialist?
As campaign rhetoric heats up, pundits and talking-point guys and gals debate what is on or off limits. Can or should the Democrats talk about 16-year-old “bully” Romney or about his “weirdness” (a veiled reference I guess to his Mormon faith)? Can or should the...Should The New York Times Investigate Wal-Mart Or Carlos Slim?
The New York Times’s Vast Mexico Bribery Case Hushed Up by Wal-Mart After Top-Level Struggle suggests that Wal-Mart violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The smoking gun: Seven years ago, Wal-Mart de Mexico hired two outside lawyers for $8.5 million to...Look To Sweden! Obama’s High-Tax Gurus
by Paul Gregory Peter Diamond and Emmanuel Saez (Wall Street Journal High Tax Rates Won’t Slow Growth) offer a beguiling Leftist narrative: The 1% will cough up incremental tax revenue up to a 70 percent rate without cutting the things they do to generate economic...French Socialists Test Ride Obama Platform
French voters went to the polls today to winnow a ten-candidate presidential field down to the “right-of-center” incumbent (Nicolas Sarkozy) and his socialist challenger (Francois Hollande). The two will face each other in a runoff election on May 6. A Sarkozy loss...How Krugman Would Ru(i)n Steve Jobs’ Apple
The Left considers Steve Jobs, the charismatic PC pioneer, a self-centered individualist, who did not conform to elite etiquette. As Warren Buffet and Bill Gates gave away money with great fanfare, Jobs quietly devoted himself to creating value in Apple. He was...
Making Sense of China’s Bo Xilai Earthquake
The removal of Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai from the Politburo and the announcement that his wife is under investigation for murder are a political tsunami, the likes of which have not been seen in China since the defeat of the Gang of Four shortly after Mao’s death....The Tea Party Already Saved Taxpayers $300 Billion (Maybe a Half Trillion)
A “counterfactual” is an analysis of “what would have happened if.” President Obama’s claim that “the stimulus added as many as 3.3 million jobs” is the most famous example of this genre. Counterfactual analysis of the effects of the 2010 election on federal spending...Obama Care’s Commissar’s Conceit
As a writer on Soviet planning, I am struck by its parallels with Obama Care. Both believe their planning is “scientific” and executed by “the best of the best,” who know what is best for ordinary people. Both types of planning commissars suffer Hayek’s “fatal...A Community Organizer Among Hunter-Gatherers: Do We Have Socialist or Individualistic Genes?
by Paul Gregory “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” Barack Obama October 13, 2008 The story below is based on Thomas Mayor’s Hunter-Gatherers: The Original Libertarians. He demonstrates that we are genetically programmed to respect ...