Rich and Dick Go Drinking
ThinkLibertarian.com has a cute video about Rich the Republican and Dick the Democrat. Check out Episode One here.
From US Libertarian Party
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Simon Says: Thuggery (1)
In New York there lives a mug
A violent, race-baiting lug
No justice, nor quiet;
He incites to riot –
A Councilman? Yes, and a thug.
>;-D
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From The Liberty Papers
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Will the Two-Party System Go the Way of the Dinosaur?
According to this editorial, the two-party system may go the way of the Edsel and fiscally conservative Congressmen. The East Valley Tribune’s editorial staff wrote:
Voters do have choices other than Republican or Democrat. One nonpartisan Web site for political information, politics1. com, lists 33 active third parties that have nominated federal candidates in more than one state. Only the Libertarian Party has ballot standing in Arizona, but seven others are actively seeking members here. So far, none of these third parties has sparked enough national interest to overcome the structural barriers created by the Republican and Democratic parties to protect their standing.
Perhaps if enough of us work together, we can continue to break down those barriers created by the two major parties. A good place to start is with ballot access, which will be a core function of the Libertarian Party for the next couple of years.
From US Libertarian Party
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Wanted: Your opinion about Libertarian Party Strategy
The latest edition of LP News has just been sent to the printer. In it, we have announced that we’ll be printing letters to the editor again, and we’ve asked for letters on a particular topic to get the conversation flowing. Letters should be 250 words or less and e-mailed to editor@lp.org.
The conversation we’d like to start is about the strategies and tactics we should employ in order to win more elections. Some suggestions are to concentrate on lower level races, focus and direct money at the more winnable races, and for the LP to provide more tools to local candidates.
Candidates I’ve spoken with generally indicate they are missing three key items in their campaigns: Money, media exposure and a large enough base of volunteers to assist their campaigns.
Please feel free to comment here to get the conversation started, but please also take the time to send us a 250 word or less letter to the editor by December 31 so we can include it in the next edition of LP News.
From US Libertarian Party
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Blog Review 63
Johann Norberg with a troubling statistic. Russia’s GDP should have grown by 15% from the rise in oil prices alone. In fact, it rose by only 7%.
A new website/campaign against the tax financing of political parties, No Public Funding. As Peter Briffa points out:
The idea that you, me, and Johnny Taxpayer should be bailing out these incompetents, halfwits, and freeloaders is an outrage. I want political parties to go bankrupt.
The market-place operates in politics as anywhere else, and if they can’t give the public what they want the sooner they die the better.
Environmental Economics on something of a sea change (sorry). Finally, a sensible answer to the fishing Commons tragedy. Individual, transerable, ownership rights in a fishery. Now we just need the CFP to take note.
A Very British Dude (warning, sweary alert) on the true political divide these days, between the Statists and the free marketeers.
Andrew Leigh with news of an economic paper on speed dating. The subject isn’t really about money at all, rather it’s a toolbox, a set of techniques to help make sense of the world.
Cafe Hayek points out that contrary to most people’s suppositions, Americans are actually paying less for housing now than they were in 1981.
And finally, The Croydonian on the City Fathers of Milton Keynes. Planning for 1,500 years in the future apparently.
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
The ‘Fair Trade’ Myth
In today’s Washington Post, Robert Samuelson demonstrates that the arguments in favor of so-called ‘fair trade’ are, quite simply, nonsense:
American trade deficits haven’t destroyed U.S. job creation by sending work abroad. Consider: From 1980 to 2006, the trade deficit jumped from $19 billion to an estimated $786 billion, or from less than 1 percent of […]
From The Liberty Papers
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
joke of the day 589
A Dublin lawyer died in poverty, and many people donated to a fund for his funeral. The Lord Chief Justice of Orbury was asked to donate a shilling.
“Only a shilling?” said the Justice, “Only a shilling to bury an attorney? Here’s a guinea; go and bury twenty more of them.”
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Speaking at Harrow College
I pointed out that the wealth-creation process is pretty forgiving, in that you can do a lot wrong, but it still works. It can survive things like tariffs and subsidies and a degree of government interference. There are three things, however, which it cannot survive: civil war, genocide, and socialism. Poor Africa has had more than its share of all three.
The students were knowledgeable and articulate and asked good questions, and I met a fair number of them afterwards over coffee and sandwiches.
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Schools should teach personal finance
The UK borrowing culture has officially reached crisis proportions with the consumer debt mountain now breaching the £1.3 trillion mark and growing at a rate of £1 million every four minutes. George Osborne belatedly grasped the nettle last week promising that if elected to Government, financial education will be taught in all schools.
The ability to manage personal finances is a crucial life skill, no matter what your income, class, or background. Consumers cannot be expected to make appropriate choices about their personal finances when surveys show that 79% of people do not know what an APR is, 25% have no idea how much they spend in a week and 26% have no idea of their monthly cash flow.
Furthermore, some 15% of 18-24 year-olds think an ISA is an iPod accessory while 19% of adults hope to improve their standard of living in retirement by winning the lottery.
An independent study by the University of Manchester into the effectiveness of financial education qualifications confirmed that 95% of students were better able to manage their finances as a result of taking our Certificate In Financial Studies (an AS level-equivalent qualification).
The course, carrying full UCAS tariff, is being taken at schools and colleges across the UK in rapidly increasing numbers. Many students taking the course have changed to a different bank account yielding a better return, whilst others purchased additional ‘non-traditional’ products, such as ISAs or investment bonds as well as a decrease in the proportion of students who owned one or more credit or store cards.
If we are serious about improving levels of financial capability all the available evidence suggests the best way to do so is via a standalone qualification in personal finance.
Gavin Shreeve is Chief Executive of The ifs School of Finance
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
A fine gesture by a fine writer
John Scalzi, a science fiction writer whom I admire and learned about via the blogs, is giving free copies of his books to servicemen and women in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, leaving aside what one thinks of either military campaign, I think this is a grand idea, and I hope and trust that authors, film-makers and musicians do the same. These armed forces personnel are risking their lives and deserve a bit of comfort and…
From Samizdata.net
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
