Michael Barone thinks it’s time that America ended it’s obsession with the Clinton and Bush families:
Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton. It sounds like the Wars of the Roses: Lancaster, York, Lancaster, York.
To compare our political struggles to the conflicts between rival dynasties may be carrying it too far. But we have become, I think, a nation […]
From The Liberty Papers
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
In a first-of-it’s-kind ruling, a California Court has ruled that bloggers are entitled to the same First Amendment rights extended to journalists:
Santa Clara, CA (AHN)-In a landmark ruling in favor of bloggers and cyber journalists, a Santa Clara County Court defended the First Amendment rights of online journalists to protect their confidential sources, effectively giving […]
From The Liberty Papers
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Today’s Washington Post carries an interesting column by Syrian journalist Sami Moubayed where he makes a rather convincing case for the legalization of prostitution, citing his own country as an example:
For years, many in the Arab World have been sexually deprived. This is because of social restrictions, seclusion, bad education, poverty, etc… Some would argue […]
From The Liberty Papers
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
This by far one of the best arguments against the minimum wage I’ve seen. Please note that when you see the word “liberal” in this article, it’s referring to classical liberalism:
Passage by the House of Representatives of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, as part of the Democrats’ first 100-hour agenda for “A New […]
From The Liberty Papers
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
There are few times one can talk about the economics and politics of cartels and licensing requirements, and still make it this fun:
Brothel owners accuse backpackers of selling sex in Australia
Foreign backpackers funding their Australian travels through illegal sex work are robbing the legitimate industry of profits and threatening clients’ health, a brothel lobbyist has […]
From The Liberty Papers
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
Richard North has an interesting story of how the European Union uses our tax money to influence academia. In favour of the European Union, of course.
Bishop Hill has a note perfect exemplar of public choice theory in action. Decisions are taken because they benefit those taking the decisions.
Peter Briffa, normally the most mild mannered of men and conservative with it too, has finally given up hope with the current political parties and predicts a huge anti-political outburst at the next election.
In rather more pleasant news, at least part of the aid establishment has woken up to the value of mobile phones in development. Doing more good even than microfinance: not bad for a bunch of profit seeking capitalists.
Glenn Whitman with a troubling pointer: the very fact that we have a welfare state means that our own business does indeed become other people’s.
Virtual Economics looks at the online worlds: not only are companies advertising their real products in the virtual world, some are making the move the other way (although not always entirely on the up and up).
And finally, Radley Balko on one more piece of silliness: if getting a ticket for being distracted while using a mobile phone and driving isn’t enough, let’s have billboards to distract you from using your mobile phone while driving…
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
According to the Christian Science Monitor, volunteerism in America is at a historic high:
More Americans than ever before are volunteering. In 2005, 29 percent of adults were serving - a 30-year high, according to a December report by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS).
It’s partly because volunteerism is uniquely rooted in the American character, some experts say. Barn-raisings and harvest seasons bonded communities long ago. Today, as mentoring, drug rehabilitation, and other programs depend primarily on volunteers, and as religious groups reach far beyond their congregations to address social problems, the trend is poised to engender real change, says David Eisner, chief executive of the CNCS.
“There are no other countries that have the kind of deep-rooted volunteering ethic that we have,” Mr. Eisner says. “If we’re able to engage volunteers in our country to visit these issues … volunteers won’t just turn the tide and make a difference, but we can fundamentally solve some of our most intractable problems.”
Three age groups - older teens, baby boomers, and seniors - are driving the upsurge. And as these teens grow and boomers retire, bucking the expectation they will slow down, together they could expand volunteerism even more, Eisner says. The CNCS, a federal agency that since 1993 has fostered civic engagement through community service, has launched a push to boost the number of US volunteers by 10 million to 75 million by 2010.
Since volunteerism is working so well, perhaps we can start eliminating some of our federal entitlement programs. OK, back to reality, now.
However, here is one place were volunteers are always welcome.
From US Libertarian Party
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
An absent-minded man took a course in memory improvement, and learned the technique of association of mental images. He was telling a friend about the merits of a new restaurant he’d tried, recommending it highly. His friend asked, “What is the name of the restaurant?”
The man thought and thought and finally said, “What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? You know… the one that’s red and has thorns.”
“Do you mean a rose?”
“Yes, that’s the one,” replied the man. He then turned towards the kitchen and yelled, “Rose, what’s the name of that new restaurant we went to?”
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
An interesting reworking of an old curse is done by Anatole Kaletsky. The curse you wish on your enemies is “May you live in interesting times.” It is a curse, of course because History as described by Gibbon is “little more than a register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.” Kaletsky describes Davos this year as a bore.
There was little of interest to say about business trends or economics. Finance ministers and central bankers were notable by their absence and, when they did appear at the forum, their bored-looking audiences and moderators could scarcely think of any questions to ask.The world economy, he says, has become boringly stable. This has left the world free to ponder non-economic issues at its world economic forum, issues like religious fanaticism, global warming, Middle East conflict, and nuclear proliferation.
While it might be good to get these long-term problems looked at, can we really be sure that the short-term issues of inflation and unemployment have been kep broadly under control? Kalestsky lists as the sources of that newfound stability “globalization, active demand management, financial deregulation and the addition of three billion new consumers and producers to the global capitalist system.” I spot that “active demand management” nestling in amongst the others. So we’ve got it right, then, and smoothed the business cycle? After decades of upheaval we finally cracked it and know how to keep the economy on stable growth? I rather think that the gods punish people who talk like this. After hubris comes nemesis. I’d like to believe it to be true, but there’s a nagging doubt in my mind that the record years of stable growth might derive not from the cleverness of politicians or even bankers, but from a set of unique conditions which might not be susceptible of future replication. It might be an interglacial period.
People thought they’d cracked it in the 1920s. Everything seemed to be booming, and people were getting richer. That was the way the future was headed. The gods punished them with the Great Depression and World War II. The bright side, on which I usually look, is that we might have built sufficient flexibility and adaptability into the world economy that when the gods do decide to throw something at us, we might survive it.
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
It finally happened. After a year of being camped out in temporary offices while our old building was refitted, the ASI is back at 23 Great Smith Street. The move took place on Friday and Monday. Now the task is to get phones and broadband on again, and to work out where to put the contents of all the packing cases.
We’re trying to run a full programme during the transition, but it can be somewhat chaotic at times. We have a Power lunch on Wednesday with Peter Ainsworth, shadow DEFRA secretary, and a meeting of The Next Generation next Tuesday with Jon Sopel of the BBC’s Politics Show. Meanwhile the results are feeding through from opinion polls we commissioned, publications are due out, and we’ve started to organize our next blogosphere event. Things could get hectic.
From Adam Smith Institute
Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom
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