Reason to Live
World Hellhole Report
Ze Rest of Ze ZtuffmSet aside arguments for or against the safety of genetically modified, or GM, foods. Consider their impact on property rights. I recently saw a report on how a farmer that collected his own seeds ran into trouble when a herbicide-resistant strain of canola started growing on his property. He couldn’t get rid of it with [...]
What Is the Economy?
Henry C. Wallich, former Federal Reserve Governor, on the economy: “It’s a form of fraud, perpetrated by everybody on everybody. It is a world in which nobody keeps his word. Even if you could adjust perfectly for it, it would be a very unpleasant world.”
Important Files for My Classes
Below are links to PDF files for my AP US Government and AP Economics classes. These files are current as of August, 2010. Syllabuses for my courses are updated and abridged versions of the ones I submitted to College Board, so AP instructors hoping to submit them will be advised to use my fuller, approved [...]
What Is This I Don’t Even
James Pethokoukis of Reuters reports that we might see the current administration use the Bush-era HARP program to forgive hundreds of billions in bad mortgages. The bailout would not require congressional approval, since the money would go to Freddie and Fannie. Both of those entities have no ceiling on their bailout amounts. Unemployment is heading [...]
Long-run Impact of Increased Government Deficit Spending
Cash for Clunkers, the one-off housing credits, and the hiring for the census all boosted the economy and put dollars into it to increase AD. However, all those programs have ended. The car industry is still in a mess. There is still a 40+ month supply of houses and new home construction is very low [...]
The Benefits of Ecological Disasters
The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico remains a terrible problem and its pollution will have an impact on wildlife for decades. It’ll also wipe out competition for the major oil companies, giving the majors even more power over the US energy market. The US (and other big nations) will make stiffer regulations [...]
Smoking and Externalities
On the AP Economics discussion list, a teacher mentioned how he teaches the concept of externalities – costs or benefits that happen to someone not party to an economic decision – with a discussion about smoking in public places. He mentioned he was glad that public smoking bans, when passed, are followed by a dramatic [...]
Life Imitates Sir Humphrey
As I read the news this morning, I came across a story about how a supposedly independent government agency, wasn’t. The Prime Minister was upset about the high unemployment numbers, so five minutes before he had to face questions in Parliament, his bureaucrats redefined unemployment and submitted lower figures to him. While this happened in [...]
A Voice From 1841
Mr. Walpole was almost the only statesman in the House who spoke out boldly against it. He warned them, in eloquent and solemn language, of the evils that would ensue. It countenanced, he said, “the dangerous practice of stock-jobbing, and would divert the genius of the nation from trade and industry. It would hold out [...]
Some Economic Rambling…
I read an email on my AP Economics discussion list in which the writer basically expressed a negative view of Keynes and had praise for Reagan. He justified the Reagan defense deficits as having won the Cold War for the USA and the tax cuts as having spawned the booms of the last 30 years. [...]