|
See also Handbags & Hayek
Articles and Commentary
No New Promises, Please by Keith Hennessey
America is on an unsustainable fiscal path. If we do nothing to address this, within 25 years the U.S. government will default on its debt, with devastating consequences for the U.S. economy and society...Make us no new promises, please, until you have funded the old ones.
 Cash for Clunkers, RIP by Karen DeCoster
The ‘Cash for Clunkers’ megaflop, which promoted the reckless abandonment and destruction of property, is one of the most absurd schemes ever foisted upon the American public. The politicians who conjured up the plan with a childish name have illustrated how unhinged they’ve become in their quest to plan and control every facet of the U.S. economy. These are the same people who seek to control your healthcare...
Fascism and a Funeral by Karen DeCoster
What we are seeing from the schemers in Washington is the rollout of a soft fascism ... for which freedom, choice, and capitalism will pay a dear price.
Crony Capitalism Again Rules the Day
Michael Barone| Government's pets -- or, in the president's words, "savvy businessmen" -- use government to get policies that will give them competitive advantages and stifle smaller competitors. Pleasing their masters in government is now absorbing the psychic energy of CEOs who used to concentrate on meeting consumers' needs in order to make profits.
Public-Sector Unions Bleed Taxpayers
Michael Barone, WashingtonExaminer| Public-sector unionism is collusive. Public-sector unions strive to elect their management, which in turn can extract money from taxpayers to increase wages and benefits. The results are plain to see...
Sensible Alternatives for Fixing Health Care
Michele Bachmann & Sally Pipes, American Maggie| With a few targeted reforms to our country’s medical-malpractice laws, insurance regulations, and the tax code, we can do a great deal to expand access to coverage and improve the American healthcare system for all — without bankrupting the country.
Dubai's Dilemma: A Warning to NY
Nicole Gelinas, NYPost| Albany and NYCity have their own "Dubai Worlds" - state-owned entities that borrow buckets of money to invest in oft-dubious project without the "official" backing of taxpayers...
Climategate E-mails Sweep America, May Scuttle Cap and Trade Laws
UKTelegraph| Further down the line there may be, in many countries, a question of criminal prosecution of anybody who has falsified data to secure funds and impose potentially disastrous fiscal restraints on the world in deference to a massive hoax.
The Middle-Class Health Tax Heist of 2009
Sally Pipes, IBD| Health reform is no longer about getting coverage to those who need it, but getting a bill for a Democratic Congress and president who want it.
How Much is a Trillion Dollars?
Washington Examiner| A million seconds, he said, is 12 days, while a billion seconds is 31 years. A trillion seconds? That's 31,688 years.
Higher Jobless Rates Could Be the New Normal
AP| Even with an economic revival, many U.S. jobs lost during the recession may be gone forever and a weak employment market could linger for years.
Insurance 101
IBD| Another day, another lesson. The Baucus plan is the latest scheme to collide with economic reality, proving once again that Congress doesn't understand the system it claims to be reforming.
Universal Coverage is Not About the Public Option
WashingtonExaminer| The bill will include a new law that requires every American to buy government-approved health insurance with free or subsidized coverage for those who can’t afford it. Universal coverage with middle- and upper-income earners paying for the poor has been the liberal goal for generations. It shouldn’t make any difference what you call it.
Health 'Reform' is Income Redistribution
WSJ| Let's have an honest debate before we transfer more money from young to old.
Federal Pay Continues Rapid Ascent
CATO| Pay, benefits of federal workers over private-sector workers continues to expand.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
The End of Prosperity: How Taxes Will Doom the Economy, if we let it happen
|Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, & Peter J. Tanous, Threshold Editions, 2008| The U.S. is in an economic crisis, and Americans are worried. This new book explains to the layman which policies have proven to attract capital, expand industry and jobs, and build prosperity - and why other policies have failed miserably. Readers will find it an understandable roadmap for turning the U.S. economy from crisis to recovery, and a timely, useful guide by which to judge elected leaders' handling of the nation's economy.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism
|Robert P. Murphy, Regnery Publishing, 2007| The liberal media and propagandists masquerading as educators have filled the world - and deformed public policy - with politically correct errors about capitalism and economics in general. This book cuts through all their nonsense, shattering liberal myths and fashionable socialist cliches to set the record straight.
The Forgotten Man
|Amity Shlaes, Harper Collins| What happens if government intervenes in a nation’s economic crisis and makes it worse? Journalist Amity Shlaes tells such a story in her well-researched book, “The Forgotten Man: a New History of the Great Depression." See review.
|
|
by Christina Hoff Sommers, author of Who Stole Feminism? and The War Against Boys
 When asked, "Are you a feminist?," most American women say no.
For good reason, says the author, who makes the case that the feminist movement has been taken over by aggrieved eccentrics who are fighting a gender war that few women support or understand. The potential for harm is enormous to women here and abroad.
Author Christina Hoff Sommers explains how the once noble cause of feminism has been derailed, the dubious public policies today's feminists espouse, and why mainstream American women have to put it back on track.
by Sally C. Pipes, CEO of Pacific Research Institute and one of the world's top health care experts. We've all heard the statistic "47 million Americans do not have health insurance" as an underlying argument for massive health care reform. But did you know that 57 percent of the 47 million uninsured have annual incomes above $50,000? Or that two-thirds of the 47 million are between the ages of 18 and 34? Are younger Americans being sold another Social Security scheme?
"Young Americans," says the author, "have the most to gain or lose by the outcome of the health care debate."
Diana Furchtgott-Roth is Director of Employment Policy at the Hudson Institute. She served as chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor and chief of staff at the President’s Council of Economic Advisors.
Ms. Furchtgott-Roth discussed the incoming Administration’s economic proposals with women at a Luce Institute CWN event in Washington DC.
by Karol Boudreaux, Senior Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University
 How do everyday choices of shampoo, shoes, magazines, and electronics make the capitalist free-market economic system work? What are the economics of choice, and why is consumer choice a fundamental indicator of individual liberty and democratic societies?
Author Karol Boudreaux explains in this report. "The endless variety of choices Americans enjoy is extraordinary," says Boudreaux, "and yet so common it can be easily taken for granted."
by Nonie Darwish, author of Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror.
 Most Americans think of Islam as just a religion. Islam is much more; it is a one party state with a very elaborate legal system, called Sharia law, that can put you to death if you leave it. The lives of women living under Sharia law and those living under democratic law are a world - and centuries - apart.
Ms. Darwish describes the danger America faces from Sharia advocates who claim that Sharia Islamic law is a religious right compatible with democracy and suggests that American women can stand together against the spread of radical Islam and its discrimination against women in the Western world.
by Barry R. Chiswick, Ph.D., Department of Economics, University of Illinois at Chicago
 Current immigration laws and policies are not serving the best economic interests of the United States. What changes in border and interior enforcement policies would help stem the flow of illegal immigrants? What reforms in U.S. immigration law would encourage more highly-skilled legal immigrants and increase the economic benefits of immigration for the American public?
Professor Chiswick addresses these questions and suggests how the tide in immigration can be turned.
by Elizabeth Kantor, Ph.D., author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature.
 Classic Western literature has traditionally played a large role in sustaining "Western culture." If Western culture has, on balance, been a benefactor of the human race, then the abandonment of its great literature by college literature professors is a very great loss, both to students and to the long-term health of Western civilization.
Dr. Kantor argues that universities today should be teaching the classic literature of our culture to their students.
by Miriam Grossman, MD, UCLA psychiatrist and author of Unprotected
 A college freshman - I call her Heather - came to me for help with her mood: every so often she had episodes of feeling down, crying easily, and hating herself. Normally, she was social and outgoing; these days she was spending hours alone in her room. Heather didn't know where this was coming from. Everything seemed to be going so well: she liked school, had plenty of friends, and got along well with her family.
She paused at one question: did you recently begin or end any relationship? Well, yes ... I can think of one thing. I recently got a "friend with benefits," and actually ... I'm confused, because it seems to me like he's getting the benefits, but I'm not getting the friendship. ...
by Ryan Lynch, Deputy Director of Students for Saving Social Security.
 Social Security is the largest investment most of us will make in our entire lives, and it will likely be one of our worst. Some working women are particularly hard hit, and today's young workers can expect a one to two percent rate or return on investment - a deal worse than the local bank.
At what cost will we continue paying into a system that has repeatedly raised taxes and cut benefits since its inception? At what point will we demand that Social Security stop undermining the retirement security of future generations?
by Roy W. Spencer, PhD, Principal Research Scientist at the University of Alabama's Earth System Science Center.
 Global warming is in the news nearly every day now. Calls for action to reduce mankind's greenhouse gas emissions are being made by scientists, environmentalists, politicians, movie stars, and op-ed columnists. Some view the threat to be greater than that from terrorism. But just how real is the threat? And even if global warming becomes dangerous, what can be done about it?
You might have heard that "all reputable scientists" agree on global warming -- that there is a "consensus," and that the science is "settled." But there is only one aspect of the problem that scientists agree on: that global warming has occurred in the last century. What is not agreed upon is the degree to which mankind is responsible for that warming ...
by Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute
 American health care stands at a critical crossroad. National policymakers are debating two very different courses: one toward expanded government-directed health care; the other toward free-market, consumer-directed health care.
Americans of all ages have a stake in this public debate, for the policy outcome will shape the cost, care, coverage, and control of their health care services for decades to come.
|
Home
Students
