Russell Roberts's Blog, page 1554

Of All the Things to Romanticize, the Worst is War

In 2008, EconLog's David Henderson wrote this thoughtful essay on Memorial Day.

Does Being *Relatively* Poor Inflict Severe Psychological Damage?

Here's a letter to the Washington Post:

Robert Samuelson reports that Pres. Obama's wants to redefine poverty such that "People are automatically poor if they're a given distance from the top, even if their incomes are increasing.  The idea is that they suffer psychological deprivation by being far outside the mainstream" ("Why Obama's poverty rate measure misleads," May 31).  And while he offers sound objections to this attempt to redefine poverty as a relative concept, Mr. Samuelson misses...

Does Being "Relatively" Poor Inflict Severe Psychological Damage?

Here's a letter to the Washington Post:

Robert Samuelson reports that Pres. Obama's wants to redefine poverty such that "People are automatically poor if they're a given distance from the top, even if their incomes are increasing.  The idea is that they suffer psychological deprivation by being far outside the mainstream" ("Why Obama's poverty rate measure misleads," May 31).  And while he offers sound objections to this attempt to redefine poverty as a relative concept, Mr. Samuelson misses...

Achievement!

Here's a letter to the New York Times Book Review:

Reviewing Jonathan Alter's book on Barack Obama's first year in the White House, Jacob Heilbrunn writes that "Alter begins by suggesting that Obama achieved more during his first year than is commonly acknowledged" ("Interim Report," May 30).  Heilbrunn continues, with no hint of critical scrutiny: "Alter thus praises Obama's stimulus bill as consisting of 'five landmark pieces of legislation in one' that would have made him look 'like...

Economically Uninformed Pontificating

Here's evidence that the typical elected official is allergic to the economic way of thinking.

And here's the column by Walter Williams that sparked this spasm of idiocy.

BP Deepwater: Some Perspective

Here's a letter to the New York Times:

David Brooks's list of those human cognitive limitations that arguably led to the BP Deepwater oil spill is useful ("Drilling For Certainty," May 28).  This list, however, contains one item that seems mistaken – namely, the claim that "people tend to spread good news and hide bad news."

Some good news is that, using government-scientists' maximum estimate of the amount of oil spilled daily into the Gulf of Mexico from BP Deepwater, this spill today ranks...

Some Links

Brad Thompson's new book (co-authored with Yaron Brook) on the flaws and perils of neo-conservatism is out.  I'm eager to read it!

Writing in the Detroit Free Press, Hillsdale College economist Gary Wolfram has this excellent op-ed on the BP Deepwater oil spill.

Cato's Tim Lynch has two fine pieces on immigration.  One – an essay that focuses on dangers to Americans of enforcement of today's immigration statutes – is at the Huffington Post.  Tim's second essay is at Cato@Liberty.

Washington...

Yet More Rainbow Stew

Here's a letter to the New York Times:

One of Pres. Obama's economic advisors explained to David Einhorn that the U.S. government is unlikely to default on its debt because (as Mr. Einhorn summarizes the proffered explanation) "the government is different from financial institutions because it can print money" ("Easy Money, Hard Truths," May 27).

Mr. Einhorn understandably isn't comforted.  After all, had this White House official elaborated a bit more, his explanation would have been this...

Who You Callin' 'Shorty'?

Here's my latest column in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  In it, I discuss speculation, short-selling, and the price of the euro.

Two Links to Two of My Favorite Columnists

The Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby writes wisely about the right to be bigoted – even odiously so – in a free society.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch's Bart Hinkle makes me say "Wow!  That's right!  I wish that I'd thought of that!"