Russell Roberts's Blog, page 1565

Some Links

European Union commissioner for enterprise and industry, Antonio Tajani, believes that people should have a "right to be tourists" – that is, to take vacations and travel at taxpayer expense. (Can anyone tell me why politicians deserve not to be laughed at rather than be treated as if they are participants in an intelligent conversation?)

Kenneth Green urges us to consume more as a means of helping the environment.

Carpe Diem's Mark Perry on today's most dangerous jobs.

My colleague, and...

Reading and writing

In the latest New Yorker, Ken Auletta has a superb piece on the economics of the publishing industry and the competition between the Kindle and the iPad. At one point he quotes Steve Jobs saying that he had been uninterested in eBooks because people don't read anymore. This is a common lament and I've made it myself. But it's not true. People read a ton. They just don't read books as much as they used to. They read blogs and web pages. And because they (and I) read blogs and web pages all...

Capitalists and Socialism

Jonah Goldberg's lastest contribution at National Review Online is well-worth reading – and quoting at length:

If by "capitalist" you mean someone who cares more about his own profit than yours; if you mean someone who cares more about providing for his family than providing for yours; if you mean someone who trusts that he is a better caretaker of his own interests and desires than a bureaucrat he's never met, often in a city he's never been to: then we are all capitalists. Because, by that...

Let's Keep Losing!

Fundamentalist evangelical environmentalist Bill McKibben's pessimism about modern humanity is fully displayed in the opening line of his reflections, in today's Washington Post, on the past 40 years of Earth Days: "Forty years in, we're losing."

Losing?  Forget facts such as that agricultural yields and proven reserves of petroleum are today at all-time highs.  Instead, focus on one of the best single indicators of the state of the environment: life-expectancy.

Life-expectancy across the...

A Consequence of Conscription

The first article of mine ever published is entitled "The Costs of Conscription" (co-authored with my undergrad mentor, William P. Field – actually, Bill wrote 90 percent of the piece).  It appeared in the August 1979 issue of Reason.  (I can't find it on-line.  All the worse for humanity.)

Military conscription is one of those issue that I have no tolerance for.  It's wrong — economically and, especially, ethically.  There is never any good justification for forcing anyone to fight and die...

Who is the parent to the parent?

The WSJ on its website's front page tells us what Obama is going to say in a speech today:

President Obama plans a speech in Manhattan in which he will castigate government that he says has too often forgotten the ordinary Americans who have suffered from its reckless irresponsibility.

Actually, that's not what it said. It actually said:

President Obama plans a speech in Manhattan in which he will castigate a financial industry that he says has too often forgotten the ordinary Americans who...

The Law of Capitalism Vs. the Lawlessness of Politics

Here's a letter sent yesterday to the Wall Street Journal:

My friend and former professor Gerry O'Driscoll eloquently explains that "crony capitalism" has as much to do with real capitalism as praying mantises have to do with real prayer ("An Economy of Liars," April 20).  But I must pick one nit.

Gerry writes that "Thomas Carlyle, the 19th century Victorian essayist, unflatteringly described classical liberalism as 'anarchy plus a constable.'  As a romanticist, Carlyle hated the system – but...

Not Quite Obeying the Spirit of the Agreement

Jeff Flake explains the lengths to which Uncle Sam will go (spending other people's money, of course) to avoid being pressured to end his politically motivated give-aways (of other people's money, of course) to American farmers.  (HT Andy Roth)

Capitalism: The Anti-Pollutant

Here's a letter sent this morning to USA Today:

On this Earth Day, Bjorn Lomborg scrubs with facts the noxious notions and emotions that pollute public discourse about the environment ("Earth Day: Smile, don't shudder," April 21).  Especially useful is his point that the world's number one environmental killer remains the indoor air pollution suffered by persons in poor countries who burn wood, waste, and dung to cook their meals and to heat their homes.

As the historian Thomas Babington...

Some Links

In today's Washington Post, Sebastian Mallaby argues that the S.E.C.'s case against Goldman Sachs is quite weak.

Peter Wallison nicely dissects the Dodd bill.

Clay Broga's new video on Uncle Sam's incontinent spending.  (Although I told Clay – and he agrees – that the part about shrinking household income is a bit misleading because the average number of people in households is decreasing.)

Former GMU student Steve Horwitz tells the parable of the sooty window.

The Cato Institute will host...