Russell Roberts's Blog, page 1574

Rule of Law vs. Rule of Men

Here's my latest column in The Freeman.  In it, I discuss the meaning of the rule of law:

For much the same reason that Starbucks specializes in retailing coffee, government specializes in enforcing law. And just as Starbucks responds to prevailing consumer demands—just as Starbucks is not in business to tell consumers what they want and don't want, but instead is in business to serve consumers according to their specific tastes for coffee and pastries—a genuinely classical-liberal government...

A very expensive tow truck and fence

The Petoskey News Review reports:

U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, is denying swelling accusations that he accepted a kickback in the form of $726,409 Federal Aviation Administration utility grants to shift his vote to support health care reform on Sunday.

The congressman has found himself in the middle of a vicious Republican backlash after accepting that an executive order from the president would be sufficient to prevent federal dollars from funding abortions under the Senate heath care...

Help with Fannie and Freddie spreads

Between 2000 and 2007, the quality of the mortgages in Fannie and Freddie's portfolios became riskier and riskier. And yet F and F were able to continue to borrow at rates very close to those of Treasuries. In fact, the spread narrowed over time.

I am looking for a nice chart (or better yet the data itself) that illustrates this. There is this Bloomberg series but it is hard to paste into a document that looks consistent with the other charts I am using. it also is of a limited time frame...

Open Letter to Sen. Charles Schumer

Sen. Charles Schumer

Capitol Hill

Washington, DC

Dear Sen. Schumer:

Up-in-arms that the Chinese offer American consumers exceptionally good bargains, you propose legislation to pressure the Chinese to raise the prices of their exports.  And, insisting that Congress pass your bill speedily, you warn that "every day we wait is a day we lose wealth."

Let me see if I grasp your economics.  Low prices – including low prices on many imports that American producers use as inputs in their own...

How Not to Promote Prosperity

Here's a letter that I sent today to a reporter for Reuters:

Mr. Doug Palmer, Reporter

Dear Mr. Palmer:

You report this morning that "Two U.S. senators vowed on Tuesday to push for action on a bill aimed at pressuring China to strengthen its currency….   [Sen. Charles Schumer said:] 'My belief is that China will not do anything unless they're required to'" ("U.S. senators vow speedy push on China currency bill," March 24).

I offer a translation from poli-speak into honest-speak: "Two U.S...

Freakonomics Podcast

Freakonomics has started podcasting and interviewed me the other day about what I would do if I were in charge of the government. My real answer which may or may not have made it into the podcast is that if I were put in charge, I'd no longer be an economist, but a politician, and I'd probably do what they all do. See Bernanke, Ben for evidence of this phenomenon. So I don't want to be in charge. I don't want anyone to be in charge. But I did give the beginnings of a fantasy list if I...

Striving

Interviewed Art De Vany for EconTalk yesterday. It should be released this Monday. He argues that there is no observable impact of steroids on home run totals. His basic argument is that Sosa, McGwire and Bonds are simply exceptionally good at hitting home runs.

I wonder what role ego and competition played in their success. Sosa vs. McGwire urged each other on. Bonds watched from a distance and took steroids to prove he was the better player. But what if it was the desire that pushed him to s...

Mont Pelerin Society contest

The Mont Pelerin Society is sponsoring an essay contest:

The Hayek Essay Contest is open to all individuals 35 years old or younger.  Entrants should write a 5,000 word (maximum) essay. Essays are due on May 31, 2010 and the winners will be announced on July 15, 2010. Essays should be submitted in English only. Electronic versions should be sent to: mps@heritage.org.

Prizes are given to the top three essays and include a Hayek Fellow cash award plus a travel grant* to our Society's next...

The essence of the health care legislation

David Leonhardt argues that the health care changes will work to reverse the inequality of the age of Reagan. (HT: Lauren Landsburg)

For all the political and economic uncertainties about health reform, at least one thing seems clear: The bill that President Obama signed on Tuesday is the federal government's biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago.

Over most of that period, government policy and market forces have been moving in the same...

Libelles

Walter Grinder alerted me to this very interesting essay by the historian Robert Darnton on blogs, modern and non-so-modern.