Yearly Archives: 2013

What You Don’t Know About Immigration Can Hurt You

"With respect to immigration, let’s allow anyone who wishes to move here with the provision that they are ineligible for tax-funded government benefits. Presto: armies of foreign-born 'net tax producers.' Keeping immigrants out will also cost us liberty as well as money. What invasions of privacy are we willing to countenance in order to prevent people from living and working here? We’re slowly and steadily crushing businesses under ever-heavier regulatory burdens. What will happen when we tell them 'here’s a new stack of immigration rules'? Immigration restrictions might be good populist politics, but they are lousy economics." Continue reading →

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The First Step to a Free Detroit: Let Them Work

"What might the ordinary people of Detroit achieve if all barriers to the free use of their labor were removed? What if taxes were eliminated, allowing workers to keep all of their pay? We could expect the early emergence of personal services, such as hairdressers, barbershops, cleaning services, home maintenance, babysitting, etc. If capital has confidence that it can be protected, then next we could expect to see small scale capital-intensive enterprises spring up, such as food vendors, private taxis, bodegas, and tobacco shops. If these are allowed to flourish, then we could expect to see larger capital intensive enterprises arise, such as small scale factories." Continue reading →

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Rooftop urban gardeners in Bangkok grow edible algae

"Three times a week, Patsakorn Thaveeuchukorn harvests the green algae in the barrels. 'The algae is growing so fast, normally the doubling time is around 24 hours,' said Patsakorn, whose employer EnerGaia uses Bangkok’s rooftops to grow spirulina. The empty space on top of Bangkok’s many skyscrapers provide suitable growing conditions for spirulina as the constant high temperatures and sunlight are ideal breeding conditions. The algae also helps combat carbon dioxide levels through photosynthesis, its champions say, and growing it in cities means it can reach consumers the same day it is harvested. The company says it is the only producer of fresh spirulina in the world." Continue reading →

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Thai doctor: “I’m not a slave to insurance companies or regulations…”

"People often presume that the medical care in the developed West is the best in the world. But over the years, it’s become a centralized, bureaucratic mess. In Thailand, private medical care is excellent, efficient, and tremendously cost effective. Many of the international hospitals are more like five-star hotels and luxury shopping malls. And there’s very little waiting. The quality of the care is also first rate. Many of the doctors were trained at western universities and fellowships. One of the physicians I met yesterday received her MD in Singapore, plus a Masters degree and PhD in her field at a top university in California, and then another fellowship at Harvard." Continue reading →

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Obamacare Regulations Are 8 Times Longer Than Gutenberg Bible

"The 109 final Obamacare rules that have been published in the Federal Register so far take up 10,516 pages in the register. These pages carry an average of about 1,000 words each. So, the final Obamacare regulations published so far amount to approximately 10,516,000 words. The Department of Health and Human Services filed the majority of the regulations. But other federal agencies that have filed final Obamacare regulations include the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, the Office of Personnel Management, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Defense, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Social Security Administration, and Veterans Affairs." Continue reading →

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Obamachow: Is National Food Insurance The Next Big Idea?

"John Goodman of Southern Methodist University, a leading voice for free market medicine, has asked us to imagine what our groceries stores would look like if they were run like the medical system. In this piece, we will take his observations and add some of our own. As you enter the store, note that there will be no prices posted. In addition, the price you pay will vary according to who you are and how you will pay. You’ll have to come in during office hours because the store will close on weekends and holidays. What you want probably won’t be on the shelf. You will be told to come back later. If you do find what you want, you will have to wait to pay, perhaps a long time, [..]" Continue reading →

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Rite Aid joins promotion effort for Obamacare

"Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made the announcement Monday alongside Rite Aid CEO John Standley in New Jersey, where the feds will operate the health insurance exchange after Gov. Chris Christie rejected creating a state-run one. CVS Caremark in July announced plans to inform uninsured customers about the law. CVS pharmacies will host trained 'navigators,' who are funded by the health law to educate people about their coverage options. Walgreens also announced plans over the summer to team up with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association to educate customers in its stores." Continue reading →

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Our Huge, Stinking Mountain of Debt: Student Loans

"Notice anything about this chart of student loan debt owed to the Federal government? Direct Federal loans to students have exploded higher, from $93 billion in 2007 to $560 billion in early 2013. This gargantuan sum exceeds the gross domestic product (GDP) of entire nations—for example, Sweden ($538 billion) and Iran ($521 billion). Non-Federal student loans total another $500 billion, bringing the total to over $1 trillion. Does this look remotely sustainable? Does it look remotely healthy for students, society, taxpayers now on the hook for a half-trillion dollars in potential defaults or the U.S. economy?" Continue reading →

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A Measure of Our Impoverishment (Which They Hope You Haven’t Noticed)

"The federal government can fudge – can outright lie – about the various indicators of economic health. Can shift perceptions of reality. But reality can’t be dismissed so easily. If it takes more dollars to purchase cocoa or sugar then the price of a Creme Egg or chocolate bar has to increase commensurately in order to maintain the same equilibrium between the cost to make the item and the profit it earns. When the economy is flooded with funny money, the value of a given thing remains the same but its apparent cost increases. It takes more sheaves of funny money to buy the same item. This is inflation." Continue reading →

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Helping the Dow Industrial Average to Climb

"The S&P Dow Jones Indices are dropping Alcoa, Hewlett-Packard, and Bank of America from the Dow Jones industrial average. Visa, Nike, and Goldman Sachs will take their place. The changes 'were prompted by the low stock price of the three companies slated for removal and the Index Committee’s desire to diversify the sector and industry group representation of the index,' according to a statement from S&P." Continue reading →

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