Perverse Incentives

Why a single mom is better off with a $29,000 job than a $69,000 job

"Let’s take the example of a single mom with two kids, 1 and 4. She has a $29,000 a year job, putting the kids in daycare during the day while she works. As the above chart – via Gary Alexander, Pennsylvania’s secretary of Public Welfare — shows, the single mom is better off earning gross income of $29,000 with $57,327 in net income and benefits than to earn gross income of $69,000 with net income & benefits of $57,045. It would sure be tempting for that mom to keep the status quo rather than take the new job, even though the new position might lead to further career advancement and a higher standard of living." Continue reading →

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Guns, Badges, and Cartels

"Drug dealers are not going to obey laws that supposedly control guns. If you want to get drug dealers to stop buying guns, then you had better vote to de-criminalize drugs. But liberals want to criminalize guns, and conservatives want to criminalize drugs. If you think this argument makes no sense, then don’t expect liberals to respond to this argument: 'People who are prepared to defy the laws against murder aren’t going to obey laws against owning guns or large-capacity magazines.' Cartels want above-market income on state-protected turf. This takes guns. The debate is over who gets to carry the guns legally, and who will carry them illegally." Continue reading →

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The Costs of War in Syria

"Politicians want a war to appear cheap, at least up front, while the bureaucrats want bigger budgets. Once the war starts, though, all bets are off, and any political or legal authorization given to the administration to wage war will be a de facto blank check for future unlimited outlays for occupation and conflict on an unlimited timeline. We’ve already seen this in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and while the two countries descended into chaos, the claim was made that since the U.S. regime had 'broken' Iraq and Afghanistan, the taxpayers were now on the hook to finance the 'fixing' of the broken countries. The regime knows that all it needs to do is start a war, and the money will begin to flow indefinitely." Continue reading →

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Fleeing Oppression

"The mayor of Los Angeles has declared a 'state of emergency'. Hollywood’s movie industry is being ceded to other states and countries whose favorable tax 'credits' are increasingly luring away movie and television production. As competition both in the US and abroad continues to grow, the state’s market share and longtime stronghold on production jobs and spending are fast evaporating. The main problem is taxes. California’s government has so destroyed the state that its only option to keep afloat is a continued rise in taxes. In response, people with money have been fleeing the state for other states. New York and California have lost the most in the last decade." Continue reading →

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GAO Study Confirms the Obvious: Bad Patents Lead to Trolls

"The study confirms what we already knew: low-quality, vague patents have led to an increased patent troll problem. Great. This is the same thing the Federal Trade Commission already reported in 2011, and little has improved; arguably, if anything, the situation has worsened. We now have reports from GAO, from the Congressional Research Service, and from the Federal Trade Commission highlighting the problem with software patents and patent trolls. We have unequivocal statements from the President and leading members of Congress that the AIA did not fix the problem. The time for reform is now. We should stop talking about it already and get something done." Continue reading →

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Start-Ups Fill Void Left by Spain’s 26% Unemployment Rate

"Figures from the INE statistics office show that 53 percent of Spanish companies have no employees, as many can’t afford to hire full-time workers. That portion reached 55 percent last year. The total number of businesses declined for a fifth year in 2012, falling to the lowest level since 2005, the INE said in a statement this month. The proportion of those people losing their jobs who decide to start a business has risen to 15 percent, more than three times the historical rate, said Carmen Sebrango, Randstad’s outplacement director in Spain." Continue reading →

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18 different minimum wages in American Samoa, 30% jobless rate

"The US Department of Labor mandates and enforces about 18 different minimum wages in American Samoa by industry. Oh, and the jobless rate there is almost 30%. And now a serious question for proponents of the US minimum wage: If you support a single hourly minimum wage in the US, wouldn’t you show even more support for multiple, government-mandated minimum wages by industry? That is, if you trust the supposed wisdom of politicians to know what the 'correct' single minimum wage is for the entire US economy (currently $7.25 per hour), shouldn’t you also trust those same politicians to know what the 'correct' minimum wage is for America’s many different industries?" Continue reading →

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Arab-American Group Asks Government to Intervene in Bank Account Closures

"A Dearborn-based Arab-American advocacy group is asking the federal government to investigate banks in southeastern Michigan for closing accounts of community members. Abbas said since the Bank Security Act (BSA) went into effect in 2001, Arab Americans have been increasingly targeted with account closures. The act requires financial institutions to monitor and report certain transactions to the FBI. 'Banks are misinformed and they are using their discretion to close accounts as a preemptive strike. If they are in doubt, they shut it down,' he said." Continue reading →

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ObamaCare Pushes Big Medical Practice Changes

"More than half the doctors are now working for hospitals and other institutions, rather than in private practice. Hospitals are using their new doctor employees to get more money out of Medicare. The other major unintended consequence is the boost to consumer-directed health care. The cheapest plans are going to have deductibles of $5,000 or more. Millions of patients are going to be buying care with their own money, rather than with a third-party payer’s money. Accenture predicts the number of walk-in clinics is going to double in the next few years. They are doing what the ACOs are unlikely to do: lowering costs, increasing quality, and improving access to care." Continue reading →

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Don’t Be Fooled, ObamaCare Will Drive Up Unemployment and Healthcare Costs

"To the extent that prices are prevented from rising, it will create enhanced rationing by waiting. And almost anything patients and doctors to do circumvent the cost of waiting will also add to the money cost of care. For example, an increasing number of primary care doctors are becoming concierge doctors. For a fee of about $2,000 a year, patients get same day or next day appointments, more time with the physician and someone who acts as their agent in dealing with other parts of a complex heath care system. Yet physicians who become concierge doctors typically replace a practice that sees about 2,500 patients with one that sees only about 500." Continue reading →

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