Politics & Current Events Politics & Current Events Archives
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“Conservative” and “Liberal” are Heuristics, Not Ideologies
I’ve said before that Conservatism and Liberalism are not ideologies so much as aesthetics. The specific ideological content of the labels varies so much by place, time, and context (e.g. theologically conservative or liberal). Even in a particular place at a particular time, no one can quite agree what “most conservative” means. There are attempts [...] -
The Disingenuous Rhetoric of Balance
S&P has finally downgraded its rating of US government debt, once considered the safest investment you could make. The government’s cost of borrowing will inevitably increase, as will interest rates tied to government securities. And not least, it’s a major blow to American ego. So who’s to blame? For Democrats, blame lies with Republicans who [...] -
Resumption of Indulgences Triggers Fears of Grace Inflation
ROME – With church membership still down after two centuries of recession, officials at the Vatican Reserve in 2009 announced the resumption of indulgences, a policy dubbed “Plenary Easing”, to spur church recovery. Two years in, however, some are beginning to question its effectiveness. Since 2009, the value of the Plenary Indulgence has fallen 17% [...] -
In Defense of the Tennessee Firefighters
Firefighters last month stood by as an unpaid house burned, protecting paying neighbors. However one defines public goods, this event obviously removes fire protection from that class. So should the firefighters be condemned or commended? -
Castro Presents Democrats a Golden Opportunity
The Democratic party finds itself in a pickle. Poised to lose control of Congress this November, their congressional campaigns all reek of the desperation that characterized Republican campaigns in 2006. A few miles south, Cuba finds itself in even more dire economic straits than the US. The drastic step of cutting 10% of the government workforce was just announced, in the hope that a private economy can spring up where none has existed for decades… -
Conservatism and the Regulatory House of Cards
I’ve alluded to the regulatory house of cards before, specifically with regard to net neutrality. The basic idea is one of unintended consequences: starting from a state of freedom, the government sees a problem real or imagined and tries to fix it by fiat. Of course, this perverts incentives and makes for new problems, which [...] -
Is China’s Growth Sustainable?
China is on everyone’s minds now, not only because they send us cheap imports, but because Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with this arrangement. The crux of the issue is China’s currency policy, which most of the world believes is set “too low” – effectively making China’s exports cheaper than they would otherwise be in terms of other currencies. The US is not the only one upset either, for the sake of its trade balance… -
The Stimulus: Beyond “Worked” and “Failed”
$787 billion worth of fiscal stimulus to get the economy back on track, and the best volley Conservatives can lobby is that it didn’t work. With the Obama administration’s widely off-the-mark estimates as to the unemployment rate with or without the stimulus (the actual job losses exceeded the estimates without the stimulus), the debate now [...] -
For Sensible Deregulation: Why We Need Net Neutrality (for now)
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Soviet Union was in trouble. It had been on a protracted economic slide for many years, and showed no sign of lifting. Mikhael Gorbachev, leader at the time, fancied himself a reformer, and went on a spree of deregulation and privatization. But coming from such a regulated environment, the sweeps of deregulation were not – and could not be – total. People were free to do things they were not before, but the perverse incentives still existed. The house of regulatory cards collapsed… -
Idea vs. Reality of Obama
Obama is highly regarded – not only in America, but almost everywhere abroad, where the opinions of our presidents often seem more polar than at home. They hated Bush even more than we did, and they seem so far to love Obama even more than we do. The idea of Obama is good for our [...] -
Pat Robertson’s Year End Prophetic Review
Pat Robertson, January 2008: “he said oil would reach $150 a barrel – the price hit $100 on Wednesday – with the dollar continuing to lose value in 2008.”
Reality, October 2008: “Crude has now fallen about 40% since surging to an all-time record $147.27 a barrel on July 11.”…
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The Auto Crisis and Car Commercials
Surely by now every American is aware of the collapsed credit market and the imploding American auto industry. So what are the automakers telling us to quell our fears?
(WARNING: The sample of commercials is non-representative and based on two nights of watching an hour of TV.)Honda was subtly and soothingly reassuring, with a hypnotically calm voice:
“Rest assured that now, as always, you can still get low APR financing.*”
*for well qualified buyers… -
Don’t Vote
No, seriously. As wonderful as civic duty is, there’s also civic responsibility. If you plan on voting in November, answer the following questions out loud before reading on: Who are the two major party candidates? Who are you voting for this November? Why?
If you could not answer the third question, don’t vote. If your answer for the third question was “I can relate to him” or “the other guy’s eletist”, do not vote…
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Neither Party Stands for Change
Change is the official buzzword of the 2008 Presidential Election. Everyone likes to throw it around: Obama started the craze with a series of high-minded-sounding but empty slogans, and now the word has even been co-opted by John McCain, seeking to recover his maverick image. But what exactly are we changing from? Partisan politics and [...]