Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness

Worth a Thousand Words

by Reena Kapoor

I recently came upon this picture that shows North and South Korea at night.  Any questions?

Several comments were made; among them Ed Hudgins of The Atlas Society suggests the caption: “North Korea celebrates ‘Earth Hour’ every hour, every night.”

Of course some greens, particularly the true believers, will counter that this (dark path) is the true, natural path. They of course want us to forget a few things that i) "natural" does not mean anything in itself, because small pox is natural too ii) man does not exist outside of nature (as even Freeman Dyson reminds us) and finally iii) the means needed to keep North Koreans in this desirable, natural state. And this last point in particular they would like us to gloss over. Because this is exactly how they implement their philosophy - with the government's  coercive force at their back.  Yes the greens would like to persuade you but if that does not work - and you would prefer a life in South Korea to that in North Korea - well in that case they will simply legistlate, regulate and mandate any South Korea out of existence.

Deconstructing Auto Czar's Speech

by AW

In his blog Cafe Hayek, Russell Roberts writes this about our Auto Czar Obama's speech to rescue the industry's tottering titans.

You could teach a semester-long class in economics from this speech. So many errors and insults to the intelligence of the citizenry.

Read the whole bog post to enjoy section-by-section deconstruction of the fatal conceit of our reigning savior.

An Indomitable Spirit

by Reena Kapoor

I was pointed to this fascinating read A Civil Heretic by a friend about Freeman Dyson and why he's opposed to the alarmist and anthropogenic view of global warming.  His criticisms are worth noting - especially because he's a self-proclaimed "liberal" - but more interesting is his sheer genius and his uncompromising independent thinking. I could not help but wonder how much we owe to men like these to keep us honest.  An insightful read also on what makes a genius and a renaissance man.  Unbelievably refreshing for folks on all sides of the global warming debate!

We could all learn to think a little more independently.

African Dead Aid

by AW

There is a new voice speaking clearly on an old issue. The African ex-investment banker Dambisa Moyo makes a strong case against foreign aid to Africa in her new book Dead Aid.

In her WSJ article, Moyo nails the development economics issue...

Over the past 60 years at least $1 trillion of development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Yet real per-capita income today is lower than it was in the 1970s, and more than 50% of the population -- over 350 million people -- live on less than a dollar a day, a figure that has nearly doubled in two decades.

And one of its major causes: aid-propped corrupt governments.

The other circus continues: Global Warming alarmism

by Reena Kapoor

Only a couple of days ago I was thinking how far behind we've gotten in the battle for liberty given the shenanigans of US Congress, the bailouts and other madness our government keeps throwing at us. I was thinking about how we have not even begun to address perhaps a much larger threat the left has up its sleeve: the green movement! 

To Be or Not To Be European

by AW

In his new article on American exceptionalism, Charles Murray asks the question: Do we want the United States to be like Europe?

I argue for the answer “no,” but not for economic reasons. The European model has indeed created sclerotic economies and it would be a bad idea to imitate them. But I want to focus on another problem.

My argument is drawn from Federalist Paper No. 62, probably written by James Madison: “A good government implies two things: first, fidelity to the object of government, which is the happiness of the people; secondly, a knowledge of the means by which that object can be best attained.” Note the word: happiness. Not prosperity. Not security. Not equality. Happiness, which the Founders used in its Aristotelian sense of lasting and justified satisfaction with life as a whole.

I have two points to make. First, I will argue that the European model is fundamentally flawed because, despite its material successes, it is not suited to the way that human beings flourish—it does not conduce to Aristotelian happiness. Second, I will argue that 21st-century science will prove me right.

Enticing private capital? Call it a rescue effort, not a bailout.

by Rakinder Grover

Some information on the "toxic assets plan" expected to be announced by the Treasury next week has begun to surface.  It includes a lot of enticements to get private capital to participate in the purchase of "troubled mortgages".  One of the biggest potential obstacles in getting this all to "work" is politics.  An excerpt from an article in the NY Times:

"Still, the Treasury Department’s biggest obstacle may be the current political environment in Washington, where Democratic lawmakers are furious about the pay packages and bonuses received by executives at companies being rescued by taxpayers.

Many investment executives said they were worried that participating in any bailout program would expose them to political wrath and potentially steep new restrictions on their own pay.

Treasury and Fed officials have remained firmly against imposing any restrictions on pay for companies investing money in the rescue effort rather than receiving money from it."

Is there much of a difference between highly subsidized "investing" and just receiving money?  I expect some polished sales talk from the Treasury and the Administration to try and prevent the populist anger from rising as it did this last week. Oh, the sad circus continues....  if only the government would just stay out ...

A Lynch Mob! ... and the disengagement of private enterprise

by Rakinder Grover

A good article by David R. Kotok in The Big Picture compares the recent action in the House of Representatives with that of a lynch mob.  Besides the issues of the violation of the rule of law, the abrogation of contracts and property rights, that have been raised by some over the last few days, he also highlights the real and immediate risk of businesses becoming extremely cautious.  Careful, lest their profit seeking activity attract the ire of a populist lynch mob, private enterprise is likely to try and stay as far as it can from government. With the expanding scope of government, that is becoming increasingly harder to do, so the risk translates to a retrenchment of private enterprise unsure of the rules, risks and rewards.  This does not portend well for economic recovery, innovation and freedom in general.

Michael Lewis on AIG Bonus Ballyhoo

by AW

Michael Lewis offers timely wisdom on AIG bailout. Clear reasoning on a passion-arousing topic.

The complexity of the issues at the heart of the crisis paralyzes the political processes’ ability to deal with them intelligently. I have no doubt that, by the time this saga ends, we will all know what happened to every penny of that $165 million in bonuses and each have our opinion of the morality of it.

I doubt seriously we will ever understand the morality of the $173 billion payment that is the far more serious issue. For instance, Goldman Sachs, which received about 8 percent of the pile, or $13 billion, has claimed publicly that the money was, to them, a matter of indifference, as Goldman had hedged itself against a possible collapse of AIG -- by making bets against AIG.

This suggests that it was clear to at least one market player, before the collapse, that AAA-rated AIG was behaving in ways that might lead to its demise -- which is to say that there was really no responsible place to lay off these bets. (So why bail out those who made them?)

It also suggests that it is a matter of indifference to Goldman Sachs whether AIG lived or died, as either way it was protected. (So why bail it out?)

"The Illusionary Magic of The Marketplace"

by AW

As expected, Alan Greenspan's apology is exacting a cultural price. In his recent excoriation by the Congress, he confessed: “I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms. . . . I found a flaw . . . in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works.”

Long seen by the left as a bastion of free market, Greenspan is now the very stick with which they are beating the free markets. His mea culpa was the perfect foil for a recent Harvard conference titled  "The Free Market Mindset: History, Psychology, and Consequences". At the conference, tenured professors, never having made a day's living in the marketplace, found that "the magic of the marketplace is partially an illusion based on faulty assumptions and outmoded approaches."

As a rebuttal, Thomas Woods Jr., the author of Meltdown, writes in his eloquent blog post how common sense has long ago left the academia.