The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty » Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org Ideas on Liberty Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:42:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 More Facebook Privacy Concerns http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/more-facebook-privacy-concerns/ http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/more-facebook-privacy-concerns/#comments Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:40:17 +0000 Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9347785 “Many of the most popular applications, or ‘apps,’ on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people’s names and, in some cases, their friends’ names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.” (Wall Street Journal, Monday)

How long before somone suggests a national agency monitoring Facebook in the name of protecting privacy?

FEE Timely Classic:
“Liberty and Privacy: Connections” by Joseph S. Fulda

]]> http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/more-facebook-privacy-concerns/feed/ 1 Capital City Untouched by Recession http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/capital-city-untouched-by-recession/ http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/capital-city-untouched-by-recession/#comments Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:40:15 +0000 Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9347788 “Throughout the recession, one major city stood out as an oasis for jobs and growth: Washington, D.C. Supported by a gusher of federal borrowing and spending, the District of Columbia was the nation’s only metropolitan area that never stopped growing. It stood as a beacon for the nation’s millions of job hunters, from recent college graduates seeking careers in civil service to well-heeled lawyers cashing in on a bonanza of work stemming from health care and financial reform.” (Washington Times, Sunday)

Government is a growth industry … until it kills its host.

FEE Timely Classic:
“Creating Jobs v. Creating Wealth” by Dwight R. Lee

]]> http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/capital-city-untouched-by-recession/feed/ 0 Congress Pushes Pet Legislation as Election Draws Near http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/congress-pushes-pet-legislation-as-election-draws-near/ http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/congress-pushes-pet-legislation-as-election-draws-near/#comments Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:40:06 +0000 Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9347790 “The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, aimed at lowering the volume on loud TV ads, appears headed for approval. But a bill seeking to squash another annoyance, the Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act, is likely to fail. And the sponsor of the All-American Flag Act must figure that the bill’s name alone should ensure its success. With time running out on the congressional session, lawmakers are scrambling to get hundreds of their pet bills across the finish line, competing for attention against headline-grabbing issues such as whether to extend the George W. Bush-era tax cuts or end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays and lesbians in the military.” ( Chicago Tribune, Monday)

Freedom’s biggest challenge is the proclivity of legislators to legislate.

FEE Timely Classic:
“Law and Good Intentions” by Andrew P Morriss

]]> http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/congress-pushes-pet-legislation-as-election-draws-near/feed/ 0 No Social Security For You! http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/no-social-security-for-you/ http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/no-social-security-for-you/#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:17:29 +0000 Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9347773 “More than 58 million retirees and disabled Americans will get no increase in Social Security benefits next year, the second year in a row without a raise.

“The Social Security Administration said Friday inflation has been too low since the last increase in 2009 to warrant an increase for 2011. The announcement marks only the second year without an increase since automatic adjustments for inflation were adopted in 1975. The first year was this year.” (AP, Friday)

And it’s still going broke.

FEE Timely Classic:
“A College Fund on the Social Security Model” by William Connerly

]]> http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/no-social-security-for-you/feed/ 2 Bernanke Argues For More Economic Intervention http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/bernanke-argues-for-more-economic-intervention/ http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/bernanke-argues-for-more-economic-intervention/#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:17:14 +0000 Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9347775 “Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made a case for new steps by the central bank to boost economic growth, saying inflation was running below the Fed’s objective of 2% and that the economy was on a course to grow too slowly to reduce unemployment.” (Wall Street Journal, Friday)

Sure glad they learned their lesson last time. (Not)

FEE Timely Classic:
“Commercial Banking in a Free Society” by Steven Horwitz

]]> http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/bernanke-argues-for-more-economic-intervention/feed/ 1 Banks Foreclosure Troubles http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/banks-foreclosure-troubles/ http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/banks-foreclosure-troubles/#comments Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:22:39 +0000 Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9347763 “At Citigroup and GMAC, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on home foreclosures was outsourced to frazzled workers who sometimes tossed the paperwork into the garbage.” (New York Times, Wednesday)

The hidden cost of regulation?

FEE Timely Classic:
“Regulatory Overkill” by Doug Bandow

]]> http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/banks-foreclosure-troubles/feed/ 0 September Foreclosures Top 100,000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/september-foreclosures-top-100000/ http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/september-foreclosures-top-100000/#comments Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:22:28 +0000 Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9347765 “The number of homes taken over by banks topped 100,000 for the first time in September, though foreclosures are expected to slow in coming months as lenders work through questionable paperwork, real estate data company RealtyTrac said on Thursday.” (Reuters, Thursday)

The hidden cost of regulation?

FEE Timely Classic:
“Can the Feds Save the Housing Market” by Robert P. Murphy

]]> http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/september-foreclosures-top-100000/feed/ 0 Fed Will Continue Expansionary Monetary Policy http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/fed-will-continue-expansionary-monetary-policy/ http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/fed-will-continue-expansionary-monetary-policy/#comments Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:20:55 +0000 Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9347729 “Most Wall Street analysts expect the Fed to decide, at its meeting in early November, to resume the debt-buying strategy known as quantitative easing, in which the Federal Reserve would purchase Treasury securities to make borrowing cheaper. But while that outcome is possible, it is not certain, according to minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting, which the central bank released Tuesday.” (New York Times, Tuesday)

At least turning on the printing presses is honest.

FEE Timely Classic:
“Inflation as Income Distribution” by Sheldon richman

]]> http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/fed-will-continue-expansionary-monetary-policy/feed/ 1 Intelligence Agencies Wasted “Billions” Committee Says http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/intelligence-agencies-wasted-billions-committee-says/ http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/intelligence-agencies-wasted-billions-committee-says/#comments Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:20:52 +0000 Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9347732 “‘The American public would be outraged if they knew,’ Sen. Christopher S. Bond, Missouri Republican, told The Washington Times. ‘Billions and billions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted.’ Mr. Bond said he was unable to provide details or exact figures because the programs are classified. ‘I wish I could, but I can’t,’ he said, adding that ‘many billions of dollars’ were wasted on ‘just one program’ that had been canceled recently.” (Washington Times, Tuesday)

Pun: Classified waste is no national secret.

FEE Timely Classic:
“Our Presidents and the National Debt” by Burton Folsom Jr.

]]> http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/intelligence-agencies-wasted-billions-committee-says/feed/ 1 Europe Faces Demonstrations Over “Austerity” http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/europe-faces-demonstrations-over-austerity/ http://www.thefreemanonline.org/in-brief/europe-faces-demonstrations-over-austerity/#comments Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:14:59 +0000 Mike Van Winkle http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9347233 “Painful cuts by overspending EU countries come head to a head with mounting social anger on Wednesday when labour leaders call angry workers onto streets right across the continent. Set for its largest Europe-wide protest for a decade is Brussels where labour leaders are planning to bring 100,000 people from 30 countries to say ‘No to austerity!’” (AFP, Tuesday)

Union protesting budget austerity? Sounds like a good problem to have.

FEE Timely Classic:
“Socialism and Incentives” by David Osterfeld

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