Archive for Sheldon Richman
Sheldon Richman is the editor of The Freeman and a contributor to The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.
White House Sees Signs of Congressional Mutiny
“Growing discontent over the economy and frustration with efforts to speed its recovery boiled over Thursday on Capitol Hill in a wave of criticism and outright anger directed at the Obama administration.” (Washington Post, Friday)
The quest for reelection outweighs all loyalties.
FEE Timely Classic
“‘Deliberative Democracy’ Dementia” by James Bovard
Feds Still Backing Shaky Home Loans
“In its efforts to prop up a shattered housing market, the government is greatly extending its traditional support of real estate, including guaranteeing the mortgages of middle-class and even upper-class buyers against default.” (New York Times, Friday)
Déjà vu.
FEE Timely Classic
“Can the Feds Save the Housing Market?” by Robert P. Murphy
The Mandated Health Insurance Outrage
With the introduction of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s 2,074-page health insurance nationalization bill, we can be thankful for one thing at least. It will most likely be the last bill of its kind introduced this year. Who’d have time to wade through another?
This doesn’t mean there is anything in the bill to be thankful [...]
CBO Says $849 Billion Senate Health Care Bill Will Cut Deficit
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping health care bill that would expand health insurance coverage to 30 million more Americans at an estimated cost of $849 billion over 10 years. Reid and other Senate Democrats cited an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office for the coverage and cost figures. The [...]
19Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedAdministration Seeks Palatable Way to Continue TARP Bailout
“The Obama administration is poised to extend the life of the highly unpopular $700 billion financial bailout and, to display a commitment to fiscal responsibility, is planning to use much of the leftover funds to reduce the national debt, government sources said.” (Washington Post, Thursday)
Didn’t they borrow the TARP money?
FEE Timely Classic
“Our Presidents and the [...]
Financial Legislation Heads toward Finish Line
“As lawmakers on Capitol Hill inch closer toward overhauling the nation’s fractured financial regulatory system, each hour of debate, each tweak of legal language, each tedious roll call carries the potential to generate colossal changes in the relationship between Washington and Wall Street.” (Washington Post, Thursday)
But it’s not the relationship we need.
FEE Timely Classic
“Regulation Will [...]
Monsieur Bastiat, Call Your Office
In September I lectured at the Liberty Weekend Dedicated to the Life and Legacy of Frédéric Bastiat, sponsored by the Polish-American Foundation for Economic Research and Education (PAFERE) in Warsaw. Preparing for my visit, I reread Bastiat’s great book The Law. Oh do we need Bastiat today! The Law is the kind of book you [...]
18Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedFrom 1944 to Nineteen Eighty-Four
A longer version of this article appears at the FEE website: www.tinyurl.com/npxxet.
I’m inclined to think of George Orwell and F. A. Hayek at the same time. Both showed great courage in writing the truth, undaunted by the consequences. Both valued freedom, though they understood it differently.
Orwell, a man of the “left,” could not remain silent [...]
Obama Warns of New Downturn
“Speaking in the heart of America’s biggest lender, President Obama told Fox News in an interview Wednesday that the piling on of U.S. debt could drag the country into a ‘double-dip recession,’ though he said he’s still considering additional tax incentives for businesses to reverse the rising unemployment rate.” (Fox News, Wednesday)
Let’s face it. He [...]
Government Misspent $98 Billion Last Fiscal Year
“The federal government made $98 billion in improper payments in fiscal 2009, and President Obama will issue an executive order in coming days to combat the problem, his budget director announced Tuesday.” (CNN, Wednesday)
Yes, a well-worded executive order should do the trick.
FEE Timely Classic
“Most Outrageous Government Waste” by Thomas A. Schatz
Medicare Ups Amount of Dubious Payments
“The government paid more than $47 billion in questionable Medicare claims including medical treatment showing little relation to a patient’s condition, wasting taxpayer dollars at a rate nearly three times the previous year.” (Associated Press, Saturday)
What the heck. Let’s make Medicare the model for health care “reform” anyway.
FEE Timely Classic
“Medicare: Prescription for a Fool’s Paradise” [...]
Many Taxpayers Owe “Stimulus” Money to IRS
“Some 15.4 million taxpayers could receive smaller refunds than they expected or owe taxes next year because they did not have enough money withheld from their paychecks as part of the Making Work Pay tax credit program, according to a report issued Monday.” (Washington Post, Tuesday)
Another little joke on the taxpayers.
FEE Timely Classic
“The Progressive Income [...]
Czech Students to Commemorate Fall of Communism
“Czech students will take to the streets Tuesday, just as they did two decades ago when their historic march ushered in the fall of communist rule.” (CNN, Tuesday)
A day for rejoicing.
FEE Timely Classic
“Why Communism Failed” by Bettina Bien Greaves
Gloomy Bernanke Assesses Economy
“Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke waded Monday into the debate among policymakers over the vigor of the economic recovery, offering a sobering view of what lies ahead in his most detailed comments on the economy in months…. Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, Bernanke also offered rare remarks about the value of [...]
17Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedMedical Overhaul Prompts Drug Price Hikes
“Even as drug makers promise to support Washington’s health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation’s drug costs after the legislation takes effect, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years…. Drug makers say they have valid business reasons for the price increases. Critics say the [...]
16Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedPresident Set Back on Climate-Change Deal
“President Obama came into office pledging to end eight years of American inaction on climate change under President George W. Bush, and all year he has promised that the United States would lead the way toward a global agreement in Copenhagen next month to address the warming planet. But this weekend in Singapore, Mr. Obama [...]
16Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedHealth Insurance Scam
It is fitting, on several levels, that the debate over de facto nationalization of “health care” may hinge on abortion. To get her bill through the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to accept an amendment that would forbid the use of taxpayer money to buy insurance policies that pay for abortions (except [...]
13Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 14 comments | Continued-
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Book Reviews
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The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy–If We Let it Happen
By Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Peter J. Tanous
