Archive for Sheldon Richman
Sheldon Richman is the editor of The Freeman and a contributor to The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.
Let’s Ignore Congress
I spent a good part of Wednesday night closely skimming — my conscience won’t let me type “reading” — the Republicans’ alternative healthcare “reform” bill. It’s 219 pages of legalese. I know it’s one-tenth the size of Speaker Pelosi’s bill, but that doesn’t make for easier navigation. Figuring out how it all would work is [...]
6Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 12 comments | ContinuedEven Seasonal-Flu Vaccine Is Short Supply
“Even though the regular flu season has yet to start, the nation is facing a severe shortage of seasonal flu vaccine as well as swine flu vaccine.” (New York Times, Thursday)
Who’s in charge here? Oh right, the same ones who want more control over medical care.
FEE Timely Classic
“A Ton of Prevention: How the FDA Threatens [...]
Fed Will Keep Federal Funds Rate Near Zero
“Federal Reserve leaders are sticking with their policy of very low interest rates for some time to come, they indicated Wednesday, but gave new details of the factors they will use to decide when to change course.” (Washington Post, Thursday)
How does the Fed know what the right rate is?
FEE Timely Classic
“The Fed Sets Interest Rates? [...]
Senate Extends Unemployment Payments
“The Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to offer up to 20 more weeks of unemployment benefits to those who have been out of work a long time, after weeks of delay in which hundreds of thousands of Americans exhausted their government aid.” (New York Times, Thursday)
Government likes to break people’s knee caps then benevolently hand out [...]
Health Bills’ Cost-Cutting Power Is Doubted
“In years past, policymakers tried taming health-care growth with price controls — in government reimbursements and through managed care. The Obama administration has advocated a third way: moving away from fee-for-service payments, which reward providers for doing more procedures, to a coordinated system that pays doctors and hospitals for doing better…. Now, as the debate [...]
4Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedHomebuyers Tax Credit to Be Renewed
“The Senate and House are poised to agree on a compromise measure to extend unemployment benefits that also would expand a popular $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers, despite a recent government report on extensive mistakes and suspected fraud in the program.” (New York Times, Wednesday)
Just cut taxes and spending and let us decide how to [...]
Bill to Mandate Paid Sick Days Introduced in House
“In an effort to rein in the spread of the H1N1 flu, Representative George Miller, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced legislation on Tuesday that would guarantee five paid sick days for workers sent home by their employers with a contagious illness.” (New York Times, Wednesday)
Beware the law of unintended consequences.
FEE [...]
Gore’s Policy Proposals Would Bring Him Riches
“Critics, mostly on the political right and among global warming skeptics, say Mr. [Al] Gore is poised to become the world’s first ‘carbon billionaire,’ profiteering from government policies he supports that would direct billions of dollars to the business ventures he has invested in…. Mr. Gore has invested a significant portion of the tens of [...]
3Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedBanks Have Till Feb. 1 to Come Up with Compensation Plan
“Summoned to the ornate Lower Manhattan headquarters of the New York Federal Reserve building on Monday, Wall Street’s top bankers were given a Feb. 1 deadline to submit proposals for how they plan to improve their pay practices, people with knowledge of the meeting said.” (Washington Post, Tuesday)
Misdiagnosis leads to mistreatment.
FEE Timely Classic
“Banking Without the [...]
Fannie Mae’s Assets of Interest to Goldman Sachs
“Fannie Mae and its sister company, Freddie Mac, which was also seized last year, face several conflicting demands under government stewardship. They still must try to maximize profits to pay back taxpayers. But they also play key roles in carrying out the Obama administration’s housing policy, which involves fighting foreclosures and reducing the costs of [...]
3Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedHouse Floor Debate on Health Care to Start this Week
“After months of plodding work by five Congressional committees and weeks of back-room bargaining by Democratic leaders, President Obama’s arms-length strategy on health care appears to be paying dividends, with the House and the Senate poised to take up legislation to insure nearly all Americans.” (New York Times, Monday)
The juggernaut rumbles on.
FEE Timely Classic
“Socialized Medicine: [...]
Troubles Confront Senate Climate-Change Bill
“The climate-change bill that has been moving slowly through the Senate will face a stark political reality when it emerges for committee debate on Tuesday: With Democrats deeply divided on the issue, unless some Republican lawmakers risk the backlash for signing on to the legislation, there is almost no hope for passage.” (Washington Post, Monday)
Let’s [...]
Taxpayer Money Benefits FedEx, UPS
“FedEx and competitor United Parcel Service (UPS) have benefited on numerous occasions from ‘earmarks,’ which are specific projects that lawmakers add to spending bills, a USA TODAY review shows of the annual transportation spending bills for the past nine years.” (USA Today, Monday)
Pay for your own runways.
FEE Timely Classic
“Welfare for the Rich” by Robert Murphy
The Welfare State Corrupts Absolutely
Let’s begin at the beginning. Medical care is not a free good found in nature. Of course, no one really thinks it is. But that doesn’t keep most people from
wanting to pretend otherwise. After a while, one forgets one is pretending. Yet medical care goes on being a collection of produced goods and
services — subject to the laws of supply and demand, and requiring resources and labor that come with opportunity costs. Therein lies the problem.
Commerce Department Reports Signs of Recovery
“The United States has emerged from the longest economic contraction since World War II. The nation’s gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the quarter that ended in September, matching its average growth rate of the last 80 years, according to the Commerce Department. But government programs to encourage consumer [...]
30Oct2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedEthics Probes Touch Many Congressmen
“House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July.” (Washington Post, Friday)
Being a member of Congress is at least prima facie evidence of unethical behavior.
FEE Timely [...]
Administration Concedes Overestimate of Jobs “Saved”
“An early progress report on President Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan overstates by thousands the number of jobs created or saved through the stimulus program, a mistake that White House officials promise will be corrected in future reports.” (Associated Press, Thursday)
But saying they made an error implies they know the right number.
FEE Timely Classic
“The Absurdity [...]
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Montessori, Dewey and Capitalism: Educational Theory for a Free Market In Education
By Jerry Kirkpatrick
