All Posts Tagged With: "pretense of knowledge"
Presidential Hubris
If we were going to spend $700 billion, it seems it would be wiser having that $700 billion going to folks who would spend that money right away. In October Barack Obama said this in defense of his opposition to extending the 2001 and 2003 tax-rate reductions for people making more than $200,000 a year. [...]
22Dec2010 | Sheldon Richman | 4 comments | ContinuedRegulatory Magic
President Obama has signed the financial industry regulatory overhaul – officially, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Predictably, what he said about it cannot possibly be true.
23Jul2010 | Sheldon Richman | 15 comments | ContinuedThe Pretense of Regulatory Knowledge
“The financial system’s size, complexity and global nature defy attempts to chart its future.” –Robert Samuelson, Washington Post
26Apr2010 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Improbable Prose of Nassim Nicholas Taleb
As I get older and more cynical, I tend to look down on the latest “hot” idea or person. Sure, teenage pop stars and the novelist Dan Brown are talented, but they’re not nearly as extraordinary as their popular status would suggest. Every once in a while, though, something impresses me despite such cynicism. Nassim [...]
24Mar2010 | Robert P. Murphy | 4 comments | ContinuedThe Misplaced Acceptance of Political Leaders
Richard Ebeling is the president of FEE. This is an election year, and as in all past election years we are inundated with promises and proposals from candidates, each hoping to attract our votes. For the most part what they are promising is “leadership.” They tell us all the things they will do for us [...]
1Sep2006 | Richard M. Ebeling | 0 comments | ContinuedReducing Class Sizes: Other Things Are Not Always Equal
“The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.” —Henry Hazlitt One frequently hears economists use the phrase “other things equal.” For instance, other [...]
1Jan2002 | E. Frank Stephenson | 22 comments | ContinuedEnergy Taxes and the Pretense of Knowledge
“The current net tax per gallon [of diesel fuel] is 13 percent of the price, while the environmental cost per gallon is 50 percent of price. The tax on this fuel could be raised substantially to promote its efficient use.” 1 Typically economists oppose excise taxes on the grounds that they distort market prices and [...]
1Oct2001 | Roy Cordato | 0 comments | Continued-
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