Monthly Archives: April 2009

Archive of posts published in the specified Month

Greenspan Vs Taylor

Economist John Taylor writes in “Getting off Track” that our current financial crisis was due to missteps in governmental monetary policy. He faulted excessively low interest rates for fueling the housing bubble. Had the Fed followed the Taylor Rule for

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Incentive to Disaster

“The bonuses bankers have handed themselves in recent years aren’t just excessive- they may have hastened Wall Street’s collapse. Although cash incentives tend to make people work harder, expending too much effort can actually hinder tasks that require creativity, problem

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A Postal Proposal

I recommend that the Post Office deliver to your home only three times a week. Some will be on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and others on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. There is little postage that is so time sensitive that

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Israeli Guards repel pirates

Israeli Guards on Italian cruise ship repel Somalian Pirates. Read here.

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Unions in One Lesson

from the WSJ Online Henry Hazlitt writing in his book “Economics in One Lesson”: The belief that labor unions can substantially raise real wages over the long run and for the whole working population is one the great delusions of

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Too Dumb to Fail

“To invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ….. “ Warren Buffett “I have given this matter some thought. Not only does a sky-high IQ not guarantee success, but it also could pose a danger, not only

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Convincing Others to Believe

Randall Hoven offers insight in American Thinker on April5 Stop Making Sense Excerpt But when the adversary is not nature, but fellow men, rationality as normally considered is out the window. We live in a world where Nancy Pelosi and

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Ironies of Modern War

When the Soviet Union lost the Cold War and the Berlin Wall came down, it was a momentous time. We expected peace in our time. Without two superpowers deterred by mutually assured destruction (MAD) the threat of a nuclear holocaust

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Tax the Poor

excellent point form Ari Fleischer in the WSJEveryone Should Pay Income TaxesIt’s bad for our democracy to exempt half the country. By ARI FLEISCHER excerpts A very small number of taxpayers — the 10% of the country that makes more

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Drive by Facebook

I have to confess that I am impressed by this Facebook phenomenon. It has opened up a whole new aspect of networking. I can keep up with so many interesting people I have met so easily. Like any technology it

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Random Musings from the Notebook

“The west won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion, but by its superiority in applying organized violence.”- Samuel Harrington “What truly breeds discontent is the illusion that Government can solve all of our

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Political and Economic Self Interest

In the early 1860’s there were few advocates for states rights influencing federal policy since they had all withdrawn from the union. During that period Congress got into the railroad business, handing over very large tracts of land to the

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The Politics of Tea

In listening to some of the talking heads discuss the tea parties, there seems to be a disconnect in understanding the motivation behind the protest. The White House Press Secretary stated that the protesters did not “get it” because they

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Twittering RebelYid

You can follow me at Twitter at http://twitter.com/rebelyid. Twitter is a live update and supplement ot the postings on the blog. I have posted over 500 supplements in the last month. While I try keep my blogs very concise, Twitter

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The Road to Fiscal Sanity Starts with You

While I support the citizen uprising of the tea parties I wonder how many of the participants have thought beyond their dissatisfaction to realize the outcome of a smaller deficit and the real costs of a transition to a frugal

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When Does Criticsim of Israel Become Anti-Semitic?

From the Jerusalem Post by ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL A. What term does the writer use to refer to the Jewish state?1. Israel2. Palestine3.Isratine4. The Upper West Side B. To whom does the commentator compare Israel’s military?1. The Rebel Alliance in Star

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The Fed as a Partner

from WSJ.com’s Political Diary – “To my knowledge, every hyperinflation in history has had two key ingredients: (1) budget deficits that could not be resolved politically, and (2) a central bank that assumed the obligations that the fiscal authority could

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