Monthly Archives: October 2010

Archive of posts published in the specified Month

New Political Faces

Peggy Noonan claimed, correctly in my opinion, that the Tea Party saved the Republican party (Why It’s Time for the Tea Party -The populist movement is more a critique of the GOP than a wing of it, Wall Street Journal

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In Search of Political Relevance

I do not pretend to speak for the other voters.  I was fortunate to be traveling during much of October so I missed most of the trash and noise masquerading as campaign information.  I truly do not care about college

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A Familiar Pattern

From the Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal, OCTOBER 28, 2010 There They Went Again The 111th Congress fits a familiar Democratic pattern. In the midst of the final moments of another contentious election The Wall Street Journal points out a

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Collective Manipulation

In the October 2010 Commentary Magazine Jeff Jacoby writes What Public Sector Unions have wrought (subscription required for full access). An excerpt: Organized labor in the United States achieved a milestone in 2009 that once would have been unthinkable: for

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Government Unions

from the Wall Street Journal online Notable & Quotable Former George W. Bush adviser Mark McKinnon on union funding for political campaigns. Former George W. Bush campaign adviser Mark McKinnon, writing at The Daily Beast, Oct. 24: A record $87.5

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A Long History of Self Delusion

The lesson of history, then, is that even as institutions and policy makers improve, there will always be a temptation to stretch the limits. Just as an individual can go bankrupt no matter how rich she starts out, a financial

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The Proper Role of the Central Bank in a Crisis

This “lender of last resort” role for central banks was codified by British journalist and economist Walter Bagehot in his 1873 book, Lombard Street. In a panic, Bagehot advised, a central bank should lend freely on good collateral and charge

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To Live and Think as Gardeners

Friedrich August von Hayek received one of the first Nobel Prizes in economics in 1974.  His acceptance speech “ The Pretence of Knowledge” addressed the limits of economics and applying science to complex social problems. “Economists are a this moment

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Dangerous Dogs Acts

In the Wall Street Journal Online Matt Ridley writes Studying the Biases of Bureaucrats.  He poses the question that while we seek to explain the seemingly irrational economic behavior and crowd mentality in market environments, why don’t we question the

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The First Target of Tyranny

The following is an excerpt from a sermon given by Rabbi Shalom Lewis in Atlanta: Israel is the laboratory – the test market.  Every death, every explosion, every grisly encounter is not a random, bloody orgy.  It is a calculated,

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Thousands of Small Holes

Yet while the laws of finance can sometimes be violated with delayed penalty, they cannot be permanently overturned. The fact remains that central banks cannot repeatedly use easy money to fund serial debt bubbles without accumulating fatal consequences. While undetected

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Democratic Fundamentalism

Posted in the Asia Times online Henry CK Liu writes The Crisis of Wealth Destruction.  An excerpt: Market fundamentalism places unwarranted faith in the mythical self-correcting power of unregulated markets driven solely by the no-holds-barred, winner-takes-all self-interest of unruly market

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Disgracefully Politically Correct

The following is an excerpt from a sermon given by Rabbi Shalom Lewis in Atlanta: Not all Germans were Nazis – most were decent, most were revolted by the Third Reich, most were good citizens hoisting a beer, earning a

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Better Children

Carpe Diem posts in Richest Man in the World Says That Trillions of Dollars to Charity Haven’t Solved Anything the absolute quote of the month from billionaire Carlos Slim: There is a saying that we should leave a better country

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The Futility of Class Warfare

Scott Grannis at Calafia Beach Pundit used one of the best illustrations of the effectiveness of the Laffer Curve is his posting, Our Highly Progressive Tax Code.  An excerpt: …since only a relative handful of taxpayers pay the lion’s share

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Trickle Down Damage

Robert Reich on Bill Maher’s Real Time spoke of the super rich and noted that the top 25 hedge fund managers each made a billion dollars in a single year, and then used that as a reason that the top

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A Wasteful System

“Nothing could be more repugnant to (Woodrow) Wilson and (Louis) Brandeis than the idea of accepting the great trusts and then using government to regulate them. To the evil of monopoly would be added the evil of big government controlling

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Intrade Has Republicans Taking Senate

Intrade is now giving slight odds that the Republicans will take the Senate.  (51.1)   Intrade gives strong odds (75) that the Republicans will take the House.

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Listen to Linda

In a debate posted on YouTube between Connecticut Senate candidates Richard Blumenthal and Linda McMahon circulating on many conservative blogs and sites, Blumenthal falls for the trap set by his opponent when she asks him “how do you create a

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Intrade on Senate Races

For what it’s worth Intrade shows the following odds- California Senate (Barbara Boxer) to win- Bid 75 Delaware Senate Democrat to win-  bid 89 Nevada Senate Democrat to win- bid 55 Connecticut Senate Democrat to win-  bid 85 Any bid

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