FDR's policies prolonged Depression by 7 years, UCLA economists calculate

Seeded on Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:53 PM EDT (newsroom.ucla.edu)

politics, economics, depression, intervention

No Bailout? Good Riddance!

Mon Sep 29, 2008 4:13 PM EDT

Today, the House voted on a bailout package for struggling banks and the measure was defeated. While it is entirely possible that a bailout will still occur, in some form or another, for the moment we should rejoice.

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politics, economics, banks, bailout, recession, paulson

The Central Committee Is in Session - The Trouble with the FCC

Seeded on Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:11 PM EDT (Reason Magazine)

Great article describing the inherent corruption stemming from the FCCs power of spectrum allocation.

politics, fcc, wireless, regulation, m2z, central-planning, spectrum-auction

There's No Right to Health Care -- But does that matter?

Mon Apr 7, 2008 4:31 PM EDT

A recent column by conservative* Neal Boortz contested the notion of a "right" to health care. He says:

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conservatives, politics, health-care, rights, government, liberals, anarchy, libertarians

The New Left?

Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:30 PM EST

This article is a sequel (of sorts) to an old article of mine: Political Charts: Where do you Fit? After the New Deal, American politics was divided into two groups: The "left" was generally in favor of active government involvement in the economy and was socially moderate.

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politics, left-wing, right-wing, new-deal, new-left, political-charts, mitchell-chart

Political Charts: Where do you Fit?

Tue Jun 5, 2007 8:17 PM EDT

You're probably familiar with the customary left-right political axis, and you may even be familiar with the Nolan Chart or politicalcompass.org. But a recent book, "Eight Ways to Run the Country" has presented what is, in my opinion, a superior political diagram.

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politics, political-compass, political-charts, nolan-chart, mitchell-chart

Theists: Cast Out Your "Demon"

Fri May 11, 2007 3:31 PM EDT

(WARNING: The following article may be found insulting by people of faith. If you are a person of faith, and what follows makes you angry, please think about that discomfort. I do not create your feelings, you create your feelings. Ask yourself why this makes you uncomfortable.

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politics, god, faith, demon, belief, atheism, mental-illness, delusion

Why Do They [Progressives] Love the Fed?

Seeded on Wed May 9, 2007 12:07 PM EDT (LewRockwell.com)

Woods directs a challenge to progressives. If the economic left is truly concerned about the poor (rather than simply deferent to the state) why do they support central banking -- the most regressive tax that our government imposes?

taxes, politics, economics, inflation, united-states, federal-reserve, progressives

GOP Debate: Auditioning for Glorious Leader

Fri May 4, 2007 3:44 PM EDT

While it is likely that the GOP presidential race is merely a contest to see who gets rolled under the Democratic bus, I endured the affair in the hopes that the GOP would show some glimmer of hope. To be sure, my hopes were not high.

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giuliani, debate, politics, mccain, gop, hunter, thompson, romney, tancredo, paul

Don't Blame the Market for the Housing Bubble

Seeded on Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:50 AM EDT (LewRockwell.com)

From the column: "But capitalism is not to blame for the housing bubble, the Federal Reserve is. Specifically, Fed intervention in the economy – through the manipulation of interest rates and the creation of money – caused the artificial boom in mortgage lending."

wall-street, housing, politics, fannie-mae, federal-reserve, housing-bubble, ron-paul, econmics

New wage boost puts squeeze on teenage workers across Arizona

Seeded on Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:05 PM EST (The Arizona Republic)

Unsurprising results from a minimum wage increase in Arizona . . . coming soon to the country at-large.

arizona, politics, unemployment, economics, minimum-wage

Making Kids Worthless: Social Security's Contribution to the Fertility Crisis

Seeded on Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:15 PM EST (mises.org)

The article shows that declining birth rates in the developed world correlate with the generosity of a nation's social security programs. This leads to a theory that government retirement systems cause people to have less children.

politics, economics, fertility, social-security, retirement, demographics

A Look Under the Hood of US Health Care

Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:41 PM EST

This article is inspired by a series of recent articles on health care, including Lamborghini Healthcare and this article about wealthy Europeans coming to America for better care and even a few cheers for the French health care system.

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markets, insurance, politics, health-care, economics, uninsured, ama

Does Business Need Washington To Manage Wages?

Seeded on Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:33 PM EST (mises.org)

A decent rebuttal of arguments used to deny the logical results of placing a price support on labor (a.k.a. the minimum wage).

business, politics, economics, minimum-wage, wages, mises

Increasing Inequality: What is the cause?

Thu Oct 5, 2006 7:19 PM EDT

In recent years, income inequality in the US has increased despite significant increases in overall wealth. Some lament this development as an inherent flaw in need of correction. Others see income inequality as largely the result of the relative worth of some members of society.

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politics, economics, banking, debt, inequality, capitalism, recession

CNN.com - FBI detains 7 in domestic terror probe - Jun 23, 2006

Seeded on Mon Jun 26, 2006 12:30 PM EDT (CNN)

Key information from this article: "The suspects believed they were dealing with an al Qaeda operative but the person was actually a government informant, the sources said." In other words, this "threat" was completely fabricated. Doesn't this constitute entrapment?

fbi, us-news, war-on-terrorism, al-qaeda, saers-tower

The Progressive Era

Seeded on Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:17 PM EDT (LewRockwell.com)

An alternative view of the Progressive Era, describing the collusion between collectivist intellectuals and business interests that produced the America we know today.

politics, regulation, socialism, big-business, laissez-faire, progressive-era

What is the Free Market?

Mon Jun 5, 2006 5:40 PM EDT

Most people who have given any thought to economics visualize an economic spectrum ranging from "free market" to "socialist" and place themselves somewhere between those two poles.

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politics, economics, socialism, free-market, intervention

GWB: Darling of the Left? by Susan Hogarth

Seeded on Sat Jun 3, 2006 11:23 PM EDT (LewRockwell.com)

From the article:

bush, politics, right, left, liberal, libertarian, conservative

Mad about gas prices? Blame government, not Big Oil

Seeded on Wed Apr 26, 2006 11:27 AM EDT (CNET News.com)

"It is precisely the energy bill -- along with international events -- that is causing the prices to increase."

gas-prices, democrats, republicans, ethanol, us-news, big-oil, big-government, mtbe

What Would Gore or Kerry have Done Differently?

Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:07 AM EDT

A perrenial favorite of Newsvine discussion is some variant of the "What good or evil has Bush committed?" question. For example there is this thread and this thread and many others.

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bush, kerry, democrats, politics, gore, republicans

Beverage Creates a Buzz - Los Angeles Times

Seeded on Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:13 PM EDT (The L.A. Times)

Coming soon to a convenience store near you?

bolivia, columbia, drugs, cocaine, coca, world-news, energy-drinks

Government Without Territory

Sun Mar 26, 2006 6:39 PM EST

On this recent discussion, I brought up the notion of an alternative form of government which would have advantages over democracy. The general concept was:

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security, politics, police, government, consent, protection, anarchy