Archive for February, 2009
Oldie but Goody
Ok, where is our Friedman now?
Life Imitates SNL
Via New York Times: GM says it needs another $4.6 billion loan within weeks and an additional $12 billion in financial support to stave off bankruptcy.
Now, watch this from November, and pay attention around the 2:15 mark.
The Weakness of Stimulus
Simply put: the Stimulus doesn’t return the same bang for the buck as private investment, so why take money out of the hands of private investors?
The Spendulus will do just that but nothing else
Spokes Model
Paris had a wonderful experiment with public bicycles.
A popular bicycle rental scheme in Paris that has transformed travel in the city has run into problems just 18 months after its successful launch.
Over half the original fleet of 15,000 specially made bicycles have disappeared, presumed stolen.
People take care of private property. They don’t take care of public property.
And in a national health system, your body is indeed public property.
No joke.
Were you aware that soliders who are lax in avoiding sunburns can be written up for “damaging government property?”
Once HHS is writing the rules for what treatments will and won’t get payment, watch for the behavioral rules and mandated diets, because your health is now of financial interest to the state.
Sorta like having NutriSystem in the Stimulus package, but rather a bland and flavorless version that costs three times what an ordinary meal might, and is designed to be culturally offensive to no one.
Objectivity at its Best
Recent quote from the “esteemed” NYT:
While it hammered home the reality of bigger, more activist government, the economic package was not the culmination of a hard-fought ideological drive, like Lyndon B. Johnson’s civil rights and Great Society programs, or Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts, but rather a necessary and hastily patched-together response to an immediate and increasingly dire situation.
Emphasis added… “Necessary?” Who says it is necessary? How about a few quotes from people who believe it is a boondoggle? Like me!
Are Happy Days Here Again
The Money Hole
Why is this still timely?
And why is Leslie still right?
“The American people earned that money, they have the right to decide how it should be destroyed.”
“Let the free market decide what is the most efficient way of destroying money.”
“Why are you pushing this Pro-Hole agenda? Is the money-hole lobby paying you?”
Action through inaction
But we must do something, right?
No.
Friedman is STILL right
Milton Friedman is still right:
