Jul 02
“Secret government documents leaked to The Intercept by a whistleblower show that, according to official figures, 90 percent of people killed in U.S. drone strikes in a five-month period in provinces on Afghanistan’s eastern border with Pakistan were not the intended targets.” See here (Salon). And here (The Intercept).
Jun 15
Every society that has ever adopted socialism ultimately became sick and weak. There are no exceptions. (Some socialist writers tend to point to countries like Denmark, Norway and Sweden as exceptions; yet those societies rose to power and wealth in past centuries when they were overtly capitalistic and commercial–and have each lost world standing as …
May 19
Even the Associated Press has begun to notice the collapse of Venezuela just 15 years after the country adopted socialism: Vigilante violence against people accused of stealing has become commonplace in this crime-ridden country of 30 million, once one of the richest and safest in Latin America. The revenge attacks underscore how far Venezuela has …
Mar 19
Columnist Paul Driessen discusses a recent report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, “Ten Thousand Commandments.” The report details the bone-crushing costs of federal regulations. Regulations keep business from starting. Regulations keep poor people from launching successful careers. Regulations make America poorer. See here. No one even knows how many Executive Branch agencies there are – …
Feb 20
The US military is the most expensive on earth. Its skirmishes in Afghanistan cost taxpayers approximately 2 MILLION DOLLARS PER SOLDIER PER YEAR. Now the U.S. president has issued an executive order mandating that the Air Force must spend $59 a gallon for “renewable” jet fuel and $67 per gallon for camelina-based F-22 Raptor fuel. …
Feb 13
Socialism is a curse that should be wished only on one’s worst enemies. Any society that embraces it will eventually become sick and weak. Venezuela was developing and prospering rapidly during the 1980s and ’90s. Then the country went hard-line socialist. Venezuelans are accustomed to severe shortages of cooking oil, diapers and other staple products. …
Jan 26
Socialism is a curse that should be wished on one’s enemies. Markets always win in the end, and no big-government welfare state can outlive its financial irresponsibility. Here is a story about a public school system that has overpaid teachers and administrators so much for so many years that interest payments on its debts now …
Jan 22
The City of Flint, Michigan–long under the political control of pro-government extremists–is now in the news for secretly supplying high-lead water to its population. Lots of political blaming and shaming. But the lesson is: Never trust government to dispense a vital commodity or service. The private sector would NEVER knowingly provide contaminated water to customers. …
Jan 09
There was a time, long ago, when “mass transit” was mostly provided by private companies. Passenger train, bus and jitney transportation was highly profitable. Fares were low. Trusters of government decried the outrageous profits of the “railroad barons” and demanded more regulations. The regulations made the industry less profitable, and train and bus fares increased. …
Dec 30
It is a myth that “deregulation” caused the housing bubble (and later, the crash) of 2008. And a bigger myth that post-recession laws have improved banking. As John C. Goodman writes, almost everything said by government and pro-government economists about the 2008 recession is a myth. See here. And the “cure” hatched by Congress in …
