In case anyone needed further evidence that minimum-wage laws create unemployment, here is another story about Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart once had a thriving business model. It offered cheap goods at a central location. But Wal-Mart has come under attack from anti-business voices for years. In response, Wal-Mart has increased its pay rates for its labor (which …
Category: Government’s War on the Poor
Jan 10
Non-government health care gets cheaper and better; while government health care gets steadily more expensive
Government subsidies of health care–often enacted with claims that they “help the poor”–increase demand without increasing supply, causing prices to rise. Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and the VA system have all INCREASED the basic costs of medical care for poor people. But there are areas of medicine that are ‘elective,’ meaning that people make choices for …
Jan 09
Watch out! Employees of government transport companies double as dope snitches!
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. …
Jan 07
New Study: only 5.8 % of people in highest 1 % are there two years in a row
A shocking new study shatters sacred myths of government trusters. Some 11% of Americans will join the Top 1% for at least one year during their prime working lives, according to research done by Thomas Hirschl, a sociology professor at Cornell University. But only 5.8% of the 1% will be in the 1% for two …
Jan 06
63 percent of Americans are one paycheck away from homelessness
If you save anything in modern America, you are an utter fool. Government policies, such as near-zero Fed interest rates, massive and growing levels of taxation and regulation, and increasing government barriers to entering most careers have hollowed out the financial strength of the American working class. New figures show that 63 percent of Americans …
Jan 05
In Effort to Strip Private Citizens of Guns, “Liberal” President Moves to Strip Mental Health System of Confidentiality
Every government ultimately comes for all freedom, all property, and to kill all who resist. For centuries, the law has recognized physician-patient confidentiality. Doctors who snitch on their clients or who disseminate private, confidential information regarding their patients have faced professional penalties. Now, in the never-ending quest of government to strip the private sector of …
Dec 20
Puerto Rico: a Case Study in How Central Planning Benefits the Ultra-Rich
Fascinating expose’ in the New York Times yesterday. “Inside the Billion-Dollar Battle for Puerto Rico’s Future” The report details how the outrageous overregulation and overspending by Puerto Rico’s “leaders” led to territorial debts which are unpayable. In turn, Puerto Rico’s “leaders” sought bailouts from the world’s richest investors, promising a 20 percent annual return for …
Dec 17
Billings tobacco shop shuttered by government for displaying a “cigarette rolling machine”: State claims the shop is an “unlicensed cigarette manufacturer”
In case more evidence is needed that Montana “Justice Department” officials need some budget cuts, the Department has recently targeted a Billings smoke shop because the smoke shop displayed a cigarette rolling machine. See here. The State claims the display of the cigarette rolling machine–which tobacco buyers can use to roll a couple cigarettes on …
Dec 15
Wal-Mart Shares Plummet 30 % after Company Hikes Wages
Years of criticism and attacks have taken their toll on Wal-Mart. “Back in February, CEO Doug McMillon of Wal-Mart agreed to raise his company’s pay for entry-level employees to almost $9 an hour come April and up to $10 early the year after.” See here. Announcing the company’s third-quarter results in November, Mr. McMillon had …
Dec 09
France has become anti-Muslim police state
It is unfortunate that today’s Muslim societies are authoritarian strongholds where there is little due process of law (in the Anglo-American sense). It is even more unfortunate that France–one of the great fountains of liberty over the past 1000 years–appears to be embracing an almost-Islamic level of authoritarianism, ironically aimed at suppressing the French Muslim …
