Oct 18
From FEE (Foundation for Economic Education) (quoting the Wall Street Journal): During the 20 years before the War on Poverty was funded, the portion of the nation living in poverty had dropped to 14.7% from 32.1%. Since 1966, the first year with a significant increase in antipoverty spending, the poverty rate reported by the Census …
Oct 13
A new study predicts that 40 percent of “middle class” Americans will likely live in poverty in their later years. Social Security and Medicare both incentivize Americans to save less, work less, and invest less. Harvard studies (which are likely quite conservative) suggest that Social Security alone caused the U.S. to be at least 3 …
Oct 02
The requirement that people must obtain a government license before working in a given profession is often promoted as a public safety device. But the strongest proponents of licensing rules are often the entrenched good ol’ boys who already occupy the industry. In many licensing schemes, one must apply to ONE’S OWN COMPETITORS who sit …
Aug 08
“Welfare” in the popular sense originated in the 1960s with President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” By the 1980s, profound research by academics documented that households which accepted welfare payments were WORSE OFF 5 years later compared to similarly-situated households which did not receive welfare “benefits.” (Much of this research was PAID FOR BY THE …
Jul 06
When you tax something you get less of it. In 2008 Maryland’s government passed a millionaire tax, taking more than 6 percent of everything earned by the state’s millionaires (in addition to all other taxes they already pay). One-third of all millionaires in the state either moved away or quit earning so much money the …
Jun 27
Under the unlikely headline “Big Sky affordable housing sees glimmer of hope in resort tax funding,” the Bozeman Daily Chronicle printed a bizarre story on June 27. Big Sky is Montana’s wealthiest town–where millionaires ski, golf and recreate and real estate prices are sky high. Prices are high because the town is hemmed in on …
May 03
An astounding new report about American demographics has been summarized by Bloomberg News service. See here. Average wealth for retirees has risen more than 100 percent since 1989, to $752,000, and the share of those who are millionaires has doubled. Also, more retirees—62 percent—are enjoying life without physical or cognitive limitations, according to the data. …
Apr 30
The above chart was generated by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and published on Marketwatch.com. It shows the overall price changes of certain products between 1997 and 2017. As you can see, government-subsidized goods (college tuition and books and medical treatment) have increased at rates much higher than inflation. Meanwhile, ‘tech’ products such as TVs, …
Apr 27
California has remarkable features. Victor Davis Hanson notes that California is the 5th or 6th largest economy in the world. California’s tech industry is responsible for at least half all internet traffic in the world. But the people of California are saddled with an increasingly socialist government. Fifty percent of Californians pay no state income …
Jan 19
California is a beautiful piece of earth made miserable through human central planning. For years, California legislators and governors have hiked taxes, increased licensing requirements and imposed increasing wealth-redistribution programs on Californians. Now the California government relies so heavily on the income taxes it collects from high earners that the state’s wealthiest 1 percent pay …
