Just War
by Murray N. Rothbard
Much of "classical international law" theory, developed by the
Catholic Scholastics, notably the 16th-century Spanish Scholastics such
as Vitoria and Suarez, and then the Dutch Protestant Scholastic Grotius
and by 18th- and 19th-century jurists, was an explanation of the
criteria for a just war. For war, as a grave act of killing, needs to be
justified.
[This article is based on the talk given at the Mises Institute's
Costs of War conference in Atlanta, May 1994. It was published in the book of the same name, edited by John V. Denson.]
Unjust Wars, Then and Now
by George F. Smith
According to the Federation of American Scientists,
nine countries account for the approximately 20,500 nuclear weapons
known to exist, with the United States having 8,500 of these. Iran has
none. Between 150–200 B61 nuclear bombs,
the primary thermonuclear weapon in the United States, are deployed in
Europe at six bases in five countries, one of which is Turkey, a border
state of Iran.
Money and the State
by Ludwig von Mises
As a buyer or seller the state has to conform to the conditions of the market. If it wishes to alter any of the exchange ratios established in the market, it can only do this through the market's own mechanism. As a rule it will be able to act more effectively than anyone else, thanks to the resources at its command outside the market. It is responsible for the most pronounced disturbances of the market because it is able to exercise the strongest influence on demand and supply. But it is none the less subject to the rules of the market and cannot set aside the laws of the pricing process. In an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, no government regulation can alter the terms of exchange except by altering the factors that determine them.
[The Theory of Money and Credit (1912)]
The position of the state in the market differs in no way from that
of any other parties to commercial transactions. Like these others, the
state exchanges commodities and money on terms which are governed by the
laws of price. It exercises its sovereign rights over its subjects to
levy compulsory contributions from them; but in all other respects it
adapts itself like everybody else to the commercial organization of
society.As a buyer or seller the state has to conform to the conditions of the market. If it wishes to alter any of the exchange ratios established in the market, it can only do this through the market's own mechanism. As a rule it will be able to act more effectively than anyone else, thanks to the resources at its command outside the market. It is responsible for the most pronounced disturbances of the market because it is able to exercise the strongest influence on demand and supply. But it is none the less subject to the rules of the market and cannot set aside the laws of the pricing process. In an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, no government regulation can alter the terms of exchange except by altering the factors that determine them.
Is Inflation about General Increases in Prices?
by Frank Shostak
There is almost complete unanimity among economists and various
commentators that inflation is about general increases in the prices of
goods and services. From this it is established that anything that
contributes to price increases sets in motion inflation. A fall in
unemployment or a rise in economic activity is seen as a potential
inflationary trigger. Some other triggers, such as rises in commodity
prices or workers' wages, are also regarded as potential threats.
Pressure Builds in Afghanistan
A
U.S. soldier is suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians in a solitary
shooting spree early Sunday. These attacks followed by a few weeks the
killing of two U.S. officers at the hand of an Afghan soldier working in
Kabul's secure Interior Ministry. Earlier still, Korans and Islamic
religious materials were burned at Bagram Air Field.
Soldiers caught under the pressures of war sometimes engage in acts of stunning brutality against enemy soldiers and civilians. As anyone with a cursory knowledge of the history of war knows, some soldiers commit crimes against the very civilians they are fighting for.
Soldiers caught under the pressures of war sometimes engage in acts of stunning brutality against enemy soldiers and civilians. As anyone with a cursory knowledge of the history of war knows, some soldiers commit crimes against the very civilians they are fighting for.
The United States as Natural Gas Exporter
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Men at a hydraulic fracturing site in Pennsylvania on Jan. 18
Summary
The United States has significantly increased its natural gas
production since 2005, largely because of advancements in extraction
technology. These technological improvements are relatively new, so
their exact long-term impact on U.S. production is currently unclear.
However, in the short term, this increased production has caused
domestic prices to decrease substantially.
Mexico's Poppy Cultivation and Heroin Production
Enlarge Graphic
Analysis
Mexican
heroin production has increased dramatically over the last seven years,
rising from an estimated 8 metric tons in 2005 to 50 metric tons in
2009. In addition, Mexico's total area of poppy cultivation increased
seven-fold from 2002 to 2009, rising from 2,700 hectares to 19,500
hectares according to the U.S. State Department. Much of this increase
has been attributed to the growing prevalence of black tar heroin, a
less refined opiate derivative than its better-known cousin, white
heroin. Mexico's main opium-growing region is along the Sierra Madre
Occidental and Sierra Madre del Sur, stretching from Chihuahua state
through Sinaloa, Durango, Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacan, Guerrero and
Oaxaca states. Based on the geographic location of the poppy cultivation
areas in Mexico and the trafficking routes that black tar heroin would
have to traverse to get to the United States, it appears that the
Sinaloa Federation would benefit the most from the black tar heroin
trade in Mexico -- indeed, many black tar heroin traffickers arrested in
the United States have had links to the Sinaloa Federation in Mexico.
However, Sinaloa's main rival, Los Zetas, are not cut out of the heroin
market completely, as the Interstate Highway 35 corridor leading into
South Texas (known Zetas territory) also sees a good deal of heroin
trafficking. There is also a pocket of poppy cultivation in southwest
Mexico under the control of Cartel Pacifico Sur, which is affiliated
with Los Zetas. While the Sinaloa Federation does not have total control
over poppy cultivation (and therefore black tar heroin production), the
group appears to have an advantage.Criminal Commodities Series: Methamphetamine
Enforcing Budgetary Discipline in the Eurozone
LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images
German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the March 2 EU summit in Brussels
Summary
Twenty-five EU leaders (all but those from the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic) signed a treaty March 2 committing eurozone members to increased fiscal responsibility. The "fiscal compact," as it is known, requires signatory eurozone members to enact constitutional amendments or equally binding national legislation enforcing EU-mandated budget constraints and stipulates corrective mechanisms to be automatically enacted at a national level if a country deviates significantly from these constraints. The treaty will go into force when at least 12 of the 17 eurozone member states ratify it, after which participating countries have one year to implement mechanisms to sufficiently enforce budgetary discipline.Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood: Unexpected Adversaries
ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images
A demonstrator steps on an ostrich egg with a drawing of Saudi King Abdullah on March 17 in Ankara
The State of the World: Germany's Strategy
By George Friedman
The idea of Germany having an independent national strategy runs counter to everything that Germany has wanted to be since World War II and everything the world has wanted from Germany. In a way, the entire structure of modern Europe was created to take advantage of Germany's economic dynamism while avoiding the threat of German domination. In writing about German strategy, I am raising the possibility that the basic structure of Western Europe since World War II and of Europe as a whole since 1991 is coming to a close.
Holder Plays Texas Hold'em With Voter ID Law
By PETE YOST
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
A photo ID requirement for voters in Texas could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of registered Hispanics, the Justice Department declared Monday in its latest move against Republican-led voting changes in many states that have drawn protests from minorities, poor people and students.
Let’s Talk About the Real Issues, Mr. President
by Sarah Palin
Exhibit A in these diversionary tactics is an absurd new attack ad President Obama has released taking my comments out of context. I’m not running for any office, but I’m more than happy to accept the dubious honor of being Barack Obama’s “enemy of the week” if that includes the opportunity to debate him on the issues Americans are actually concerned about. (Remember when I said you don’t need a title to make a difference?)
Exclusive: O'Keefe Video Exposes Voter Fraud-Friendly Policies in Vermont
James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas has released a new video exposing just how easy it is to commit voter fraud in Vermont.
The video, a sequel to O'Keefe's
"Primary of the Living Dead" in New Hampshire, shows a Veritas agent
entering various voting places around the state of Vermont, giving a
different name each time. Each time, he is given a ballot without
showing an ID, to his disbelief.
In the video, the agent repeatedly requests (but does not take) a Republican primary ballot. As he explained to Breitbart.com:
"We wanted to remind viewers this is not a partisan issue. This is a
situation wherein anyone -- Republican or Democrat -- can exploit the
system."
The new video follows in the wake of a
highly-politicized media attack on Mr. O’Keefe after his exposure of
voter fraud in New Hampshire. Those videos resulted in calls from the
left for O’Keefe’s arrest. However, the videos soon resulted in the New
Hampshire State Senate passing a new bill requiring voter ID.
Gasoline prices 'highest ever for this time of year'
By CHRIS KAHN
AP Energy Writer
NEW YORK
The price of gasoline jumped by nearly a nickel over the weekend and is now $3.80 per gallon.
That's the highest ever for this time of year. Pump prices have risen an average 52 cents this year as refineries and wholesalers pass along the higher cost of crude oil. And this month they're getting an additional boost as investors bet that supplies will shrink ahead of the summer driving season.
Monday, March 12, 2012
How do voters feel about high gas prices?
By Kenneth P. Green
March 8, 2012, 2:54 pm
They don’t like ‘em: CBS post-primary exit polls
in seven states found that “77 percent of those voting in seven Super
Tuesday states say rising gas prices were the most important factor in
their vote.”
The article observes that “Voters in Super Tuesday contests say gas prices were the most critical factor in their vote.”
Will that have implications for the 2012 presidential election? You betcha:
The article observes that “Voters in Super Tuesday contests say gas prices were the most critical factor in their vote.”
Will that have implications for the 2012 presidential election? You betcha:
On Wednesday in Washington D.C., there was a hearing where Republicans and Democrats offered very different views of how to deal with this issue from a policy perspective: Democrats are urging conservation and tax breaks for electric vehicles with Republicans urging a dramatic expansion of drilling. So, according to the exit polls, that division will be a key factor in elections this fall.Watch for more disingenuous claims by the Obama administration about recent increases in domestic oil and gas production, which happened despite their best efforts, not because of them. And, watch for Democrats to crank up the Bueller mode, claiming credit for inventing the technology that led to the shale gas boom.
Should this be the GOP education agenda?
March 8, 2012, 2:11 pm
But none of the candidates have made education a priority issue, and the debate questions reflect that. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of Washington, D.C. public schools who now heads the advocacy group StudentsFirst, called the lack of focus on education “ridiculous,” adding: “What people are failing to recognize is that we are not going to be able to ensure that our economy recovers in the long term and that this country regains its position in the global marketplace until we fix our education system.”
The incredible revival of U.S. manufacturing? Credit trade and energy
By James Pethokoukis
What is Iran up to in Latin America?
Earlier this month, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper told Congress that “Iranian officials” at the highest levels “are now more willing to conduct an attack in the United States….” The next logical question is, “What is that hostile regime doing with the support of its trusted allies very close to our borders?”
Are special tax breaks OK for bailed-out GM but not AIG?
By James Pethokoukis
A group of four former members of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP – Elizabeth Warren, Damon Silvers, Mark McWatters, and Kenneth Troske – today will condemn what they say is an estimated $17.7 billion in special tax breaks given to bailed out insurer AIG: “Congress should not allow … AIG to avoid paying taxes for years into the future in addition to the $182 billion bailout the company has already received … When a company changes ownership, long-standing tax laws limit the extent to which it can offset future taxes with past losses. “Beginning in late 2008, however, the Treasury Department quietly issued a series of notices that exempted AIG from those limits. … ‘AIG gambled recklessly on mortgage-backed securities and lost,’ said Warren, former chair of the Panel. ‘When the government bailed out AIG, it should not have allowed the failed insurance giant to duck taxes for years to come.”
Why Are Gasoline Prices High (And What Can Be Done About It)?
Policymakers often blame high
gasoline prices on oil company profits, collusion, or speculators, but
understanding what really goes into the cost of gasoline is key to
understanding what the government could do to lower prices.
In addition to triggering off a gusher of newspaper editorials, the price pinch at the pump is sparking serious consumer discomfort. SymphonyIRI reports that “57 percent of consumers are feeling increased financial strain when gas prices increase, and more than four in ten say high gas prices make it difficult to meet monthly expenses,” based on polls conducted in the second quarter of 2011. Furthermore, 49 percent of consumers plan to reduce grocery spending if gas prices climb another 50 cents.
The table below shows how consumers respond to higher gasoline prices.
Gallup polls show similar results. The most recent poll on the subject, conducted May 12-15, 2011, shows that increased gasoline prices caused severe financial hardship for 21 percent of respondents and moderate hardship for 46 percent, a total of 67 percent.
Moody’s Analytics data shows that the “average American household spends $3,348 of its after tax income on gasoline and diesel.” A 10 cent increase in gas prices translates to an extra $93.25 in gasoline and diesel expenditures per year for the average household, and deducts $11 billion from consumers in one year.
An Associated Press-Gfk survey conducted February 16-20, 2012, found that 58 percent of respondents disapproved of how President Obama has handled gas prices. Since December 2011, the average cost of a gallon of gasoline increased by 30 cents, during which time the percentage of people who called gas prices deeply important grew 6 percent to seven out of ten, and the percentage that views gas prices as extremely important went up 9 percent, to 39 percent. On March 6, 2012, or “Super Tuesday,” seven out of ten primary voters said gas prices were an “important” factor in their decision making.
So what’s behind gas prices?
Real gasoline prices, 1976–2012, in February 2012 dollars. Data from http://www.eia.gov/emeu/steo/realprices/.
Oil Supply and Demand
Setting aside conspiracy theories about oil company collusion—a perennial favorite of politicians of all stripes—the primary reason for high gasoline prices, as any economist will tell you, is very simple: world demand for oil (from which gasoline is made) is high, and the available supply is limited. The cost of crude oil as a share of the retail price of gasoline varies over time, but in January 2012, it was 76 percent.
And what drives the price of oil? Many factors, according to the Energy Information Association:
Supply and demand in the world oil market
are balanced through responses to price movements, and the factors
underlying expectations for supply and demand are both numerous and
complex. The key factors determining long-term expectations for oil
supply, demand, and prices can be summarized in four broad categories:
the economics of non-OPEC conventional liquids supply; OPEC investment
and production decisions; the economics of unconventional liquids (such
as oil from oil-sand or shale) supply; and world demand for liquids.
Back in 2006, the EIA observed that
prices have risen since 2000 as a result of strong demand growth in
developing economies (such as China), supply disruptions, and
“inadequate investment to meet demand growth.”Unrest in the Middle East is a perennial cause of worry over world oil supplies, and the recent explicit threats by Iran to close the Straits of Hormuz can’t be promoting confidence in oil consumer markets.
Another source of supply uncertainty is the moratorium that the Obama administration placed on U.S. development of domestic oil production in the last two years. Since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in 2010, U.S. domestic oil production has slowed significantly, especially in the Gulf of Mexico. The permitting slowdown as a result of the spill is estimated to have cost the United States $4.4 billion in output costs, 19,000 jobs, $1.1 billion in wages, and over $500 million in federal, state, and local government lost tax revenues. The Gulf Oil spill also caused a slowdown in the allotment of shallow-water drilling permits. A study by Bernard L. Weinstein at the Southern Methodist University looked at the effects of this slowdown in shallow-water permitting, and found that it will cost 50,000 jobs and U.S. income losses could exceed $12.5 billion.
But if 76 percent of the cost of gasoline is due to fluctuations in the price of crude, then 24 percent is due to something else, or a bunch of something elses. The Federal Trade Commission suggests that the other 24 percent of the cost of gasoline is influenced by a variety of supply and public policy factors. Some of the more significant factors follow.
Taxes
As the figure below shows, a significant share of the price people pay at the pump consists of federal and state taxes, and an array of fees associated with the production, processing, and transportation of oil and gas. Taxes, in fact, are nearly equal to the costs of refining, distribution, and marketing of gasoline. That fluctuates, of course, because most gas taxes are percentage based. Hence, they shrink as a proportion of cost when oil prices rise, but they remain significant. At $3.79/gallon, taxes account for about 53 cents.
Source: http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=gasoline_factors_affecting_prices.
A Fractured Market
In order to fulfill air pollution reduction plans in states and localities across the country, gasoline sold in the United States has been fractionated into about 17 different boutique fuels sold in dozens of discrete markets. With three grades of gasoline per fuel, refiners are producing over 50 separate blends. Such boutique fuel requirements increase both price volatility and the height of price spikes as a function of the distance-to-market of boutique fuel producers and consumers, according to the Energy Information Administration. Boutique fuel requirements also increase the absolute price of gasoline sold in boutique markets, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Escalating Refinery Costs
Another factor that may have contributed to the increased price of gasoline is the reduction in the number of operating refineries in the United States over the last 30 years. The number and capacity of U.S. refineries peaked in 1981, and, since then, 171 plants have closed, although the remaining plants have increased output to offset a loss of production. Though most of this reduction has been caused by the low profit potential of refineries, others see a significant cause in “extremely tight environmental restrictions, not-in-my-backyard community opposition, and the high cost of new construction.” Refinery profit margins have played a role in recent gasoline price hikes. The EIA suggests that “The sizable jump in retail prices this year reflects not only the higher average cost of crude oil compared to previous years, but also an increase in U.S. refining margins on gasoline (the difference between refinery wholesale gasoline prices and the average cost of crude oil) from an average of $0.34 per gallon in 2010 to $0.45 per gallon in 2011 and $0.42 per gallon in 2012.”
A Weak Dollar
In recent congressional testimony, Robert Murphy, of the Institute for Energy Research, observed:
Crude oil is traded in a world market. If
the dollar falls against another currency, such as the euro, then either
the euro-price of oil has to fall, or the dollar-price of oil has to
rise, to eliminate arbitrage profits. From its peak in March 2009, the
dollar has fallen 17 percent against other major currencies. Therefore,
holding everything else constant, the dollar depreciation alone from
early 2009 can explain a 20.5 percent increase in oil prices (quoted in
dollars). Put differently, the oil price quoted in (say) Japanese yen
has not risen as much since early 2009 as it has in U.S. dollars.
It is on the basis of such calculations
that a recent Joint Economic Committee report estimated that Federal
Reserve policies have added almost 57 cents to the price of a gallon of
gasoline for American motorists.
As (former AEI) economist Vincent Reinhart put it:
Indeed, both the net rise and the
volatility of oil prices over the past nine months are partly a
predictable byproduct of the Fed’s expansion of its balance sheet in its
policy known as quantitative easing (QE).
Reinhart elaborates:
Since the Fed firmly signaled in August
its intent to launch the latest round of QE, oil prices have risen from
$76 to around $100 per barrel.
Why does the Fed’s balance sheet matter
for oil prices? The producers of oil as well as other commodities
typically sell their output in a worldwide market priced in U.S.
dollars. Thus, they care about the current and expected future
purchasing power of the dollar and how that will translate into goods
and services back home. But QE has been associated with higher inflation
and dollar depreciation, which combines to erode the purchasing power
of the foreign producers of commodities. Thus, some of the rise in the
nominal price of oil has been to catch up with that erosion.
Much more important in shaping near-term
oil-price dynamics has been the nudge to investors from QE to move from
safe to riskier investments. The commodity market has been one outlet
for that reinvigorated search for yield. Investment flows into
commodity-related vehicles has stepped up noticeably. This has been
reinforced by the Fed’s policy of keeping short-term nominal interest
rates near zero, which keeps it cheap to do some of that trading on
borrowed funds. Such speculation neither produces nor consumes the
commodity, so it should have no long lasting effect on prices. However,
over short periods, it can fuel spasms of enthusiasm or angst that
trigger wide swings in prices.
Some analysts believe that the Fed’s role is still more important:
Weakness in the U.S. currency feeds upward
pressure on commodities, which are priced in dollars and thus come at a
discount on the foreign markets. One result has been a surge higher in
gasoline prices to nearly $4 a gallon before the summer driving season
even starts, a trend that economists say will be aggravated as demand
increases and the summer storm season threatens to disrupt oil supplies
... Using a model that combines "subtle rates of change" with movements
in the dollar index and commodity prices, Hastings figures the low
dollar is responsible for about one-third, or $1.31, of the total
gas-at-the-pump cost.
SpeculatorsWhen explaining gasoline price hikes, policymakers point first to things like oil company profits, but lately, more attention has been paid to so-called “speculators:” people who buy oil futures as an investment, never intending to actually take possession of the oil that they have contracted for. In a Forbes article entitled “Oil Speculators Are Your Friends,” Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren show that, while speculation has been shown capable of causing short-term price spikes in the past, there is little evidence that speculation is a cause of oil price hikes since 2005. First, they observe that no evidence has emerged linking the real prices of oil to the prices being set in futures markets. Second, they point out that a sharp increase in the number of speculators also fails to show a correlation with real prices. Third, they find that rather than increasing price volatility, it turns out that speculation increases after price volatility manifests, and tends to damp it down: only two out of 26 studies of speculation showed increased price volatility after the onset of futures trading in commodity markets, while 14 out of 26 studies showed a decrease in commodity price volatility after trading markets were introduced.
Conclusion
The gas price consumers pay at the pump reflects the world price of oil, state and federal taxes, and other factors such as escalating refining costs, environmental regulations, and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.
Understanding what goes into the cost of gasoline is key to understanding what the government could do to lower gasoline prices. While U.S. policy cannot affect the world price of oil much in either the short or long term (though policies aimed at reducing instability in oil-producing regions couldn’t hurt), policymakers do have other options that might reduce the cost of gasoline, including: tax holidays at the state and federal level; strong-dollar and inflation-control policies at the Federal Reserve; and relaxation, suspension, or simplification of environmental regulations that fragment markets, increase market fragility, and boost refining costs.
Kenneth Green is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Beware Analysts Torturing Jobs Data to Fit Model: Caroline Baum
Illustration by Peter J. Ahlberg/AHL&CO
By
Caroline Baum Traders, take your mark. Go! The
monthly employment stakes has begun.
At precisely 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the Employment Situation report for February. (Note: It is not the “unemployment report,” a misnomer favored by almost every TV and radio commentator.) Then the real fun begins: dissecting the numbers and spinning them to reflect one’s political biases or entrenched view on the U.S. economy. In other words, attempting to make reality conform to the model.
At precisely 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the Employment Situation report for February. (Note: It is not the “unemployment report,” a misnomer favored by almost every TV and radio commentator.) Then the real fun begins: dissecting the numbers and spinning them to reflect one’s political biases or entrenched view on the U.S. economy. In other words, attempting to make reality conform to the model.
As Pension Crisis Looms, Golden Years Fade to Black: Clive Crook
The resolution of every economic
crisis sows the seeds of the next.
Public pension systems in advanced and emerging economies alike were already under stress before the Great Recession. The past few years’ destruction of wealth and the likelihood of slower growth in the future have weakened them further and will put some under intolerable pressure.
Getting pension systems to work as they should will be one
of the toughest tests governments face in the next several
decades. It demands something they are notoriously bad at:
thinking ahead.
I’m not saying governments don’t understand the problem. Many have started to address it. The trouble is, they’re framing the issue too narrowly, and adopting fixes that are unlikely to stick. Getting on top of this issue will require more radical thinking. In many countries, options that have been taken off the table will need to be put back on.
Public pension systems in advanced and emerging economies alike were already under stress before the Great Recession. The past few years’ destruction of wealth and the likelihood of slower growth in the future have weakened them further and will put some under intolerable pressure.
Photographer: Elizabeth Lippman/Bloomberg
I’m not saying governments don’t understand the problem. Many have started to address it. The trouble is, they’re framing the issue too narrowly, and adopting fixes that are unlikely to stick. Getting on top of this issue will require more radical thinking. In many countries, options that have been taken off the table will need to be put back on.
Why Do the Kochs Want to Kill the Cato Institute?: Ezra Klein
It seems the effort by billionaires
Charles and David Koch to take control of the libertarian Cato
Institute is going poorly. “We are not acting in a partisan
manner, we seek no ‘takeover’ and this is not a hostile action,”
Charles Koch told Bloomberg News. When you are denying
partisanship, takeover ambitions and hostile intentions in one
sentence, you probably need to rethink your PR strategy.
The Koch brothers have long supported Cato, which they helped found in Washington in 1977. Recently, however, they have come to consider their creation politically unreliable. In a meeting with Robert Levy, the chairman of Cato’s board of directors, they expressed their intention to remake Cato into a party organ that would aid their campaign to unseat President Barack Obama. To do so, however, they need control of the board. They intend to get it by suing the widow of William Niskanen, a recently deceased board member, for control of Niskanen’s shares.
The Koch brothers have long supported Cato, which they helped found in Washington in 1977. Recently, however, they have come to consider their creation politically unreliable. In a meeting with Robert Levy, the chairman of Cato’s board of directors, they expressed their intention to remake Cato into a party organ that would aid their campaign to unseat President Barack Obama. To do so, however, they need control of the board. They intend to get it by suing the widow of William Niskanen, a recently deceased board member, for control of Niskanen’s shares.
Fight Birth Control Battle Over the Counter. By Virginia Postrel
Anyone -- a local teenager, a
traveling businessman, a married mother of four, an illegal
immigrant, even a student at a Jesuit university -- can walk
into my neighborhood CVS any time, day or night, and, for less
than $30, buy a 36-count “value pack” of Trojan condoms.
That’s enough to last most Americans at least three months, according to Kinsey Institute surveys. If you want more, you can buy out the store’s entire stock. There’s no limit, and you don’t need to see a doctor for permission and a prescription.
Contrary to widespread belief, there’s no good reason that
oral contraceptives -- a far more effective form of birth
control -- can’t be equally convenient.
That’s enough to last most Americans at least three months, according to Kinsey Institute surveys. If you want more, you can buy out the store’s entire stock. There’s no limit, and you don’t need to see a doctor for permission and a prescription.
Virginia Postrel
Currency Trading at $5 Trillion a Day Surpassed Pre-Lehman High, BIS Says. By Anchalee Worrachate and David Goodman -
Currency trading may have risen to a record $5 trillion a day in September, surpassing the peak reached before Lehman Brothers (LEHMQ) Holdings Inc.’s collapse in 2008, according to the Bank for International Settlements.
Trading then declined to about $4.7 trillion a day in October and is likely to have fallen considerably in early 2012, the Basel, Switzerland-based bank said in a report. The BIS said it derived its estimates from supplementing the data in its foreign-exchange survey, which is undertaken every three years, with information collected from central banks and electronic- trading platforms.
The Bank for International
Settlements (BIS), in Basel, Switzerland, acts as a central bank for the
world’s monetary authorities. Photographer: Adrian Moser/Bloomberg
U.S. Soldier’s Rampage May Fuel Calls for Obama to Speed Afghan Withdrawal
The fatal shootings of 16 Afghan
civilians, allegedly by an American soldier, add to a series of
incendiary incidents that threaten to drain remaining U.S. and
European support for the decade-long mission.
In Afghanistan, the deadly attack also may reinforce Afghan suspicions that foreigners are seeking to conquer their Islamic country. They may conclude the U.S.-led coalition will end up leaving in defeat just as have outsiders from Alexander the Great to the British to the Soviet Union.
In Afghanistan, the deadly attack also may reinforce Afghan suspicions that foreigners are seeking to conquer their Islamic country. They may conclude the U.S.-led coalition will end up leaving in defeat just as have outsiders from Alexander the Great to the British to the Soviet Union.
US soldiers keep watch at the
entrance of a military base near Alkozai village following the shooting
of Afghan civilians allegedly committed by a rogue US soldier in
Panjwayi district, Kandahar province on March 11, 2012. Photograph:
Jangir/AFP/Getty Images
Robert P. Murphy. How Government Distorts Labor Markets
In a recent post at the ThinkMarkets blog, Freeman
author Gerald P. O’Driscoll cited Union Pacific Railroad’s labor woes
as an example of the mismatch between the skills workers possess and the
skills potential employers are seeking. O’Driscoll argues that there
has been an unsustainable boom in “human capital” characterized by
massive malinvestments, just as Austrian economists typically claim for
physical capital goods. This perspective is a useful antidote to the
Keynesian analysis of our current slump and leads to radically different
policy recommendations.
Nicholas Snow Did Henry Hazlitt Have a Crystal Ball?
When the recent global financial crisis hit, few people, even amongst
economists, saw it coming — except among Austrian economists, many of
whom for years warned of the impending burst of the housing bubble.
This didn’t happen only in recent years. Henry Hazlitt saw inflation
affecting the housing market as far back as at least 1946 in his
classic, Economics in One Lesson, and again in a July 24, 1950, Newsweek article titled “The Inflation in Housing.”
So was Hazlitt some sort of oracle? Of course he wasn’t. The explanation should be far more obvious than it is. Austrian economics provides a theory that correlates to reality quite well. When the government turns those darn printing presses on and expands the money supply, that new money must enter the economy somehow. And where it does enter the economy, entrepreneurs see an expansion of loanable funds and are able to start new long-term investment projects. The problem, however, is that these projects do not actually reflect demand, and so resources are being allocated to the wrong place. Once this is figured out, the bust occurs as the market scrambles to reallocate the resources to where consumers most want them, which takes time. Government creates the problem in other ways, such as passing laws forcing banks to loan to individuals with weak or bad credit histories.
So rather than Hazlitt and other Austrians divination, the sad reality is the government policy is predictable. Armed with Austrian economics, Hazlitt understood this well.
So was Hazlitt some sort of oracle? Of course he wasn’t. The explanation should be far more obvious than it is. Austrian economics provides a theory that correlates to reality quite well. When the government turns those darn printing presses on and expands the money supply, that new money must enter the economy somehow. And where it does enter the economy, entrepreneurs see an expansion of loanable funds and are able to start new long-term investment projects. The problem, however, is that these projects do not actually reflect demand, and so resources are being allocated to the wrong place. Once this is figured out, the bust occurs as the market scrambles to reallocate the resources to where consumers most want them, which takes time. Government creates the problem in other ways, such as passing laws forcing banks to loan to individuals with weak or bad credit histories.
So rather than Hazlitt and other Austrians divination, the sad reality is the government policy is predictable. Armed with Austrian economics, Hazlitt understood this well.
Sandra Fluke's Amazing Testimony
By BY IRA STOLL
From the Reason FoundationThe press and President Obama have been all over Rush Limbaugh for the words he used to criticize a Georgetown Law student, Sandra Fluke, who spoke on February 23 at a meeting of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.
There's been less attention paid, alas, to the details of Ms. Fluke's testimony.
Here is some of what Ms. Fluke said:
5 Wars That America Must End for Peace and Freedom to Prevail
Eric Blair
War creates an enemy that must be extinguished by government force. The more broadly defined the enemy is, the bigger the government's role becomes in eradicating it. And when the government wages war against anything, it's a cycle that's nearly impossible to stop. The government creates new agencies, and staffs them with union jobs that depend on never actually winning the wars, but rather only perpetuating them.
Will A Sitting President Finally Be Held Accountable For High Crimes and Misdemeanors?
Eric Blair
Since 2005, Veterans for Peace and others have been calling for the impeachment of the sitting president for war crimes. After their demands to lawmakers to uphold the rule of law against Bush were largely ignored, they renewed their effort to impeach Obama once he continued to bomb sovereign nations without congressional approval. Now, lawmakers seem to have finally decided to take the rule of law and Separation of Powers seriously.
Obama will face impeachment over his failure to seek congressional authorization before launching offensive military action in Libya last year. Official impeachment proceedings have now been filed in both the House and Senate.
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