Archive for category Government
Venezuelan Collapse Watch
Posted by Brian in Economics, Events, Government on January 16th, 2010
Beginning Friday, January 8th, Chavez simultaneously devalued his currency by half, and created a three-tiered currency system. When Venezuela tried this exact same stunt in the 80s, it led to widespread corruption, food shortages, and inflation. So we see they’ve learned from their mistakes…
In addition to the currency devaluation, Chavez ordered stores to keep their prices at the same nominal value as before - effectively forcing every store and company to incur 100% of the damage of his devaluation. He sent armed troops into the streets to crack down on stores attempting to raise prices, and set up phone lines for consumers to report stores that raise prices. Stores and companies are now being seized and nationalized for attempting to stay in business.
A few days later, he enacted rolling blackouts throughout the country, for four hours per day, every other day. Soon after - and Likely due to personal inconvenience - he repealed the blackouts for the nation’s capital, Caracas.
Now, in the latest stunt aimed at combating inflation, Chavez has chosen to raise the minimum price for a person’s services by 25% over the next few months. Yes, you read that right: Chavez is trying to combat increasing prices by raising the price of the most important natural resource:
Mr Chavez said the minimum wage will increase by 10% in March and 15% in September to offset inflation, which is widely expected to surge following the devaluation.
Now obviously, stores and companies are expected to completely absorb this huge increase in the minimum wage. The inevitability will be more inflation, more nationalization of companies, increased unemployment, and decreased production.
It will be interesting to watch all of this unfold. I have created a discussion thread at the Objectivism Online Forum to monitor the collapse.
Drug Decriminalization in Portugal a “Resounding Success”
Posted by Brian in Regulation on June 12th, 2009
A study recently released by the CATO Institute examined the effects of Portugal’s complete decriminalization of drug possession in 2001. What was predicted to lead to a “parade of horrors” by opponents has instead resulted in:
- Drug usage rates in many categories have decreased, most notably in 13-19 year olds
- For four years starting in 2001, marijuana usage was the lowest in the European Union
- Drug-related disease and mortality rates have decreased
- More people are taking advantage of government-supplied treatments, now that there is no threat of arrest.
Note that drugs are still not completely legalized in the country, due to international treaties. Check out the study, which is written by constitutional lawyer and Salon.com writer Glenn Greenwald. He concludes that when “judged by virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework has been a resounding success.”
Federal Fines for Forbidden Fruits
Posted by Brian in Health, Regulation on May 28th, 2009
By way of Monica at FA/RM comes this New York Times Op-Ed pointing out that farmers who switch their crops from grains to fruits or vegetables can be fined hundreds of dollars per acre by the federal government. From FA/RM:
Did you know that the federal government applies fines to farmers that shift from growing commodity crops like soy, cotton, wheat, rice, and corn? Yes, you read right. Farmers across most of the United States literally can’t decide what to plant on their own land without the threat of federal fines. Not only will the farmer forego subsidies for failing to plant a “commodity crop” on acreage that has traditionally been used for that purpose, he’ll be fined hundreds of dollars per acre for growing fruits or vegetables instead.
The Story of Stuff Debunked
Posted by Brian in Environment, Health, Regulation on May 21st, 2009
Environmentalist Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff is a mind-numbing guilt-trip being shown to elementary students across the nation. What’s most repulsive about this video is its lack of interest in the content of ideas and the meaning of words. Words like “synthetic”, “man-made”, and “production” are used as perjoratives, and all “chemicals” are “toxic” by default, regardless of dose. It’s frightening that, at the time in their lives when concept-formation is most important, little kids are being taught to disregard concepts and use words to mean anything, free of definition. Embrace the non-concept!
Thankfully, YouTube director HowTheWorldWorks has put out a four-part series destroying this monstrous “documentary”. What was most surprising about his research is the amount of false or mis-information in the video - for example, redefining “recycling” so as to exclude recycling that does not 100% reproduce the same product (e.g. a bottle turns into a bottle turns into a bottle). An important point that Leonard fails to grasp throughout the video, and which is repeatedly brought up by HTWW, is the fact that prices adjust with scarcity and will automatically lead to rationing. Leonard repeatedly assumes that consumption can increase exponentially regardless of product availability.
The National Debt Explained in a Road Trip
Posted by Brian in Economics, Government on May 19th, 2009
Of course he tries to paint Republicans in a positive light, and of course I’m opposed to that, but it’s still an interesting way to depict the debt.
Ohio Government Disregards Individual Responsibility When Convenient
Posted by Brian in Ohio, Regulation on April 17th, 2009
I just received a message from the Ohio Attorney General about a piece posted on their site. They call it “Know Your Rights” - a more accurate title would be “Trash Your Rights”. The article lists supposed “rights” - enforced by the State of Ohio - that permit people within the comfort of their own homes to sign contracts without actually being bound by them:
Under Ohio’s Home Solicitation Sales Act, consumers have three days to cancel a contract they sign in their home or at a location other than the company’s regular place of business, such as a home improvement show or a hotel lobby.
The seller must give you a cancellation form at the time of the sale. To cancel the contract, you must cancel in writing by midnight of the third business day after the transaction. Business days are Mondays through Saturdays; Sundays and legal holidays are not.
So, rather than allow a person to take responsibility for his own actions and thoroughly investigate a contract before signing it, the state government takes the convenient route - simply permit contracts to be invalidated without threat of backlash! This they call a “right”. Unfortunately, such “rights” must necessarily violate actual individual rights - those rights on which the country was founded, and which are necessary for people to be free to live and pursue their values and goals - the rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.
Do they really think this law will do anything positive? Certainly it’s not - otherwise they wouldn’t have to send out periodic reminders. Rather than cut down on the number of irresponsibly-signed contracts, it no doubt increases that number, and likewise the number of complaints from consumers. But regardless of whether or not such a law would work in practice, it does not justify the violation of individual rights that comes with such regulations. People must be free to set the terms of their contracts and expect the courts to back them up. As John Lewis pointed out in a speech at a recent tea party protest, such laws are an inversion of the master-servant relationship between the people and the government - “we the master, government the servant!”
FDR vs the Chicken-Mongers
Posted by Brian in Regulation on April 13th, 2009
Fellow netizen Stuart Hayashi supplied this link regarding one of the many absurd policies imposed by FDR and the New Deal, as described by author Amity Shlaes in her book The Forgotten Man:
“The New Deal’s persecution of the Schechter brothers for the crime of peaceably selling chickens to willing customers, oblivious to the production quotas set by the National Recovery Administration.”
Another example was the slaughter of piglets in order to keep supply low and prices high, at a time when people were poor and going hungry. From the book (p. 168):
The AAA got its first serious negative publicity after Americans learned that a total of six million young pigs were killed before reaching full size over the course of September [1933]. ‘It just makes me sick all over,’ one citizen would write, ‘when I think of how the government has killed millions and millions of little pigs, and how that has raised pork prices until today we poor people cannot have a piece of bacon.’
The New Solution to Global Warming: Pollution
Posted by Brian in Government, News on April 9th, 2009
In light of recent evidence suggesting that some part of global warming has been caused by cleaner air, which allows more sunlight to hit the Earth’s surface and the oceans, it should come as no surprise that President Obama’s new science advisor, John Holdren, would seriously consider pumping the atmosphere full of pollution particles.
This will no doubt leave environmentalists asking, “what have we gotten ourselves into?!” Suddenly, the politicians that have been so quick to twist the economy to your liking are working against you. The solution is obvious: more lobbyists!
[Thanks to C. August at Titanic Deck Chairs for the mention.]
Misrepresenting “How We Arrived At This Moment”
Posted by Brian in Events, Regulation on April 7th, 2009
Alex Epstein over at the Ayn Rand Center has just released an excellent op-ed on the current financial crisis.
What must be done to recover from this financial crisis? Barack Obama rightly stresses that we first must understand how today’s problems emerged. It is “only by understanding how we arrived at this moment that we’ll be able to lift ourselves out of this predicament.”
Unfortunately, Obama (along with most of the Washington establishment) has created only misunderstanding. In calling for a massive increase in government control over the economy, he has evaded the mountain of evidence implicating the government.
We may decide to use this in our booklets to distribute at the upcoming Tax Day Tea Parties in Cleveland and Canton, Ohio.
Milking the Federal Cash Cow - States that Vote Early Get More Public Money
Posted by Brian in Government on April 7th, 2009
A new study out of North Carolina State University shows that states that hold the earliest presidential primaries and caucuses, and happen to pick the eventual winner of the election, get a larger share of per capita federal procurement spending - federal funding for goods and services, such as defense contracts. States that voted early but picked the wrong winner received minimal benefit, while those that held later primaries - when the winner was more certain - received little or no benefit from picking the winner.
For example, [Dr. Andrew Taylor] ’s research shows that “If the first state chooses the ultimately victorious presidential candidate in a competitive nomination … it receives $35.29 more in procurement per capita than if it had picked a loser.” In comparison, the benefit if the eighth state picks the eventual winner would be approximately $22.05 more in procurement per capita. Beyond the ninth contest, Taylor says, the benefits are no longer statistically significant.
The journal abstract is available online from Political Research Quarterly.
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