FREE TRADE UNDER ATTACK FROM IGNORANCE -- AS ALWAYS

Protectionism is pretty disgusting at any time but this example really smells. Efficient producers of shrimp in a poor country (Vietnam) are being subjected to huge legal costs and the threat of tariffs by inefficient American producers who produce only a small fraction of the shrimp sold anyhow. I'll bet you'll not hear a single Leftist sticking up for the poor country on this one. Leftist "caring" and concern for "the poor" is just a lie.

Unemployment: "It is a constant refrain from Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry and his lackeys these days: 'George W. Bush has the worst job creation record of any president since Herbert Hoover.' They also claim that an economy that has seen significant growth in productivity, the stock market, consumer confidence, housing starts, and overall economic strength, is a 'jobless recovery' because the Bush administration is 'shipping our jobs overseas.' Statements like these make for great campaign rhetoric, but they are far from true. In fact, the unemployment rate today is virtually the same as it was when President Bill Clinton ran for re-election in 1996 touting his strong record on the economy."

"Every political campaign seems to have some buzzword, and this year's buzzword is 'outsourcing.' Since the economic recovery has not yet reached the stage when new jobs are being created to the extent expected and hoped, the idea that American jobs are being sent overseas has political mileage, whether or not it has much economic substance."

The "exporting jobs" scam: "Politicians are notoriously economically illiterate. And even when they know what would be the right thing, we don't really expect them to do it. But we do expect financial and economic reporters and 'experts' who appear on television to have some grasp of whatever they're discussing. Thus, when these 'experts' join in the chorus of outrage over greedy corporations exporting jobs, it's easy to believe there must be something to the complaint."

"The lack of employment growth continues to be the major political/economic problem facing the country and it likely will remain that way through Election Day. Contributing to the reluctance to hire permanent employees is the rising cost of employment, especially the cost of benefits ..."

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FROM BROOKES NEWS

The Madrid bombing and the election result is a warning to the US Bush's response to America being attacked was to overthrow the Taliban, bring down the murderous Saddam and take out a good slice of al Qaeda. Spain's response was to hold a mass demonstration against terrorists and then promptly surrender.
US productivity and the jobless mystery The contrast between America's unemployment level and the growth in GDP is causing consternation.
A journalist tries to skewer Bush on incomes and inequality A reporter would have us believe that the widening income gap was caused by President Bush. In fact, the gap grew significantly under Clinton. So what we have is another left-wing attempt to rewrite history.
What determines wages? A businessman cannot pay a worker more than the amount added by the work of the employee to the value of the product i.e. what the customers are prepared to pay for the product.
Why the Clinton boom burst Rather than look to economic history and well-tried theory for guidance, commentators, and some economists too, interpreted the boom as a "new era", one that had "abolished the business cycle".

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ELSEWHERE

David's Medienkritik says that, while the initial reaction of Germany's left-wing media to the results of the Spanish election was one of joy and relief, a new mood seems to be building up fast: the feeling of fear. Zapatero's intention to withdraw the Spanish military from Iraq does not meet with unanimous approval of even the most ardent Bush-haters.

Bidinotto has some updates on the money-laundering scandal in the John Kerry campaign -- and on what Rudyard Kipling had to say about appeasing terrorists.

In case you have not seen it yet, here is another story about the personal arrogance of "John the Jerk" Kerry -- this time from an airforce pilot who worked for him. Kerry really "cares" (about Kerry).

A Leftist puts the workers first! How unusual: "Opposition Leader Mark Latham has backed continued clear-felling of Tasmania's old-growth forests until 2010, angering environmentalists who had hoped he would pledge to halt logging earlier."

More scare-based "science": "Antibiotic use increases breast cancer risk, according to a new study. But after scrutinizing the study, I'm leaning toward linking grant-hungry researchers and a publicity hungry medical journal with reprehensible sensationalism. ... Without a plausible biological link between antibiotic use and breast cancer, the researchers relied exclusively on statistical analysis, a potentially useful tool if the data analyzed are of reasonable quality. These study data, however, fall way short."

China Hand's recent postings reveal some interesting contrasts: Most of his students have TWO cellphones; things get CHEAPER almost daily in China but they cannot make good bread in at least his part of China.

Arlene Peck says that the Arab areas within Israel have descended into gang-ruled anarchy.

Carnival of the Vanities is up again with its usual wide range of select blogospheric reading.

Over the years I have collected a lot of recipes for food that I particularly like. Many of them are for fairly unusual dishes but some are just shortcuts. I thought I might as well share them with anyone who is interested so I have started a separarate site on which I hope gradually to post my whole collection. The site is here. The first recipe I have put up is for what should be a fairly traditional Australian meat pie but which nonetheless seems to be little heard of today: Lamb and bacon pie. Great with a tossed salad and a glass or three of good Australian red wine.

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The Left have always wanted more spent on welfare and made "Fascism" a swear-word. President Bush deposed a brutal Fascist dictator and sponsored a big expansion of welfare. But instead of being admired by the Left, he is hated with a passion. What does that tell you about the Left? It tells you that they have no principles at all: That everything they have ever claimed to stand for is fake.

Three more examples of Leftist dishonesty: They blame the 9/11 attacks on "poverty" in the Islamic world. Yet most of the attackers were Saudis and Saudi Arabia is one of the world's richest countries! They also say that they oppose racism yet support "affirmative action" -- which judges people by the colour of their skin! They say that they care about "the poor" but how often do you hear them calling for the one thing that would bring about a worldwide economic boom in poor countries -- the USA and the EU abandoning their agricultural protectionism? Leftists obviously care more about conservative farmers than they do about the poor!

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