SOME ECONOMICS

Globalization saves the day in New Zealand: " It's Saturday morning and you've just noticed that the data projector is missing a fairly important element, known as a power cord. The conference starts in 30 minutes. What does one do? There is no electronics shop open. But there is a Warehouse. Now the Warehouse does not have any power cords for sale, but it does have an electric jug selling for only $10, which uses the same sort of cord. The cost of the jug with cord is much the same as buying just the cord elsewhere, so one purchase is quickly made. Thank God for free trade and cheap China-made electric jugs". [Just by way of explanation, The Warehouse is a New Zealand version of Wal Mart and both Australians and New Zealanders mostly boil water in electric jugs rather than in electric kettles].

The roar of good economic news is getting louder. Our economy expanded 4.2 percent in the first quarter of the year. That follows 4.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter, and 8.2 percent growth in the quarter before that. Over the last three months alone, our economy created more than a half-million jobs. Business investment grew 11.4 percent. Wages and salaries jumped 4.8 percent... Surprised? There's no reason to be. In the second quarter of 2003, President Bush signed legislation that lowered tax rates on the money entrepreneurs invest in the economy -- and those rate cuts took effect immediately.

How much do economists agree among themselves? "The authors survey 1000 economists from the AEA roster; the data cover both 1990 and 2000. Here is one result: ...there was strong agreement with the propositions that restraints on free trade reduce welfare...and that market-determined exchange rates are effective...There was also strong disagreement with the propositions that increasing globalization threatens national sovereignty "

Facts about Sweden No new net jobs have been produced in the Swedish private sector since 1950. None of top 50 companies on the Stockholm stock exchange has been started since 1970. ...well over 1 million people out of a work force of around four million did not work in 2003 but lived on various kinds of public welfare programs, such as, pre-pension schemes, unemployment benefits, sick-leave programs, etc. Sweden has dropped from fourth to 14th place in 2002 among the OECD countries (i.e., affluent industrialized countries) in terms of GDP per capita since 1970.

An all-investor nation? "Imagine if every worker in the United States had the opportunity to become an investor. Well, that dream has a shot at reality. In his 2004 State of the Union address, President Bush suggested workers be allowed to redirect part of their payroll taxes into individual retirement accounts. That was a big statement. It means there's now a legitimate chance to transform Social Security from a financially bankrupt system into a source of real ownership and prosperity for all Americans. ... Since the Reagan presidency, the U.S. has made great strides toward democratizing capitalism by reducing marginal tax rates, deregulating the financial-services industry and creating savings vehicles like IRAs and 401(k)s. Mr. Bush's latest proposal for Lifetime Savings Accounts is another step in the right direction."

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ELSEWHERE

An email I posted yesterday tended to give the impression that U.S. forces in the Vietnam war condoned prisoner abuse by allied South Vietnamese forces. Another reader who was there rejects that. He says: "I served as an advisor to a Vietnamese Infantry Battalion in the Mekong Delta. Concerning the claim that ARVN routinely cut off the VC's gonads: I NEVER heard of such a thing! We were trying to win the hearts and minds, etc. We actually punished our soldiers when they committed some crime (usually theft of something from a villager's hut). We didn't abuse, there were no rapes and no torture! I have seen my boss threaten to pull his advisory team when we thought that the ARVN were picking up too many villagers for questioning! Without an advisory team, the ARVN unit would not have been protected by American air support! I have seen an ARVN 1st Sgt beat the crap out of one of his soldiers for stealing from a villager in a village that was way out in VC controlled territory!" And, speaking of prisoner abuse, we won't mention Palestinian prisons and torture will we?

There is a good email here about antisemitism in Australia that notes the erosion of Australia's traditional tolerance by Muslims and their Leftist supporters.

Keith Burgess-Jackson has a good post on the sheer mindless evil of America's Left.

Amusing: "The National Women's Law Center has released its annual exercise in Bush-bashing in the guise of a state-by-state report card on women's health. Why, precisely, is the president at fault if women in some states don't eat their veggies?"

Steve Sailer has more on the 'story' doing the rounds on the web that Gore-voting US States have higher average IQs than Bush-voting states. It is a hoax of course but Steve has some REAL data showing that educational achievement does differ from State to State. So what characterizes the high-achieving States? Democrat voting? No. A higher percentage of whites in their population -- unsurprisingly.

Random Observations has a good essay on what conservatism is and why libertarians are wrong about Leftists. He seems however to have overlooked that many libertarians are Minimal Statists (as I am) rather than Anarcho-capitalists -- which is why they get on with conservatives. Both conservatives and Minimal Statists see SOME need for a State but the Minimal Statist wants to cut it back a lot further.

Iceland has libertarians too and this one blogs in English. I always think Icelanders must be pretty smart. They have kept out of other people's wars for around 1,000 years.

For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH. Mirror sites here and here

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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.

All politicians seek power but conservatives bring with them some concern for the welfare of their country. Leftists bring only their hate-filled Stalinist hearts and their pretend compassion. Voters, unfortunately, often believe the compassion is genuine

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