SOME MORE ECONOMICS

Ignorant tribal thinking: "Mention any topic touching on international trade and you are sure to provoke multiple discussions, ranging from child labor to parity in workplace safety, and including catchy terms like "dumping," "outsourcing," and "brain drain." It seems as if many of our best and brightest scholars are devoting their precious talents to enumerating all of the horrible ills that will beset humanity if we do not act immediately to combat each and every development in the global economy. Yet what do these various proposals to regulate trade all have in common? They are all attempts to prevent people from cooperating with each other. The critics of recent developments in international trade relations, though they have couched their arguments in sophisticated economic rhetoric, are ultimately relying on the tribe mentality: It's us versus them, and anything that they are for must be bad for us. Fortunately for those who cherish harmony and peace, the tribe mentality is factually incorrect. Trade is a positive-sum game"

How about fairness toward employers and landlords? "The Louisville Council is debating whether to reinstate its 'fairness' ordinance, which prohibits employers and landlords from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. The proponents of this ordinance claim that it expresses the community's tolerance and fairness toward all its citizens, but, in fact, it really expresses bigotry and intolerance against employers and landlords."

Economies as ecosystems: "Are economies ecosystems? The parallels are striking. The energy driving ecosystems ultimately comes from the sun, while the energy driving economies ultimately comes from another boundless of energy source -- human imagination and innovation. Inspired individuals -- energetic, enthusiastic, and perhaps just a bit sun-struck -- plant their seeds of innovation, creating new products and starting new companies. Those seeds are fragile at first. Many fail, crushed by competition, starved by high costs or strangled by burdensome regulations."

Even Leftists can learn eventually: "The Boston City Council voted down a rent control proposal yesterday, sparking a dramatic protest by tenants and housing activists... The 8-to-5 defeat of the ''community stabilization act," a milder version of one proposed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino and killed by the council two years ago, probably means the end of efforts to cap rents and provide other tenant protections in the city -- at least for the foreseeable future".

How to discourage job-creation in one easy lesson: "Today, in Germany and France, divorcing your spouse is easier, and in most cases cheaper, than dismissing an employee under due observance of the provisions of the contract of employment. The administrative hurdles can be a long nightmare. Court approval may be required and failing it, the employees in question must be reinstated. The labor union representing a majority of the employees must agree to the "social plan" by which the employer company undertakes to assist the employees who lose their jobs."

The myth of wartime prosperity: "It is clear enough that war stimulates certain sectors of the economy. But it is logically and economically unjustified to equate that stimulus with prosperity for the American people as a whole. Ludwig von Mises summed up the correct position when he observed, 'War prosperity is like the prosperity that an earthquake or a plague brings.' Fr,d,ric Bastiat exposed the 'broken window' fallacy in the mid-nineteenth century. A shop window broken by a man's 'incorrigible son' is said to benefit the economy, since the company that fixes the window enjoys a 'stimulus,' which in turn is passed along to those with whom the window company does business."

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ELSEWHERE

Further to my recent post on blogs Right and Left, David Boxenhorn thinks that Leftist blogs have a bigger readership because Leftists are more conformist. He is however assuming that only the top Leftist blogs have big readerships (compared with conservative blogs). My impression is that lots of Leftist blogs have big readerships. One of my correspondents had yet another take on the matter. He wrote: "I'd be willing to bet the main reason lefty blogs get so many hits is because folks on the right usually have some kind of freakin' job which precludes them from haunting the web all day..."

The Independent Institute has up a very skeptical article on America's missile defence system. Sadly, I must say that I think that the system is a flop so far and much more research needs to be done before anything is deployed.

Democrats repel Catholics: "the Party's platforms and candidates have ever more stridently advocated policies that undermine the traditional family structure, such as unrestricted abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, and homosexual "marriage." The Democrats' extreme platforms recognize no right of conscientious dissent: in other words, these policies have become the very basis on which the Party rests, and their candidates willy-nilly must accept them. The Catholic Church, which has labored for decades to preserve and promote the dignity of the person and the family, is threatened by these policies. Indeed, the founding principle of our country-that all men are created equal in their natural rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness-is equally contradicted by the Democratic Party's dedication to policies that weaken families, kill unborn human beings, and manipulate human nature in the name of science. Until the Democratic Party reforms itself, most Catholics-educated by their bishops to recognize these policies as sinful-will no longer vote for Democratic presidential nominees".

Hilarious! The tax-loving People's Republic of Berkeley has just knocked back tax increases: "After years of voting for various tax measures that have made Berkeley's property taxes the highest in the state, voters are now saying: enough already. On Nov. 2, four tax measures designed to fund basic services such as fire and police, youth programs, medical services and libraries -- yes, libraries -- failed to get the two-thirds vote they needed to pass"

David Brooks has a very sarcastic article about the "unfortunate" stream of events that have led to various encouraging developments in the Middle East.

There is a good short account of the history of ancient Rome here that shows how Rome destroyed itself through socialism.

There is a humorous posting here called: ""Overcoming Leftism: A 12-Step Program"

For more postings, see EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH and SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. Mirror sites here, here, here, here and here

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That power only, not principles, is what matters to Leftists is perfectly shown by the Kerry campaign. They put up a man whose policies seemed to be 99% the same as George Bush's even though the Left have previously disagreed violently with those policies. "Whatever it takes" is their rule.

Leftists are phonies. For most of them all that they want is to sound good. They don't care about doing good. That's why they do so much harm. They don't really care what the results of their policies are as long as they are seen as having good intentions

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