SOME ECONOMICS

Economy shames prophets of doom: "We were told at the beginning of the year that the American economy was in trouble. The boom in house prices was producing a bubble that would burst. The dollar would fall, and the federal budget deficit rise, increasing inflationary pressures and forcing a growth- stifling rise in interest rates. And soaring oil prices would be the final straw that broke the back of the economy. In the event, the housing market remains strong, with sales at record levels. Instead of falling, the dollar has risen, helped along by the sag in the euro as it becomes apparent that the eurozone economic model is on the road to nowhere. The budget deficit has declined, thanks to robust tax receipts and in spite of a battle between President George Bush and Congress to see who can be the most profligate. Inflation has remained tame, and long-term interest rates have not responded significantly to the Federal Reserve's attempts to force them up by raising short-term rates."

CAFTA opponents ignore NAFTA: "Last week's 54-45 U.S. Senate vote in favor of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) was a modest step forward for U.S. taxpayers and consumers.... liberal voices from the past continue to echo through Washington. "CAFTA contains inadequate protections for workers' rights and will only increase the power of corporations to exploit workers," the International Brotherhood of Teamsters website exclaims.... This rhetoric is mild compared to so-called "progressive" opinion outlets that equate CAFTA with corporate-sanctioned murder.... Over ten years ago, before the inception of NAFTA, Canada had a GDP of $617.7 billion. Since then, its GDP has expanded over 65% to $1.023 trillion. In addition, Canada's December 2003 unemployment rate was 11%; in 2004, its unemployment rate had dropped to 7% (a 36% decrease). Mexico's economic numbers since the signing of NAFTA do not reveal a "brutal exploitation" either, but measured progress, and a higher standard of living. In 1994, Mexico had a GDP of $740 billion. Ten years later, Mexico has seen its GDP expand over 35%, to $1.006 trillion today. In addition, its 1993 GDP growth rate was .4%. In 2004, it boasted a 4.1% annualized growth rate. These numbers are hardly indicative of the dangers of free trade. Like Canada and Mexico, the United States has witnessed similar economic prosperity since NAFTA".

Labor unions: "The truth is that unions are essentially parasitic organizations that thrive only by draining and ultimately destroying the companies and industries they control. The essential goal of the unions is to compel the payment of higher wages for the performance of less work and less productive work. Unions are notorious for their hostility to labor saving machinery and to any form of competition among workers, for featherbedding practices, indeed, for "making work" by deliberately and arbitrarily increasing the number of workers required to accomplish a given task and sometimes even by compelling the disassembly or destruction of products already produced. It should be no wonder that the percentage of the labor force controlled by unions tends progressively to decline. Where the unions hold sway, companies cannot compete. Their market share falls and they ultimately go bankrupt. The only way that unions can maintain any given share of the labor force is by finding new victims to replace the ones they have sucked dry".

Fabulous news from Greece: "The government is seriously considering introducing a single, 25 percent income-tax band as part of its broader effort to boost the economy. The rate would be the same for both individual and corporate earnings, and would be introduced on January 1, 2007, applicable to incomes earned in 2006. Should the government go ahead with the reform, which appears likely, it will be announced by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis in early September at the Thessaloniki International Fair, where premiers traditionally announce the government's policy for the following year. Under the present system, annual income up to 11,000 euros is tax-exempt, while the portion of the income between 11,000 and 13,000 euros is taxed at 15 percent, between 13,000 and 23,000 at 30 percent and above 23,000 euros at 40 percent. According to sources, introduction of the flat rate will be accompanied by a rise in the tax-exempt portion of the income to 13,000 euros. The government, meanwhile, has already begun decreasing corporate taxes, from 35 percent to 25 percent."

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ELSEWHERE

It looks like the conventional theory that comets are "dirty snowballs" is beginning to be accepted as wrong after the mission to Tempel 1. Tempel 1 seems to have been just a dust-covered rock: ""The major surprise was ... [data] that suggests the dust excavated from the comet's surface was extremely fine, more like talcum powder than beach sand. And the surface is definitely not what most people think of when they think of comets -- an ice cube," said Deep Impact's principal investigator." That means that conventional theories of the origins of the solar system are called into question too -- not that that would be a surprise to Andrew Prentice or to These people.

Arlene Peck says: "England has always had such a welcoming attitude to her Muslim immigrants too. In fact, they had such a warm, huggy relationship with "the immigrants" that everyone thought Britain was immune from Islamist violence, because of it's more than acceptable behaviour toward Muslims who live within her borders. In fact, long before the recent horror of the bombings, Britain had allowed itself to become a breeding ground for hate..... Muslims make up 9% of the city's population and the attacks occurred near districts where they are concentrated. Now, these same "peaceful Muslims" living in Britain are concerned that the recent "incident" just might upset the delicate balancing act they have been performing all these years. I hope it turns out to be a wake-up call; that roaches must be exterminated and not embraced."

Tomorrow belongs to the GOP: "Migration from liberal bastions in the Northeast and Midwest to the Sun Belt states will boost Republican electoral strength in the coming decade, making it tougher than ever for Democrats to win the presidency without carrying states in the South or Southwest. The Census Bureau's latest projection of population shifts, the first in eight years, shows a dramatic movement from the North to Southern and Western states over the next 30 years. The study points to a political movement as well. Heavily Democratic states such as New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Michigan will go on losing congressional seats and thus electoral strength in presidential elections, political analysts say. At the same time, they say, Republican states such as Florida, Texas, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada likely will gain congressional and electoral clout. "The net beneficiary of this will continue to be the Republican Party because the population shift is moving into an environment that is heavily dominated by the Republicans," says Merle Black, a professor of politics and government at Emory University and author of books on political shifts in the South."

Right Wing News has a very good post titled: "Debunking 8 Anti-War Myths About The Conflict In Iraq"

I have just posted here a libertarian defence of America's Iraq intervention.

There is a particularly outrageous story up on Strange Justice at the moment.

For more postings, see EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and LEFTISTS AS ELITISTS. Mirror sites here, here, here, here and here. And on Social Security see Dick McDonald

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That power only, not principles, is what matters to Leftist movers and shakers is perfectly shown by the 2004 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.

Leftist ideologues 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 and can con "the masses" into giving them power.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist"

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