Spreading the Wealth

Obama may be looking at a big giveaway on the eve of this fall’s elections:  mass reduction of outstanding principal debt on upside down homes. While I am averse by nature to big government interventions, this one has more to recommend than the earlier bank bailouts.  After all, homeowners are probably, on the whole, net [...]

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The Wall Street Swamp

Wall Street will always be greedy and profit-minded. That is a given.  But the extent of the rot is really alarming.  The failure of all forms of regulation–internal, public, and market-based, such as bond-rating agencies–will leave a cloud over capital markets for some time. The fearlessness by participants suggests that non-market considerations–friendships, loyalty, ethnic and [...]

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Bush’s Legacy of Crony Capitalism

Bush was never a real believer in Free Markets. He instead believed in preserving the power and privilege of people like him. He sold it as a new kind of middle way, so-called “compassionate conservatism.” Bush did not work hard to get where he was, instead inheriting his name, his network, and most of his [...]

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Economy Round Up

I thought Mitt Romney’s op-ed opposing the Detroit bailout had the right combination of free market instincts, industry knowledge, patriotic compassion, and credibility. It reminded me of why I voted for him.  I say that as someone who recognizes the unfairness of bailing out Wall Street while letting this strategically important industry suffer.  But there’s [...]

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The Danger of “Leaders”

If America lurches towards dictatorship, it will be more with a whimper than a bang. We won’t need to fear secret police so much as the oppressiveness of mass conformity, social pressure, the siphoning of wealth, and the spread of “official” viewpoints. I realize Americans’ fears of one’s political opponents assuming dictatorial powers are a [...]

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