High Five, Fellow Capitalist Pigs!

Thanks to free markets, over the last 20 years nearly 1 billion people have been raised out of extreme poverty.

Never Too Soon

Last night I was just noting to a friend that Ryan/Rubio 2016 could possibly be the hottest GOP ticket ever.  I was mostly just making a quip (the boys are undeniably cute, though - hey there, female demographic!), but maybe it's not such a bad idea to start thinking ahead.  The GOP old guard has had its shot; it's time for the new generation - my generation - with fresh approaches to have a go.  The 2016 election is in only 1,459 more days, heh.

"Secretary of Business" as Symptomatic

I've already mocked this, but Ricochet points out that the President's whole risible (and clueless) "Secretary of Business" suggestion is actually (and grimly) symptomatic of Obama's entire approach to business:

This is really how President Obama sees the private sector. It’s just one more interest group in need of care and feeding by Big Government. And since we already have a Commerce Department, let’s just rebrand that sucker and subject it to a little technocratic tinkering. Given this administration’s love of industrial policy — picking winners and losers — Obama might as call the position Secretary of Crony Capitalists.

Do recall, gentle readers, that crony capitalism is not the same thing as actual capitalism.

UPDATE: Well, that took no time at all.  Add this.

Apparently I'm a Cold, Calculating, Unsympathetic ... Guy

This article about "the cold, calculating libertarian mind" made me laugh, especially since it also claims that libertarianism appeals more to guys than girls ... and almost every libertarian I know is a girl, and we're all (if I do say myself) decent warmhearted folks.  Oh, and when Alessandra got wind of this piece, she messaged me with "you cold libertarian biatch!"  LOL!

Anyway, this seems to sum us up pretty well:

These are people who often call themselves economically conservative but socially liberal. They like free societies as well as free markets, and they want the government to get out of the bedroom as well as the boardroom. They don't see why, in order to get a small-government president, they have to vote for somebody who is keen on military spending and religion; or to get a tolerant and compassionate society they have to vote for a large and intrusive state.

I personally don't object to military spending in the way that some others do (I've read too much history - unilaterally disarming is a greeeeeeat way to invite people to assault you), but the rest of that block quote applies.

US Slips In Global Economic Competitiveness

Oh my.  Northern European countries are sailing right past us, and we've slipped for the fourth year in a row!  Blurb:

"In addition to the burgeoning macroeconomic vulnerabilities, some aspects of the country's [United States] institutional environment continue to raise concern among business leaders, particularly the low public trust in politicians and a perceived lack of government efficiency," said the WEF, a think tank that also hosts the annual meeting of global business and political leaders in the Alpine town of Davos, Switzerland.

You don't say!  The US is currently ranked in seventh place. Seventh!  Disgraceful.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey on the Moral Case for Capitalism

Take a look.  I love how Mackey starts off by noting the nannyish desires of those meddling busybodies who think they "know best."  Don't you also find the politicization of food to be terribly tiresome?  I know I do.

Happy 100th Birthday, Milton Friedman

Alas, the great man is no longer around to celebrate his centennial, but his ideas remain and seem to be more relevant than ever.

Reading Recommendations From An Econ Prof

Usually this sort of thing would have me rushing for the doors, but econ professor Art Carden (Samford University) has some interesting-looking choices.  Carden also links to some cool TED talks and free online lectures.  Ain't technology grand!

Thoughts From A Small Business

I had noted this current kerfuffle here and done it with an eye roll and a laugh, but you really should read this too. UPDATE: Oh, and this too.

New Technology and Creative Disruption

Here, read this.  Innovation isn't for sissies, and - you know - that's as it should be. Oh, and here's a cool quote:

Every new technology that becomes profitable causes people to scream about the plight of existing producers. Then it turns out over time that the sector itself thrives as never before but in ways that no one really expected.

The 2012 Index of Economic Freedom Is Out

We're not doing so well?  The US is out of the top tier at #10. What would Milton Friedman say?  By the way, the top tier rated "Free" consists of Hong Kong at #1, followed by Singapore,  Australia, New Zealand, and (the first non-Asian country on the list) Switzerland.  Taiwan is #18.  C'mon, guys, we can do better than that.

Three Timely Books to Read

Since we've been inundated with news and and the analyses thereof ... and because as a professional nerd I always reflexively turn to books:

• The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag by Chol-hwan Kang (Basic, 2005). A harrowing memoir of a childhood spent in a prison camp.
• Open Letters: Selected Writings 1965-1990 by Vaclav Havel (Vintage, 1992). A collection of Havel's writing on his journey from dissident playwright to president.
• Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens (Twelve, 2011).  A memoir that became a valediction.

In Praise of the Incandescent Light Bulb

I remain devoted to incandescent light bulbs.  I tried the new morally superior ones, and I HATED THEM.  As musical satirist Remy does point out with lyrics in his new music video, “If that new light bulb is so amazing, then why don’t people just go buy that light bulb?” 

Classic Milton Friedman

Harvard econ prof Greg Mankiw has an intriguing post on what Milton Friedman might say to the Occupy movement.  Get a load of the dipstick in the first video who asks, "Isn't it necessary to forcibly redistribute wealth?"  Um, NO.  Note too how courteously Friedman disassembles these young clowns who have more idealism than sense.

Welcome to the Future: the Global Black Market

Comprising $10 trillion and growing.

Euro Notes: Excellent Estonia?

Hey, La Parisienne, maybe we should flee to Estonia if we decide against fleeing to New Zealand.  Look at this great quote from the economics minister:

"But when we had finally escaped from Soviet socialism, we were sick and tired of government centralism. We wanted precisely the opposite in all respects: We wanted a transparent state. A country that isn't constantly intervening, nationalizing businesses, placing a bureaucracy above everything and imposing rules on people in every respect."

LOVE!

Nerd Analysis: An Econ Prof On the End of Borders Bookstores

Here's an interesting post by an economics professor.  The comments are largely interesting as well.  You may recall one author's take on the end of the Borders chain.

Quote of the Day: "That is not my idea of progress."

When respected Harvard econ prof Greg Mankiw says something made chills go down his spine when he read it, you better read it too.  Then he says with utterly sublime understatement, "That is not my idea of progress."  You don't say, sir!

If Supermarkets Were Like Public Schools

Here's something thought-provoking from the excellent blog of Harvard econ prof Greg Mankiw.  

In Terms of Economic Policy, WWMFD

What would Milton Friedman Do?