Jul 29, 2011

Friday Reading: Raising the roof, economy in the gutter, & more

Friday Funnies at Reason

Jul 26, 2011

Tuesday Reading: Epstein, the debt crisis, & more

Jul 25, 2011

Monday Reading: Caplan on the split between conservatives and libertarians

GMU's Brian Caplan has an interesting post on the split between libertarians and conservatives.
For libertarians, to believe in liberty is to believe in massive rollback of the state.  For conservatives, to believe in liberty is to oppose further expansion of the state (at least in the economic realm).  For conservatives, "liberty" means defeating Obamacare.  For libertarians, "liberty" means separation of health and state - which means abolishing even ultra-popular programs like Medicare.
Read more here.

Watch the student debate at CATO here.

Jul 21, 2011

Thursday Reading: 10% unemployment, 2012, & more

Jul 20, 2011

Wednesday Reading: Debt ceiling, sweltering heat, & more

Jul 19, 2011

Economic Freedom & Quality of Life

This past weekend, at the Federalist Society's National Student Leadership Conference in Arlington, Virginia, Eric Alston of the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation presented the above video on the relationship between economic freedom and quality of life.  The sobering video identifies the importance of economic liberty to high standards of living, and highlights how America is slipping down the ranks.

You can learn more at join the discussion at http://www.facebook.com/economicfreedom.

Tuesday Reading: SCOTUS roundup, Epstein on the debt ceiling, & more

Jul 15, 2011

Friday Reading: Bad numbers for Obama & more

Friday Funnies at Reason

  • David Bernstein responds to some controversy stirred up by his op-ed on Justice Breyer
    Volokh Conspiracy: Follow Up on Breyer Op-Ed
  • Things not looking so good for Obama's inevitable re-election
    Gallup: Obama - 39%, Generic Republican - 47%
  • Russ Roberts elaborates on Keynesianism and the post-WWII boom
    Cafe Hayek: Keynes vs. Reality - 2
  • Ezra Klein on five potential deals in the works (I know, I know.  Ezra Klein?!)
    Washington Post: Wonkbook: Five possible deals, and a slew of new warnings
  • Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff on how public debt kills growth
    Bloomberg: Debt Endangers Growth
  • Quote of the day:
    I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible. The reason I am is because I believe the big problem is not taxes, the big problem is spending. The question is, "How do you hold down government spending?" Government spending now amounts to close to 40% of national income not counting indirect spending through regulation and the like. If you include that, you get up to roughly half. The real danger we face is that number will creep up and up and up. The only effective way I think to hold it down, is to hold down the amount of income the government has. The way to do that is to cut taxes.
    Milton Friedman

Jul 14, 2011

Thursday Reading: Harvard docs hate fat kids & more

Jul 13, 2011

Wednesday Reading: Barnett on "commerce," climate change, & more

Jul 12, 2011

Tuesday Reading: Caylee's Law, Epstein, Alito, & more

Balko at HuffPo: Why Caylee's Law Is a Bad Idea
  • Radley Balko, now at HuffPo, explains why "Caylee's Law" is a bad idea
    HuffPo: Why Caylee's Law Is a Bad Idea
  • Ilya Somin elaborates and explains the role of political ignorance and laws named after crime victims
    Volokh Conspiracy: Political Ignorance and Caylee's Law
  • Richard Epstein discusses federal automobile regulations
    Defining Ideas: Our Curious CAFE Culture
    Yes, we should eliminate CAFE standards, but we should not eliminate all regulation on automobile emissions. In particular, two types of regulation seem appropriate. The first is a set of user fees that are based on a combination of congestion and wear and tear on public highways. The second item to regulate is the emission risk from tailpipes. In addition, taxing standards should be set to induce new, lower-polluting cars to enter the market, thereby increasing the incentive to substitute in clean for dirty cars.
  • Adam White profiles the newest conservative Supreme Court Justice
    Weekly Standard: The Burkean Justice
  • David Bernstein on Breyer
    Volokh Conspiracy: Oliver Wendell Breyer
  • New poll from Reason suggests that Americans are more radical than their politicians
    Reason/Rupe Poll: Cut the Debt By Cutting Government
  • Matt Ridley discusses the secret behind humanity's rise
    WSJ: Humans: Why They Triumphed
  • Quote of the day:
    There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as caring and sensitive because he wants to expand the government's charitable programs is merely saying that he is willing to do good with other people's money. Well, who isn't? And a voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he will do good with his own money — if a gun is held to his head.
    P.J. O'Rourke

Jul 11, 2011

Fed-Soc'rs and Foreign Policy

Doves or Hawks?
One issue that has been the subject of much debate within the Federalist Society itself is the proper role of warfare in foreign policy.  Fed-Soc includes under its umbrella people who run the spectrum from hawkish neo-cons to libertarian pacifists.

If you're in the DC area, on Wednesday, the Volokh Conspiracy's Ilya Somin and Bryan Caplan of GMU's Economics Department will debate foreign policy from a libertarian standpoint.  Caplan has presented his more dovish version of libertarianism many times, and you can read more about it hereSomin, on the other hand, argues that libertarianism can be consistent with offensive warfare when necessary for humanitarian reasons.

Ilya Somin & Bryan Caplan Debate Libertarian Foreign Policy
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 @ 7 PM
George Mason Law School - Room 221
3301 Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA

Monday Reading: Taxes, taxes, taxes, & more

Michael Ramirez, IBD Editorials

Jul 8, 2011

Friday Reading: Dems acquiesce to Constitutional limits on Congressional power & more

Friday Funnies at Reason

Jul 7, 2011

Would You Give Up The Internet For 1 Million Dollars?


HT to Randy Barnett at VC

Thursday Reading: Balanced budget amendment, illegal immigration, & more

Jul 6, 2011

Wednesday Reading: Chinese Liberalism, Stossel on college, & more

WSJ: Liu Junning on Chinese Liberalism

Jul 5, 2011

Fed-Soc Symposium on Cybersecurity

The national chapter of the Federalist Society hosted a panel on cybersecurity last week.  Watch the videos below.  (HT to Orin Kerr at VC).

Tuesday Reading: Jets, debts, & more

Jul 1, 2011

Friday Reading: Obama's DOJ hates cancer patients & more

Friday Funnies at Reason

  • Pot for me, but not for thee: Obama's DOJ encourages federal prosecution of medical marijuana
    Hit & Run: DOJ Says Prosecuting State-Authorized Medical Marijuana Suppliers Is 'Entirely Consistent' With Not Prosecuting Them

  • Anthony Gregory discusses why leftists so dislike libertarians (except at NYU)
    LewRockwell.com: Why the Left Fears Libertarianism
    But libertarianism, however weak its influence today, is a much greater long-term threat to the left than is any form of conservatism, and the leftist intellectuals sense this even if they can't articulate why. Leftism, whether they know it or not, is a distorted permutation of the classical liberal tradition. The statist left did their deal with the devil - the nation-state, centralized authority of the most rapacious kind - supposedly with the goal of expediting the liberation of the common man and leveling the playing field. More than a century since the progressives and socialists twisted liberalism into an anti-liberty, pro-state ideology, they see that they have made a huge mess of the world, that, as they themselves complain, social inequality persists, corporatism flourishes, and wars rage on. As the chief political architects of the 20th century in the West, they have no one to blame but themselves, and so they target us - the true liberals, the ones who never let go of authentic liberal idealism, love of the individual dignity and rights of every man, woman and child, regardless of nationality or class, and hatred of state violence and coercive authoritarianism in all its forms.
  • Megan McCardle copes with shocking new evidence that voters prefer government handouts to higher taxes and lower spending (gasp!)
    The Atlantic: Breaking: Voters Prefer Free Stuff to Higher Taxes, Lower Spending

  • Chaos reigns: Minnesota state government shuts down

  • Is Obama's call for ending tax breaks for corporate jets just a stalking horse for tax increases?
    WSJ: GOP Attacks Obama’s Call for Ending Tax Breaks for Corporate Jets