December 2010
4 posts
Folding the Fed by Richard W. Rahn →
If you are building a fence and you try using a hammer rather than a shovel to dig the postholes, progress will be slow if not nonexistent. The Federal Reserve is supposed to maintain the value of…
Knowing the Limits of Monetary Policy by James A.... →
The Federal Reserve’s attempt to stimulate the economy by creating another $600 billion of government fiat money is an act of hubris. It presumes that a few people sitting around a table in…
The Fiscal Commission's Omission by Tad DeHaven →
President Barack Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was given the seemingly impossible task of crafting a budgetary blueprint to head off the country’s looming debt…
Tea Party Could Wreck Foreign Policy? Great by... →
We already knew the Tea Party scared liberals to death, but it seems the movement also terrifies liberals’ nearest cousins, the neoconservatives, on an issue dear to their bellicose little hearts:…
September 2009
605 posts
Yes, the Lags Are Long and Variable →
I agree with Sumner that the Fed has the ability to create hyperinflation. The questions are how long it would take for this to happen and by which mechanism it would transpire. The mechanism I have…
Agreements and Disagreements →
The discussion seems to be careening into ever more technical issues, with George Selgin now invoking “Calvo-pricing probability parameters” and “Ramsay-optimal monetary policy.” Although I find this…
Score-Keeping with Selgin →
George, every time I read your arguments it makes me want to chop a few more tenths of a percent off my proposed NGDP growth target. This was no exception. However I am still not completely convinced…
Taxing Banks for Holding Reserves →
In his first reply to the three of us, Scott Sumner asked: “Does anyone have any thoughts on my proposal to charge a negative interest rate on excess reserves as a way of reducing the hoarding of…
Why Public Sector Unionism Is a Bad Deal for Taxpayers and Representative Government http://tinyurl.com/y8puxxx #tlot
Weekend Links http://bit.ly/262dij #tlot
Who’s Blogging about Cato http://bit.ly/Mc6VT #tlot
Is This Intervention Necessary? http://bit.ly/9CEnC #tlot
A Federal Ban on Texting While Driving? http://bit.ly/M2asg #tlot
Apparently for VP Biden, “stimulus” success means inefficient infrastructure spending and more federal employees. http://bit.ly/1g7uVi
Obama administration: Hey, let’s send people to jail who don’t buy health insurance. http://bit.ly/x7cep #hcr #tlot #tcot #topprog #health
Oh, you haven’t heard? The gov’t has had the power to ban books for 20 years now. http://bit.ly/8ajr4 #tlot #fr33 #liberty #ban
The Land Is There, the Cubans Are There, but the Incentives Are Not http://bit.ly/p1TVp #tlot
Curbing Free Trade to Save It http://bit.ly/MIBMs #tlot
So apparently it’s illegal to watch your neighbors’ kids without government permission. http://bit.ly/15IFCL #tlot #tcot #nannystate
New Podcast: FDIC May Borrow from Healthy Banks http://bit.ly/fmwbz @cobrown #tlot
Commentary on the Commission on Wartime Contracting Hearings (Part 2) by David Isenberg http://bit.ly/EvkFO #tlot
Keeping Your Doctor Will Be as Easy as 1, 2, 3…1,788, 1789, 1,790 http://bit.ly/kufP8 #tlot
Why compulsory health insurance is a government takeover http://bit.ly/1jBRfZ #hcr #healthcare #handsoff #topprog #tlot
Honduras’ Interim Government Falls Into Zelaya’s Trap http://bit.ly/3lak1C #tlot
Commentary on the Commission on Wartime... →
In the second of a 3-part series David Isenberg, columnist, analyst, researcher and author of Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq provides analysis and commentary on the…
Who’s Blogging about Cato →
Here’s a round-up of bloggers writing about Cato research and analysis:
Blogging from Korea, Joseph Steinberg writes about Cato’s foreign policy views on East Asia.
Chris Estes defends…
Is This Intervention Necessary? →
So asks the Washington Post in a cogent editorial about FCC Chairman Jules Genachowski’s speech proposing to regulate the terms on which broadband service is provided. (More from TLJ, Julian…
Weekend Links →
Is mandatory health insurance unconstitutional?
Real ideas for health care reform: “Break local monopolies by letting insurers compete across state lines.”
The problem with long-term…
The Land Is There, the Cubans Are There, but the... →
The Washington Post has an interesting story today on the program of the Cuban government to transfer idle state-owned land to private farmers so they can resurrect the dilapidated agricultural…
A Federal Ban on Texting While Driving? →
In response to claims that texting-while-driving (TWD) causes traffic accidents, Congress is considering “a federal bill that would force states to ban texting while driving if they want…
Curbing Free Trade to Save It →
In the latest example of “We had to burn the village to save it” logic, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) argues in a letter in the Washington Post this morning that the way to “support more trade” in…
Nanny State Doesn’t Like Competition http://bit.ly/14ejan #tlot
Now We See the Violence Inherent in the System http://bit.ly/tps8Q #tlot
Under Current Law, Can the Government Ban Books? http://bit.ly/S0BNo #tlot
Now We See the Violence Inherent in the System →
In case you’re wondering how Congress and President Obama plan to enforce their little compulsory health insurance schemes, here’s a note explaining their strategy from the head of Congress’…
Climate Change and Health Care: Free Lunches? →
In the debate over health care reform, advocates of expanded government health insurance suggest we can pay for this by making Medicare and Medicaid more efficient.
In Paul Krugman’s most recent …
Nanny State Doesn’t Like Competition →
“A Michigan woman who lives in front of a school bus stop says the state is threatening her with fines and possibly jail time for babysitting her neighbors’ kids until the bus comes,” CNN reports.…
Under Current Law, Can the Government Ban Books? →
The Citizens United case currently before the Supreme Court may radically reshape campaign finance law for years to come. Former FEC commissioner Bradley A. Smith spoke at a forum on the case…
From Discretion to Futures Targeting, One Step at... →
I agree with Professor Hamilton’s argument that monetary policy was not the primary cause of the housing bubble, so I will focus on the futures targeting idea. I think it will help if we separate out…
So while we’re busy defunding ACORN, here’s a few more groups that we should drop. http://bit.ly/77iXJ
Geithner Ignores Bailout History http://bit.ly/sc2aQ #tlot
New Report: Honduras Acted Constitutionally http://bit.ly/MUYlP #tlot
The Seat-Warming Senate http://bit.ly/gdpuw #tlot
Thursday Links http://bit.ly/2FBO04 #tlot
Biden proposes troop withdrawal in Afghanistan. For once I actually hope the president listens to Biden. -Malou Innocent http://bit.ly/dhw2A
Obama says he’s not taking over every sector of the economy…Well, except for all these: http://bit.ly/4rGPD6 #tcot #tlot #liberal #topprog
The Zazi Case: Spread the Good News! http://bit.ly/1300AP #tlot
Michael Moore’s Billionaire Backers http://bit.ly/3LlxxD #tlot
New Podcast: The Struggle Since the Fall of Communism http://bit.ly/GtT5c @cobrown #tlot
RT @David_Boaz Captain Obvious gets a job at USA TODAY. Headline: “Stimulus sparks growth in government” http://bit.ly/3sM9JM