Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Quote of the Day 2.28.17
"There are only two major parties today: The stupid party and the evil party. Once in a while the two parties get together and do something that is both stupid and evil. That is called bipartisanship." - Tom Woods
Priorities
“Good manners and respect are the answer to a civil
society, not inclusion and diversity.”
I could not agree more!
Inclusion and diversity do not mean a damn thing for a civilized
society. If I don’t include you, but I
still respect you, I cannot do anything to physically harm you. Providing a safe environment for all
to pursue their individual freedoms is what constitutes a good and just
society. Most of us, myself included, personally
enjoy diversity in many aspects of our lives.
That does make it a requirement for civil society.
World-wide debt now exceeds 3 times the amount of world-wide
GDP.
à THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE.
Governments cannot continue to fabricate enough
money to ever pay down their debts.
Across a long enough future timeline, ALL governments will default on their debt.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
The Russia Ordeal
I think this hits the nail on the head regarding Russia.
1)
Russia is neither friend nor foe.
2)
Russia did interfere in the presidential
election because they don’t want to go to war with us (which was expected to
happen with Clinton.)
3)
The US interferes in other country’s elections,
including Russia.
4)
We should want Russia as a friend not as a
foe. They fight better than the European’s,
so if we do go to war, let’s have Russia fighting with us not against us.
5)
Undoubtedly, the deep state has reason to pick
fights with Russia.
These are basic principles and facts. None are really debatable. I am not sure why this Russia thing has
turned into a big hoopla. Well actually
I do know – politicians are dumb and McCain, Graham and the deep state have a
continued interest in war.
This podcast is correct on what I wrote above. It is correct on essentially.
If you are easily offended:
1. Get over it.
2. If you can’t get over it
(trigger warning), don’t listen. Also,
you are an ignorant baby.
3. If you identify as either republican or
democrat, you will be offended and, if you are honest, you will also realize
you are an idiot.
This is an awesome podcast.
(Note: this will only be available for the next 5 weeks or so.) (Note
#2: I really love the intro music on this podcast it really just drives home
the idiocy all politicians have caused.)
Great news. The uber
of healthcare. This is why I love the
free market. Identify a need; offer a
concept to fill the need. Sounds simple.
This is how the market works no matter what the policy-makers try to do to
curtail human freedom and prosperity.
Good for you Marc Cuban.
“Universal basic income (UBI) is ‘the worst possible
response’ to the unemployment likely to be caused by robots and artificial
intelligence.”
Finally, we have a big name with a loud voice, expressing
some common sense!
Don Boudreaux points out that central heating destroyed many
jobs when it came around just as robots will in coming years. This is precisely a benefit for everyone.
“The CBO has historically
underestimated future debt by a huge margin. Judging by their past optimistic errors,
the real debt in 2027 will likely not be $30 trillion, but $75 trillion.”
They underestimate total debt on average 250%,
overstate tax revenue 25% and in the 170 projections made in the office’s
history, all 170 have underestimated debt.
This is likely somewhat due to partisanship but also it’s an impossible
task. The lunacy of politicians expands at an increasing rate.
Tyler Cowen is extremely insightful. Governments can purposely leak information to
get it out to the public without answering questions. If you prosecute leakers too much you get
less leaks which leads to the only leaks being the leaks sanctioned by
government at which point everyone realizes that the only leak would be a
government sanctioned leak and then is no longer a leak. Interesting thinking.
“That there are benefits of
central banking for certain groups is pretty obvious. Leland Yeager in his
preface to the Liberty Fund edition of Smith’s book pointed out that it is
reasonable to suppose that central banks are valued today, among other things,
for providing prestigious and comfortable job opportunities for economists.
Nothing is so bad that it couldn’t get worse.”
We need to end the Fed
ASAP. Just as the military industrial
complex has an incentive to be hawkish towards other countries, economists and
central bankers in general have an incentive to say we need the Fed. In both cases, the beneficiaries are enriched
at the expense of the common man.
7 Earth-Like planets discovered. This is pretty cool.
How many of these do you fall for?
1.
Deficits are the
cause of inflation; deficits have nothing to do with inflation.
2.
Deficits do not
have a crowding-out effect on private investment.
3.
Tax increases
are a cure for deficits.
4.
Every time the
Fed tightens the money supply, interest rates rise (or fall); every time the
Fed expands the money supply, interest rates rise (or fall).
5.
Economists,
using charts or high speed computer models, can accurately forecast the future.
6.
There is a
tradeoff between unemployment and inflation.
7.
Deflation —
falling prices — is unthinkable, and would cause a catastrophic depression.
8.
The best tax is
a "flat" income tax, proportionate to income across the board, with
no exemptions or deductions.
9. An
income tax cut helps everyone because not only the taxpayer but also the
government will benefit, since tax revenues will rise when the rate is cut.
10.
Imports from
countries where labor is cheap cause unemployment in the United States.
This is a very impressive
performance by Alex Nowrasteh.
Tucker Carlson is very smart, has
“home court advantage”, and is generally correct on many (most?) issues. Carlson is stellar and knows how to debate
much better than the lefty snowflakes he usually argues against, but he clearly
loses this debate.
Of course, the liberal, war monger
GOPer John McCain is viewed favorably by both parties ... because IMO, he is
the single worst senator in Congress.
Quote of the day from FFF Daily email
“Every man and woman in society has one big
duty. That is, to take care of his or her own self. This is a social duty. For,
fortunately, the matter stands so that the duty of making the best on one's
self individually is not a separate thing from the duty of filling one's place
in society, but the two are one, and the latter is accomplished when the former
is done.” – William Graham Sumner.
This leads one to think of Ayn Rand and the virtue of selfishness.
I don’t know if this is true.
“Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has
appointed his wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, as the country’s first vice president.
Aliyeva professed to be humbled by the appointment. ‘Mr. President, I express
my deep gratitude to you for this high confidence in me,’ she said at a meeting
of the Security Council. ‘Over the past years, your ideas of statehood,
patriotism, your courageous protection of Azerbaijan’s national interests, and
your unity with the people of Azerbaijan were an example for me.’”
Monday, February 20, 2017
Quote of the Day and the Ignorance of a Universal Basic Income
"The purpose of the economy is not to make jobs. Jobs are infinite. We can make construction workers use teaspoons instead of shovels and that will make for more jobs."
Deirdre McCloskey
This is why I laugh when I hear anyone say anything about a universal basic income. You are economically ignorant if you support it. It really is as simple as that. Bill Gates and Elon Musk, both of which have advocated the UBI recently, are great business men but could not possibly be more mistaken on this topic.
Another great, not necessarily related, quote "If you can do it for free, you should be free to do it for money" - Peter Jaworski.
Deirdre McCloskey
This is why I laugh when I hear anyone say anything about a universal basic income. You are economically ignorant if you support it. It really is as simple as that. Bill Gates and Elon Musk, both of which have advocated the UBI recently, are great business men but could not possibly be more mistaken on this topic.
Another great, not necessarily related, quote "If you can do it for free, you should be free to do it for money" - Peter Jaworski.
The Deep State, Border Adjustment taxes and Socialism
Dennis Kucinich is dead on.
Good for Ben Watson.
This border adjustment/value added is perhaps the stupidest
idea the republicans have ever come up with.
It really is up there with the war on drugs.
I would have guessed just about every one of these things
correctly but this is absolutely fascinating.
Quote of the day:
“Hitlerism proclaims itself as both true
democracy and true socialism, and the terrible truth is that there is a grain
of truth for such claims-an infinitesimal grain, to be sure, but at any rate enough to serve as a basis for such
fantastic distortions. Hitlerism
even goes so far as to claim the role of protector of Christianity, and the
terrible truth is that even this gross misinterpretation is able to make some
impression. But one fact stands out with perfect clarity in all the fog: Hitler
has never claimed to represent true liberalism. Liberalism then has the
distinction of being the doctrine most hated by Hitler.” – Professor Eduard
Heimann, a leader of the German religious socialism.
A few of my favorite quotes:
“I have come
to a few conclusions about the nature of the arguments and the reasons why
socialists remain socialists even as we see the utter failure of socialist
economies throughout history. Maybe the meme that appears once in a while
— ‘If socialists understood economics, they wouldn’t be socialists’
— might be true, but I doubt it. As I see it, the purpose of establishing
socialism is to further promote socialism, not improve the lot of a society and
certainly not to promote prosperity.”
“I believe that the end of all of this
activity is — or should be — the improvement of life for people in a way that
is not predatory and brings about voluntary cooperation among economic actors.
In other words, economic activity is a means to an end, and the end is free
people gaining in wealth and standards of living. A socialist does not and will not see things
this way. The end of socialism is not a higher living standard or even
making life better for the poor, as much as a socialist will talk about the
well-being of poor people. No, the end of socialism is socialism, or to better
put it, the ideal of socialism. Once socialism is
established, as it was in Venezuela or in the former USSR or Cuba, the social
ideal had been met no matter what the actual outcome might be.”
Friday, February 17, 2017
Friday Links
Harry Hoosier is the genesis of the nickname “Hoosiers” of
Indiana. He was a black evangelical
preacher that was apparently the best of the day. He didn’t like to preach where others did, so
he went west – at the time meaning none other than Indiana.
Bigger story here, Malcolm X is not a black hero. Neither is
Al Sharpton or any other race hustler of today.
The people named in this article were truly extraordinary folks.
Jacob Hornberger makes an excellent point. We can’t even keep drugs out of prison. What makes Trump and others think more
enforcement will successfully keep drugs out of the US more broadly. The laws of supply and demand cannot be repealed
or unfollowed. #TeachBetterChoices #Decrease Demand
AV à The two industries in America that have
entirely too many people working in them are healthcare and finance. Ironically I am involved in both.
This is a cool way to explain the confirmation process of
cabinet picks. Props to WaPo. (I didn’t read it I just looked at the charts
so offer no comments currently on the writing.)
Why are healthcare prices so high? Because we subsidize insurance.
What did we do in
2010 to help people that could no longer afford healthcare? We subsidized more health insurance!
Repeating the same decisions and expecting a different
outcome is the definition of insanity!
IMO, politicians are scoundrels.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Comic Relief
Anyone who tries to associate DJT with Ayn Rand is a lunatic. She would have despised him. How about this quote from Rand:
“A man who is tied cannot run a race against men
who are free: he must either demand that his bonds be removed or that the other
contestants be tied as well. If men choose the second, the economic race slows
down to a walk, then to a stagger, then to a crawl — and then they all collapse
at the goal posts of a Very Old Frontier: the totalitarian state. No one is the
winner but the government.”
Diversity has almost nothing to do with anything visible in a
photo. Another stupid article from
WaPo. Maybe they should get some
diversity of thought or diversity in intellect.
No I am not kidding. The people
that run WaPo are morons.
This is great. I don’t have
anything to add. This is a phenomenal article. Well done.
I wholeheartedly agree with the conclusion of this research
article on the value of 2-point conversions at various times in a game. Here it is:
“There is no excuse for professional coaches to make such
simple mistakes. If you’re a coach, you should be doing this analysis yourself
— or doing it better. If you’re still kicking extra points 14 times more often
than going for 2, you’re not doing your job. If you’re in the sports media and
you haven’t mastered this material, and won’t hold coaches accountable for not
doing their jobs, then you’re not doing your job either.”
While a rule based Fed would be better than a crony based Fed,
this paragraph highlights just how ridiculous an endeavor a rule based Fed
would be:
“What various supporters of these
‘rules’ and of other forms of market intervention are trying to establish is
the ‘correct’
level for the interest rate. This level, however, can only be set in a free
unhampered market. Such an interest rate cannot be known without freeing the
market from the Fed’s tampering.”
The Audi commercial itself is almost as funny as the commentary
from Mark Dice.
The commentary made me laugh multiple times. Yes he is vulgar, yes he says a few controversial
things. Yes he is essentially correct on
all of them.
I am crying laughing at this video of little kids in Ireland
talking about Trump.
“Why didn’t any
of the stories mention that Milo was gay? Doesn’t being gay mean you are part
of an identity group and can never be criticized? Or does being a conservative
and not politically correct trump your status as a gay person? This is all very
confusing. Will the left please write down the order of importance of the
identity groups they’ve made up. I’m having a hard time knowing which group is
more equal.”
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Am I a Global Warming Heretic and What to think of Neil Gorsuch
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2017/02/the-ethics-of-fossils-fuel-use.html
This is an awesome debate on climate change. Couple things here:
a. It's nice that a debate can actually take place instead of the idealogues that claim anyone that wants to see evidence is a heretic.
b. There is nothing more true in this world than fossil fuels don't take a safe world and make it dangerous, they take a dangerous world and make it safe. This is shown by the fact that as carbon emissions have increased for decades and climate related deaths have been reduced by 98%. Yes, 98%.
c. I take the points made by the fossil fuel hater at face value. I really do, he seems smart, well infomred and has done his research but the issue is, I can come up with 15 reasons why Increased water intake is bad for you. This doesn't mean drinking water is a bad thing in general. Everything in life has costs and benefits and one needs to weigh them against each other to figure out if it is good or bad.
d. I am happy to entertain research and initiatives re: global warming but it should not come from the government because it 1. is not how I want to spend my money that the government stole, 2. destroys incentives 3. leads to waste 4. it politicizes everything and no actual science gets done because they simply push the current government regimes' agenda.
http://reason.com/reasontv/2017/02/02/neil-gorsuch-everything-you-need-to-know/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=theinsider&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTnpjeFpUZ3lZVEE0WkRNMyIsInQiOiJXd1ZpZHBBOWFCMkdQUlpyalFraTVhS0VcL0hKbkNZRHd3d0RaaFpcL251dDBQVTcxcGdcL2lZUFF1dHl6cWozXC9EVGpQeHA5N1V1MjVnU0psYk1IZnlpaXdKK3N5b0FEWDRDc2dDNGh6UUhRZUVmYjk2XC9FWUxQek1Bc3dGbGNqQ0tcLyJ9
I really enjoyed this interview/discussion of Neil Gorsuch.
This is an awesome debate on climate change. Couple things here:
a. It's nice that a debate can actually take place instead of the idealogues that claim anyone that wants to see evidence is a heretic.
b. There is nothing more true in this world than fossil fuels don't take a safe world and make it dangerous, they take a dangerous world and make it safe. This is shown by the fact that as carbon emissions have increased for decades and climate related deaths have been reduced by 98%. Yes, 98%.
c. I take the points made by the fossil fuel hater at face value. I really do, he seems smart, well infomred and has done his research but the issue is, I can come up with 15 reasons why Increased water intake is bad for you. This doesn't mean drinking water is a bad thing in general. Everything in life has costs and benefits and one needs to weigh them against each other to figure out if it is good or bad.
d. I am happy to entertain research and initiatives re: global warming but it should not come from the government because it 1. is not how I want to spend my money that the government stole, 2. destroys incentives 3. leads to waste 4. it politicizes everything and no actual science gets done because they simply push the current government regimes' agenda.
http://reason.com/reasontv/2017/02/02/neil-gorsuch-everything-you-need-to-know/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=theinsider&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTnpjeFpUZ3lZVEE0WkRNMyIsInQiOiJXd1ZpZHBBOWFCMkdQUlpyalFraTVhS0VcL0hKbkNZRHd3d0RaaFpcL251dDBQVTcxcGdcL2lZUFF1dHl6cWozXC9EVGpQeHA5N1V1MjVnU0psYk1IZnlpaXdKK3N5b0FEWDRDc2dDNGh6UUhRZUVmYjk2XC9FWUxQek1Bc3dGbGNqQ0tcLyJ9
I really enjoyed this interview/discussion of Neil Gorsuch.
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Trump's done exactly what he said he would do in his campaign - and most of it has been bad.
Abigail Blanco correctly observes that the left
has been very hypocritical with the refugee issues currently taking place. Where were the protests when the Obama
administration turned away Cuban refugees in the final weeks of his presidency?
However,
she also correctly asserts that in addition to being, in my opinion a product
of racist feelings, the ban will absolutely be ineffective. A slice:
“According to the Cato Institute, the United States admitted 3,252,493
refugees between 1975 and 2015. Twenty of them were terrorists. This represents
some 0.00062 percent of all refugees. Only three attacks carried out by these
refugees were successful.
In total, in a span of forty years, ‘terrorist
refugees’ have killed three people in the United States.
But what about the attacks in San Bernardino,
the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting, the Boston Marathon bombings, and 9/11?
Are these not “proof” that such a ban is warranted? After all, the individuals
responsible for the attacks had some connection to foreign countries.
The Pulse Nightclub shooter was born in New
York and was a U.S. citizen. Of the two San Bernardino shooters, one was born
in Chicago. The other, his wife, was born in Pakistan and lived in Saudi
Arabia—neither country is on the “banned” list. The Tsatnaev brothers, responsible
for the Boston bombings, were born in Kyrgyzstan. People from Kyrgyzstan aren’t
banned under the current executive order. Of the 19 people responsible for
hijacking four airplanes on 9/11, 15 were from Saudi Arabia, two were from the
UAE, one was from Egypt, and one was from Lebanon. Again, these countries
aren’t on the ‘banned’ list.”
Then she goes further to
prove the point I made yesterday regarding the probability of an attack being
the basis of a cost benefit analysis.
Clearly terrorism in the US is not a severe threat.
“Heart disease (35,079 times more likely to
kill you than a terrorist)
Cancer (33,842 times more likely to kill you
than a terrorist)
Medical Error
Alcohol (4,706 times more likely to kill you
than a terrorist)
Poisoning from prescription drugs
Suicide
HIV
Syphilis
Starvation (187 times more likely to kill you
than a terrorist)
Brain-eating parasites (22 times more likely
to kill you than a terrorist)
Food poisoning (110 times more likely to kill
you than a terrorist)
Drowning in a bathtub
Being struck by lightning (four times more
likely to kill you than a terrorist)
Dying in a fire
And my personal favorite—toddlers. Yes, you are more likely to be killed by a
gun-wielding toddler than a terrorist.”
David Harsanyi suggests something I have said
for a while now. Why do we have to be
all for or against some political candidate or party? This is asinine. Both parties are correct on some issues, both
parties are wrong on most issues. I
respect people like Ron Paul, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Lew Rockwell,
Murray Rothbard and more but I don’t agree with every last one of them. I voted for Evan McMullin. I still maintain he was the best candidate we
had for president. I am very critical of
his relation with the CIA, national security state and his hatred for
Russia. We need to view policies,
statements and views individually.
Unlike private property, ideas are not owned by the individual. One person does not, will not ever and cannot
possibly have a monopoly on good ideas.
“From Dan Griswold’s Mad About Trade: ‘Free trade gives
to each person sovereign control over that which is his own.’”
What an absolutely amazing concept. The morons running the government, current
and past, ought to read this.
Weekend Thoughts
AV –à My
thoughts on the weekend:
The
Trump ban on immigrants is dumb, ineffective, and done in poor taste.
1. FREE TRADE OF GOODS, SERVICES, AND PEOPLE
IS KEY
I hold
an unwavering view of the freedoms of man to include international movement of
people, goods, and services. Free trade
of goods, services and people (and I don’t want to hear the people that will be
offended by referring to trading people - that is not the intent - the intent
is the freedom of movement of people and goods) is the only path that leads
to economic prosperity and peaceful relations.
Free trade makes people wealthier and more peaceful in every case.
2. COSTS VS. BENEFITS
I
understand some American citizens feel a sense of nationalism and the related
need to improve the perceived safety of American’s. I also understand that many don’t agree with
my unwavering commitment to free trade. The
supporters of the new immigration EO are generally conservatives who identify
these reasons for their support. In my
opinion, they should base their appreciation (or lack thereof), not on
vacillating feelings, but instead on concrete cost benefit analysis.
Benefits:
Debatedly improved safety. This is an obvious benefit but it's not clear the ban actually provides it.
Costs:
·
Many people are upset and
express their discontent based on all kinds of factors. While
indeed a cost, I think this is probably not the biggest deal.
·
The financial cost to
employ the personnel that enforce this ban and pay for the development of
technologies and processed to screen everyone will be huge.
·
Increased hatred of America and its people by countries across this world will be the biggest
cost of all. This backlash in terms of
animosity towards America is not inherently of concern. Though many liberals might cry and moan over
this, it is not a cost other than to individual self-esteem etc. The true cost
will be the identification of the US as “the enemy” prompting nations around
the world to act on that aggression.
This is what happened when the Obama administration bombed the hell out
of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, etc. These people began to see the US as the
enemy, cultivating a feeling of hatred towards the US, generating increased
attacks on America. This will be the
major cost - in terms of human life.
From this perspective I think the Trump administration is wrong to ban
these immigrants and Trump supporters need to be more realistic and critical of
their highly flawed leader.
3. PARTISAN
HYPOCRISY
I am
amused to see liberals claim that this EO is unconstitutional. Yet those same folks proudly applauded the
many over-reaching EO’s of Obama over the last 8 years. There is no such thing as unconstitutional
for liberals as long as it fits their agenda.
If it doesn’t – it’s automatically unconstitutional. At the same time, conservatives who cried
foul repeatedly over the last eight years now find themselves suddenly silent
and approving. Truly, the two-party
system is broken.
4. GET
OUT OF THE ECHO CHAMBER
Much of the
news about the ban (and most other issues) has been “fake news” and “alternative
facts”. I highly suggest you read about
the issues from a source other than the mainstream media. I read from both main stream media and several other
sources presented in this blog. Go ahead
and read the main stream media, but also expose yourself to other view points and to more
factually correct sources as well.
Now back
to the articles!
“In short, Democrats and progressive
activists will no doubt attack the jurisprudence of whomever emerges from this
contest. I welcome that debate, but charges of insufficient diversity can only
come from those with insufficiently developed understandings of that term.”
Diversity has very
little to do with race and gender. They
are two of many millions of factors on which people can vary.
AV à I love this #deleteuber protest. Less demand means lower prices for the rest
of us. I assume some drivers may delete
it as well but if the app is a source of income as opposed to a convenience,
people will be less likely to delete the app.
Therefore we have similar supply and less demand. Yeah for lower fares!
This is just
another piece of evidence that free trade creates peace. The NY Times is trying to rip Trump because
he doesn’t ban people from countries in which he has done business. 1. This is stupid in that he is most likely
to ban people from unstable countries and is equally unlikely to do business in
unstable countries. This is a
correlation not causation by any means.
2. It is true that when you are
able to do business (or trade as some refer to it) in countries you gain a
level of respect and trust for the people of that country. This is not surprising and should be used as
a shining example for free trade and movement of people.
AV
à The title of a recent article in the National
Review was “Trump is wrong but his liberal critics are crazy” has to be the
most accurate title I have seen on a news piece in a long time.
It doesn’t take
much for people to freak out and give up liberties as well as give too much
power to one person.
This article is
completely correct. The wall and border
tax are terrible idea.
“As for the wall itself, have we no
better use for the tons of concrete and steel, the miles of roadway and
electrical wire, and the years of human time and effort it would take to build,
maintain, and monitor it? We would be dumping precious resources in the desert
in order to deny ourselves the ultimate resource. It’s stupefying.”
“Courageous principles sometimes allow bad outcomes. Freedom of speech
allows for some noxious ideas to spread. Gun rights allow for some bad people
to more easily engage in violence. Requirements for warrants allow for some
criminals to hide their crimes. And freedom of movement allows for some bad
people to travel where they can do harm.
Such courageous principles do not create perfect
worlds. They create structures in which people have the freedom to shape the
world, for better or worse – with better usually winning. Depriving the vast
majority of people's freedom to prevent a small minority from spreading evil
impoverishes and threatens everybody.”
Hmm, brings to mind some
more hypocrisy. Those who want more gun
control are typically the ones horrified by immigration bans.
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