The Importance of Being Principled

Dear Whoopi,

Once you relinquish your property rights, there is no principle to stand between you and the mob. Without the inalienable right to private property, we all are beggars or thieves, masters or slaves.

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Free Enterprize--What a quaint idea

The Benevolence of Capitalism

"By virtue of exchange, one man's prosperity is beneficial to all others."

-- Frederic Bastiat, Economic Harmonies

(1801-1850) French economist, statesman, and author. He did most of his writing during the years just before -- and immediately following -- the French Revolution of February 1848

HT Liberty Quotes

The Fatigue of Central Planning

I've been reading lately that President Obama is over-worked and tired because of trying to deal with the financial crisis. This fatigue has even been offered as an excuse for his shabby reception of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. (From the article: "Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.")

Maybe that's because he is literally trying to do the work of millions.

A market economy is the result of an uncountable number of individual decisions and actions, coordinated through price signals which provide crucial information on the availability of every imaginable resource. Profit and loss calculations provide essential feedback on the relative efficiency with which a multitude of producers use those recourse to meet the needs and desires of an even larger number individual consumers.

Central planning consistently fails because it is impossible for a small number of individuals, let alone one man, to obtain the requisite information, create the necessary plans and subsequently attempt to implement them.

Mr. Obama, meet the Fatal Conceit.

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"But it's not fair!"

Penn and Teller have constructed a short piece which includes clips of President Obama explaining his philosophy on taxes. The segments come from the Democratic primary debates, but his recent FY2010 budget proposal proves that he hasn't changed his mind. This clip shows that Mr. Obama knows that higher taxes will decrease tax revenue because they decrease profits. He knows that raising income and capital gains taxes will actually retard economic growth and recovery---but he's going to do it anyway.

Why?

Because it's not fair that the "rich" have more money (and he wants to spend it.)

Reminds me of when I have to tell my children we can't afford something and their retort is "But it's not fair!!" (Insert whiny high-pitched voice and stamping feet.)


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