"What matters far more is that Sunstein and Co. believe the thoroughly anti-libertarian and indeed anti-American notion that government is the source of law and rights, not their administrator and protector, respectively." — Tibor Machan
Commerce
Let’s Eliminate the Income Tax! All in Favor . . .
"The only reason it appears that we can’t do without an income tax is that Congress has an insatiable desire to spend money."
Boeing, Boeing, Boeing — or, Why Isn’t Atlas Shrugging?
"Congressional committees overseeing industries succumb to the allure of campaign contributions, the solicitations of industry lobbyists, and the siren song of experts whose livelihood is beholden to the industry. The interests of industry and government become intertwined and it is regulation that binds those interests together. Business succeeds by getting along with politicians and regulators. And vice-versa through the revolving door. We call that system not the free-market, but crony capitalism. It owes more to Benito Mussolini than to Adam Smith." — Gerald P. O'Driscoll, Jr.
The Latest from Detroit
“While we were working to improve the efficiency of cars and light-duty trucks, something interesting happened." — President Obama
Can “The World’s Richest Useful Idiot” End Poverty Worldwide?
"Do not be fooled into believing that because a man is rich he is necessarily smart. There is ample proof to the contrary." — Julius Rosenwald
“Mathematics Can Be Applied to All Areas of Life” — Not So, Says Murray Rothbard
"...the crucial point is that mathematics cannot contribute to economic knowledge." - Murray Rothbard
A Megadownload
"Only one thing is impossible for God: To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." — Mark Twain
A ‘Titanic’ Auction
Unconfirmed history has it that someone said about the Titanic, "God himself could not sink this ship." Whatever the case, confirmed history records that she did sink - and in the process scattered treasures across the ocean's floor.
In Praise of… “Functional” Technology
Writer Thomas Hayden has made quite a stir in the blogosphere recently with his provocatively titled post “In Praise of Crap Technology” on the site The Last Word On Nothing. Acting as a sort of modern day Martin Luther going up against the seemingly unassailable papal fortress of the Steve Jobs legacy, Hayden eschews high-end toys like the iPhone in favor of cheap, sturdy stuff that actually works. He cites his $20 Coby MP3 player, his Roadace 404 bike, his durable-but-unlovely pair of eyeglasses, and his son’s hand-assembled wooden garbage truck as examples of the “crap” technology he so loves. “I’ve stepped off the escalators of feature creep and planned obsolescence, and all the expense and toxic e-waste that come with them,” he says. “Crap technology, it turns out, is green technology.” Hear-hear, I say. I too am interested in a phone that functions primarily as a device for making and receiving calls. I refuse to buy a Kindle because I think the centuries-old invention of the book works just fine. My go-to guitar is a $100 ($75 on sale) Rogue acoustic that may have been thrown together in China but plays really damn well. Additionally, I have to confess
Is This the Way the World Actually Works?
The people responsible for a mess are supposed to clean it up. What if they don't see it as a mess, though, but as an opportunity? In that case, would the mess ever get cleaned up?
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