A Closer Look at Adverse Selection and Mandatory Insurance, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Bryan Caplan of -- of course! -- GMU.
A Closer Look at Adverse Selection and Mandatory Insurance, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

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Troops Told To Stop Taliban Pursuit If Civilians Are At Risk

Assuming the news media has got this right, I do believe we've just telegraphed a successful strategy to the bad guys.

[McClatchy Newspapers, mcclathchydc.com, July 1, 2009]
Beginning Thursday, U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be under orders to back down when they’re chasing Taliban fighters whenever they think that civilians might be at risk.

Hit & Run Debt and Taxes: The CBO's Dire Projections - Reason Magazine

How bad is the CBO's latest report on the country's budgetary future? The Washington Post calls the office's numbers "dire." U.S. News says they're "off the wall." And in a post about the report on his blog, the CBO's director, Douglas Elmendorf, writes that "under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path."

What's the problem? In a word, debt: The Post's editorial board summarizes the CBO's findings as follows:

Debt is growing faster than gross domestic product. Under the CBO's most realistic scenario, the publicly held debt of the U.S. government will reach 82 percent of GDP by 2019 -- roughly double what it was in 2008. By 2026, spiraling interest payments would push the debt above its all-time peak (set just after World War II) of 113 percent of GDP. It would reach 200 percent of GDP in 2038.
Hit & Run Debt and Taxes: The CBO's Dire Projections - Reason Magazine

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Instapundit Blog Archive U.S. DEBTOR STATUS WORSENS DRAMATICALLY

Instapundit Blog Archive U.S. DEBTOR STATUS WORSENS DRAMATICALLY:Over the years, Americas status as a creditor or debto

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Global Warming - John Stossel's Take

Good rule: when the reply to a question is "Shut up", more questions need to be asked.
Global Warming - John Stossel's Take

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Fixing the Health Care System, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

I cannot improve on Dr Kling's observation:
"I love it when people who have never managed anything more than a government grant are convinced they can manage one sixth of the economy."
Fixing the Health Care System, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

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Instapundit on IDB on Waxman-Malarkey

And recall that Smoot-Hawley knocked over European banks like ten-pins. Specifically, German banks. And the resulting social unrest led to a government led by and evil genie -- arguably the evilest genie -- that was very expensive, in both blood and bucks, to stuff back into the bottle.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY ON WAXMAN-MARKEY: “The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on an anti-stimulus package that in the name of saving the earth will destroy the American economy. Smoot-Hawley will seem like a speed bump.”

The Fundamental Economic Problem

The fundamental economic problem is related to scarcity. Humanity has limited resources and infinite demands. Who decides. My fellow bureaucrats? God? Philosopher Kings?
Economics Essays: The Fundamental Economic Problem

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Instapundit» Blog Archive » HEY WAIT, DIDN'€™T HE SLAM MCCAIN OVER THIS? Obama not closing door on possible health care tax.

There's still no such thing as a free lunch. Kudos to the CBO for their yeoman attempt to score this properly!
Instapundit » Blog Archive » HEY WAIT, DIDN’T HE SLAM MCCAIN OVER THIS? Obama not closing door on possible health care tax. W…

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quality adjusted life year (QALY)

There is always a cost for a QALY. Heck, there's always a cost for everything. Who decides what a QALY is worth?
Marginal Revolution

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I'm Guessing Rush Limbaugh Didn't Move To Maryland

I'm Guessing Rush Limbaugh Didn't Move To Maryland

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I'm Guessing Rush Limbaugh Didn't Move To Maryland

Gosh... a decrease in income after a tax increase. Who'da thunk.
I’m Guessing Rush Limbaugh Didn't Move To Maryland

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Robert J. Samuelson - Both Corporate, Public Welfare Are Endangered - washingtonpost.com

The U.S. welfare state is weakening; insecurity is rising. The sensible thing would be to decide which forms of public welfare are needed to protect the vulnerable and to begin paring others. Our inaction poses another dreary parallel with GM. It was obvious a quarter-century ago that GM the auto company could not support GM the welfare state. But the union wouldn't surrender benefits, and the company acquiesced. Inertia prevailed, and the reckoning came.
Robert J. Samuelson - Both Corporate, Public Welfare Are Endangered - washingtonpost.com

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Mobilizing World Opinion Against the Government: How the Irish Did It and Won

From the History News Network (HNN) comes an interesting post on the role of the Press in the 1919-1921 Irish revolution, along with a very timely query:

In his preface to Michael Massing's pamphlet on the American press and Iraq, Now They Tell Us, Orville Schell asks "what had happened to the press's vaunted role as skeptical 'watchdog over government power'?"

There is, however, a rather puzzling assertion:

"The Anglo-Irish war of 1919-1921 was an international historical landmark: the first successful revolution against British rule..."

Really? I coulda swored our late-18th-century dust-up with the Brits counts as a successful revolution.
Mobilizing World Opinion Against the Government: How the Irish Did It and Won

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My Way News - Lawmakers clash over cost of health care overhaul

Conrad retires the "Attorney's who can't add trophy:
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said that proposed changes that sweetened government subsidies to the uninsured had unexpectedly boosted the cost, and now lawmakers must trim back.
My Way News - Lawmakers clash over cost of health care overhaul

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Polls find rising concern with Obama on key issues - Yahoo! News

And, so far, the GOP -- showing, to paraphrase Voldemort -- skills I never would have expected of them, have concentrated on attacking policies, not persons. Will wonders never cease.
Polls find rising concern with Obama on key issues - Yahoo! News

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The Financial White Paper: A Fabulous Tale, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

But, dammitall, our intentions were good!
The Financial White Paper: A Fabulous Tale, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

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All politics is turnout — and enthusiasm is key | Washington Examiner

All politics is turnout — and enthusiasm is key | Washington Examiner

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TheHill.com - Dems reel on healthcare

Interesting this:

"The CBO looked at one portion of a draft bill written by the Senate HELP Committee and found, among other things, that it would cost more than $1 trillion while providing a net decrease in the number of uninsured people of 16 million.

The CBO also threw cold water on a promise by a coalition of healthcare industry groups to reduce healthcare spending by $2 trillion over 10 years. Obama announced their promise to much fanfare, but the CBO found that while a few of the cost-cutting measures would save money, others would cost money. In sum, they would not have a big impact on federal spending, the CBO concluded."

TheHill.com - Dems reel on healthcare

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Navy Times Reporting RUMINT on AmphibsTrackback - Powered by HaloScan.com

Saying it better than I can! RUMINT, ftr, is "Rumor Intelligence"
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