Medved on Deserving vs. Undeserving Rich
The Obama administration and its media allies are doing what they can to fan the flames of class conflict. Some recent pollssuggest the campaign is having an effect on public opinion. But Michael Medved digs a little deeper into the data, and argues that Americans don’t generally dislike the “rich,” but rather, the undeserving rich: The biggest challenge for Mitt Romney isn’t that America hates the rich; it’s that the public hates the undeserving rich, anddeeply resents privileged punks and politically connected connivers who never performed constructive service to make their millions. This is an important distinction, reminiscent of Arthur Brooks’s distinction between “earned” and “unearned” success.
Greed Is Not Lovable
I have always enjoyed the writings of Walter Williams; but on one topic, he gets it completely wrong.
If You’re Concerned About Morality, You Need Some Basic Economics
It has long been my hobby-horse that religious believers and others concerned with moral questions involving society simply must have some rudimentary understanding of economics.
Indivisible Bracelets at Starbucks
I have no idea if the program supported with purchases of these bracelets at Starbucks makes good economic sense.
Hong Kong is Number One
Looking Ahead to the Digital Imperatives
The following is a review of Discovery Institute Fellow Richard Rahn’s book, “The End of Money: And the Struggle for Financial Privacy”, written by William H. Peterson and published in The Washington Times. In 1976 economist Richard Rahn was struck by a radical idea in a new book by F.A. Hayek, the Nobel laureate in economics. The book was, “The Denationalization of Money.” In it, Hayek held that government monopolization of money was neither necessary nor desirable, that politicians had thus the means to press central banks to cheapen money and cut interest rates, especially before national elections. The aim: Create a boom that would sweep incumbent politicians back into power. The catch: Booms lead to recessions, or an inflationary Read More ›
Financial Privacy in Peril
What cause unites Christian conservatives, free-trade Democrats, small-business people, the American Civil Liberties Union and tax reformers? Financial freedom and privacy. The cause is being advanced in a series of legislative battles against big-government activists from both parties over the issues of encryption restrictions, asset forfeiture and, of most immediate concern, requirements that banks serve as agents of the state by monitoring the activities of their customers. The cornerstone of this last activity is the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. The BSA is, in fact, an antisecrecy act, because it requires bankers to spy on their customers by monitoring accounts for “suspicious activities.” Bankers who fail to comply with this requirement are subject to prosecution and fines. Since Congress enacted Read More ›