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A Crazy Welfare Statistic
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Hayek vs. Keynes LIVE
For those of you who have not seen the Econ Stories production of Hayek vs. Keynes, it is a must see. However, many people…
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Ethanol Mandates Meet Reality
The EPA again lowered its projection in meeting the 2011 “mandate” on cellulosic ethanol. (Is it really a mandate when the end result meets 1.5…
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Feminist Porn Director Supports Freedom of Individual Choice
Porn actress, director, and self-described “kinky feminist,” Madison Young, spoke out in an interview with Salon.com about her feelings in the condom debate that…
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Jobs Saved or Created: Armed Security to Guard Unemployment Offices
Here is a must-read for naysayers ready to indict current regulatory policies’ ability to create or save jobs! With December looms the deadline for folks…
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Art Market Resurgence: A Lesson in Market Rebound
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Afternoon Links: November 3, 2010
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An Optimistic Take on the Election
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Election 2010: Union Losses, Worker Gains
Yesterday’s election results will make it much more difficult for organized labor to advance its agenda in Congress. This is good news for the American…
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A Bizarre Defense of High-Speed Rail
Perhaps “bizarre” is not the appropriate word, as Matthew Yglesias is employed by the Obama administration’s barely unofficial think tank/PR shop Center for American…
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Fascinating Error with U.S. Wages
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Tea Party Express Hands Control of Senate to Democrats?
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Google Buzz class action settlement
Notice went out today, and five separate people have emailed me in the last hour about the Google Buzz settlement, which I’ve been tracking…
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Tea Party Movement: Is it Enough? A Pessimistic Take
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Assaulting Campaign Materials: An American Political Tradition
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Many Republican Campaign Signs Disappear or are Stolen
Enraged Democrats in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District attacked GOP activists and yanked signs for candidate Rob Hurt (R) off of private property. Hurt is…
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Why I Didn’t Vote This Year
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Afternoon Links: November 2, 2010
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Willfull Ignorance from Ethanol Proponents
A study soon to be released by the Department of Energy, titled “Empirical Data and Decomposition Analysis of U.S. Corn Use for Ethanol Production…
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Touting Government Failures As Successes: Chris Zimmerman and Metro
Arlington County Board member Chris Zimmerman is touting “his experience on the Metro Board of Directors, of which he is the longest-serving member.” This…
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Private Liquor in Virginia Off the Menu… For Now
Virginia’s Governor Bob McDonnell announced last Friday he would not be holding a special session in order to act upon his Virginia liquor store…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Amazon’s 3G Kindle leaps ‘Great Firewall of China’: “Amazon’s Kindle 3G e-reader is being snapped up on China’s grey market as it…
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Billboard to Nowhere
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Halloween Roundup
Silly string forbidden in Hollywood on Halloween, man arrested for wearing a mask, plus more.
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Administration Allies Float Trillion Dollar Bailout to Offset Rising Savings Rate
Alarmed by the rising savings rate, which liberal Keynesian economic theory views as potentially bad in a weak economy, intellectuals with close ties to…
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Afternoon Links: November 1, 2010
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Hugo Chavez Plans to Steal Golf Courses
I wrote recently how Hugo Chavez is stealing productive sectors of the Venezuela economy on its ‘Road to Serfdom.’ Now, Chavez has developed a…
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Should Geoengineering be Banned?
Since one day the sun will expand into a red-giant star, humans in the distant multi-millennial future will either have to leave the Earth, geoengineer…
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Regulation of the Day 155: Miniskirts
Police officers would be tasked with paying close attention to women’s hemlines; no doubt many already do. Women who catch an officer’s eye could be…
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Beach House Bummer: State-Run Insurance Fuels Risky Coastal Development
Wouldn’t we all like to have a beach house? A large number of Americans have a dream of living near the sea, but few of…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Captcha adverts capture your attention: “IT IS an online advertiser’s dream. Some ads on the websites you visit could soon be impossible…
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Harvard’s Jeffrey Miron Explains Why the Stimulus Package Failed
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Civil Rights Commission: Administration Lied About Who Dropped Voter Intimidation Case
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has found that political appointees, not career Justice Department lawyers, made the decision to drop a voter intimidation…
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Washington State Ballot: Cracking Open the Wine and Spirits Market
This election day, Washington State voters will have to decide on two different ballot initiatives dealing with alcohol regulation (#1100 and #1105). The first will…
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On Google: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It!
Scores.org has a post suggesting that Google is a monopoly because its “tentacles tap into sizable market shares” referring to the search engine, map services,…
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The Rise of Negative Campaigning?
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Afternoon Links: October 29, 2010
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Hospital Cost-Shifting Leads to More Expensive Car Insurance
Lawmakers’ policies are making your car insurance higher than it should be. Rather than solving the problems that government intervention is causing, however, politicians would…
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Obamacare to Wipe Out 800,000 Jobs Through Work Disincentives
Obamacare is going to wipe out 800,000 jobs through its disincentives to work. That contrasts sharply with false claims by House Speaker Nancy…
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The Stealthy Public Pension Time Bomb
As state and local government budgets have come under increasing stress, greater public attention has come to focus on government employees’ compensation. This greater scrutiny…
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Angela Logomasini On The Risk of BPA
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Ignorant Food Snobbery: Judge Orders McDonald’s to Pay Obese Employee $17,500
From The New York Times: A Brazilian court ruled this week that McDonald’s must pay a former franchise manager $17,500 because he gained 65…
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CEI Weekly: The Free Checking Restoration Act
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Butcher’s Bill for Texting While Driving
In my LA Times piece “Texters, You’d Be Better off Driving Drunk,” Oct. 3, I stated “There are no reliable studies regarding deaths associated…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Privacy Commissioner slams data retention: “The Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim has slammed the Federal Government’s proposed data retention law and called…
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D.C. Minimum Wage Contributes to Decade of Heightened Unemployment
In a daring new approach to employment analysis, a report out today from the DC Fiscal Policy Institute advises implementing a higher minimum…
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Washington Subway Terrorist Bomb Plot Leads to Arrest
Federal authorities arrested Farooque Ahmed for plotting to bomb the Washington Metro subway system. Ahmed, who immigrated from Pakistan, “conspired with people he thought…
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2010’s Record Election Spending Is Surprisingly Small
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Rare Earths — Not So Rare?
What do yttrium, ytterbium, erbium and terbium have in common? They are rare earth elements first found in the Swedish town of Ytterby between 1828…
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Afternoon Links: October 28, 2010
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Marlo Lewis on Hyundai’s Zero Emission Advertisment
Hyundai’s newest advertisement features their attempts at producing a “green” commercial. One of Hyundai’s slogans is “Prepare to want one,” yet as Marlo Lewis notes…
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Common Sense Fact of the Day: Only 5 Countries Have Pension Systems That Can Survive (Hint: Not the USA)
This issue keeps showing up over the Internet, so it makes it an easy story to address: Most government pension programs are unsustainable. As…
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Great Letter in Today’s Wall Street Journal
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An Alcohol-Caffeine Ban Won’t Work
The genie is out of the bottle. Mixing energy drinks and distilled spirits has become a popular trend in the U.S., particularly, among college age…
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Obama Pumps More Money into “High-Speed Rail” Boondoggles
The Department of Transportation announced today that another $2.4 billion is being doled out to high-speed rail projects around the country. This is on…
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Sen. Grassley’s Selective Crusade Against Conflicts of Interest
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Ia.) has been on a tear lately, badgering the Food and Drug Administration about whether it's doing enough to crack down on…
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CBO: Obamacare Discourages Work
Even the Congressional Budget Office, which allowed supporters of Obamacare to hide its costs through gimmicks and dodges, admitted last “Friday that…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Are texting and Facebook worse for teens than TV?: “Which raises an interesting question: Is Facebook really worse for teenagers’ brains than…
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Supreme Court Case May Wipe Out Vaccine Industry
Back when Congress knew how to pass good legislation, in this case in the mid-1980s, it took most cases involving vaccine liability out of the…
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Increase in American Corruption May Have Been Understated
Earlier, I wrote about how America had slipped to a historic low on the Global Corruption Index, becoming more corrupt. In retrospect, I think…
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Afternoon Links: October 27, 2010
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My Role Model, Jenna Jameson
As a self-made business mogul, a mother and wife, and a cancer survivor, there are many aspects of Jenna Jameson to admire and emulate.
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Ethanol Shills Never Tire
This time it’s retired general Wesley Clark. The language is anything but honest, and unfortunately very convincing to the average reader. It’s an $821-million-a-day…
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Clarity Regarding What the Left Believes
Recently, I wrote about french protesters shutting down France and destroying Paris. This is all due to the fact that Sarkozy is asking citizens…
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Foreclosure Moratorium Would Impose Huge Losses on Taxpayers
“Taxpayers and the federal government would be among the biggest losers if officials heed calls from some legislators and homeowners rights groups to stop millions…
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“Cy Pres: A Not So Charitable Contribution to Class Action Practice”
I’m honored that Skadden’s John Beisner, one of the world’s leading class action attorneys, Jessica Miller, and Jordan Schwartz today released a new paper…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Free E-Books, With a Catch – Advertising: “Barnes & Noble may kick off a fresh price war today…
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Dear Mr. Biden: Vice Presidents Were Meant to Be Seen, Not Heard
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U.S. Slips to Historic Low in Global Corruption Index
America has slipped to a historic low in the global corruption index, Reuters reports, and it is no longer one of the 20 least…
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Afternoon Links: October 26, 2010
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Soda Regulations for Everyone!
2010 hasn’t been a good year for soda. As Americans tune in to reality TV shows like The Biggest Loser and Too Fat for Fifteen,…
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Global Food Crisis Forecast; Aggravated by Biofuels and Global Warming Legislation
A global food crisis is “forecast as prices reach record highs.” “Rising food prices and shortages could cause instability in many countries as the…
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Ethanol in The Wall Street Journal
The editorial staff at The Wall Street Journal have not been kind to ethanol over the past months. They ran two editorials (one in July…
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Hugo Chavez Steals More Productive Sectors of the Venezuelan Economy
CBS is reporting today that Hugo Chavez “ordered the expropriation of U.S.-based glass maker Owens-Illinois Inc.’s unit in the South American country.” This is…
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Stalled Korea FTA May Get a Boost
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk is scheduled to meet today with Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon in San Francisco to discuss the pending U.S.-Korea…
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Something (Useful) for the FTC to Do
I took a class at George Mason University with economist Tyler Cowen on industrial organization (IO).1 My apologies to Dr. Cowen…
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The Nobel Case for Immigration
In today's American Spectator, my colleague Alex Nowrasteh and I make the case for expanding skilled immigration.
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Another Reason Why Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Need to Go
The monthly payments a home mortgage has depend on two variables (among others): the initial down payment and interest rates. A larger down payment means…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: “Fabric” To Weave Security Into Code: “As we become increasingly dependent on computers to manage our lives and businesses, our money…
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Regulation of the Day 154: Potatoes in School Lunches
The children are not pleased. One child told the Associated Press, "That would be so not cool. I love tater tots."…
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Most Important Brands for Women: Marketing Works!
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Insurance Lessons from Alabama
While Alabama certainly has some ambiguous laws and archaic regulations, the federal government ought to take a lesson from Alabama when it comes…
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60 Minutes Reports Enormous Real Unemployment
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Afternoon Links: October 25, 2010
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William Lind’s Absurd “Conservative Case” for More Transit [Waste]
Over at enviro-blog Grist, conservative William Lind is interviewed on the subject of transit. Lind is an anomaly of sorts in the center-right transportation camp in…
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Mysteries of the Liberal Mind: Inmate Voting Good, Soldiers Voting Bad
Liberal judges insist that it’s racist to keep prison inmates from voting, because inmates are disproportionately members of minority groups. See the dissents of liberal…
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Unemployment Jumps Under Obama, Pelosi, and Reid
Unemployment averaged about 5.2 percent under both Clinton and Bush, but rose to an average of 9.43 percent under Obama (the current rate…
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Government Unions Buying More Power
Yesterday The Washington Examiner showed how public sector unions are buying their power though campaign donations. In their excellent editorial “Public employee unions…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Bees’ tiny brains beat computers, study finds: “Bees can solve complex mathematical problems which keep computers busy for days, research has…
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New CEI Podcast — October 25, 2010: Regulating Every Room
CEI's Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies Ben Lieberman explains how new energy regulations affect every room in your house, from the basement to the bathroom…
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Porn Stars Get Behind Personal Choice by Opposing Condom Mandates
The most recent case of porn actor testing positive for HIV has renewed calls (or at least media attention to the calls) for a…
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Boom and Bust — Different Ideas Why…
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PETA vs. CEI: A Surprisingly Amiable Exchange of Ideas
Yesterday, the DCist reported that PETA planned a protest outside of the Capital Grille, a meat-centric restaurant here in the nation’s capital. The…
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Union Infringes on Freedom of Speech and Disses Military
While setting up for an Obama rally in California, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 33 fired, Duane Hammet, a stagehand union member for…
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The Chevy Volt: Just Another Hybrid
It turns out GM wasn’t being completely honest when they touted the Chevy Volt as an all electric vehicle. From Edmunds: GM Lied: Chevy…
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Starbucks Slowdown
Proof that inefficiency is not only for government: Starbucks ordered baristas to slow down this month, capping coffee production at 2 drinks at a time.
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Afternoon Links: October 22, 2010
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Obamacare: More Broken Promises, More Premium Hikes, More Lost Health Insurance
In The Washington Times, Dr. Milton R. Wolf debunks six “unkeepable Obamacare promises” that have already been shown to be false. For example, President…
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“The Cluster of Errors” — The Austrian Theory of Boom and Bust (Part III of III)
“Econ Stories” is back at it again with a new video. This time they explain the Austrian theory of the business cycle. What I like…
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Over-indulging Alcohol Regulators
A new study on alcohol consumption raises questions about government attempts to protect adults from “over-drinking.” It is particularly relevant as citizens debate privatization…