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Obama vs. Clinton
Ever since the economy emerged as the top campaign issue, Barack Obama has developed two basic messages. One is that the deregulation John McCain…
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The Joe-the-Plumber vote is bigger than you think
Joe the Plumber did more than add some levity to the last presidential debate. Joe, aka Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio, just may have…
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The End of American Capitalism? 5 Short Takes on Where the Financial Crisis Might Be Headed
Five prominent economists share their thoughts on what’s happening and how bad the situation really is. The past week has seen the US economy…
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Accounting rules exacerbate crisis
In the year since the credit crunch began, reading the financial pages has become a bit like perusing a medical journal. Market…
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Doing Something
"The government has to do something to keep markets from falling and the economy from getting worse." How many times have you heard…
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Doing Something?
“The government has to do something to keep markets from falling and the economy from getting worse.” How many times have you heard…
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Fannie, Freddie Critic Ridiculed In 2000
It is now consensus that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are at the heart of the systemic meltdown we are seeing in the…
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It’s Paulson’s Own Mess
They said it was "too big to fail." This multi-billion dollar firm was now on the brink of bankruptcy. Although not a bank,…
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Maybe the Banks Are Just Counting Wrong
In the year since the credit crunch began, reading the financial pages has become a bit like perusing a medical journal. Market…
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Lehman bankruptcy: In capitalism, failure is not a dirty word
My reaction to Lehman Brothers’ declaring of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the refusal of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and…
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Minot Line
Over the past decade, the Internet has given new life to one of the oldest forms of media: the urban legend. Sometimes an…
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Oil Speculators ‘R’ Us
Those dastardly speculators! As well as oil company CEOs, traders in commodity futures have become convenient whipping boys for politicians of both…
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Sarbanes-Oxley Challenge Is Rooted in Law’s Flaw
Re: Jane Bryant Quinn’s column, “Accounting Cleanup Board Is Facing a Gutting’’ (July 16): In her attack on our constitutional challenge to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act…
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Bailing Out Kelo
Of all the unintended consequences of the housing bill that passed the House on Wednesday, the most ironic and far-reaching may be this:…
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Trust-Funding Fannie and Freddie
Almost every time Congress creates a "trust fund" for a certain policy issue, the money flowing into this "trust fund" is diverted to…
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ACLU is a principled defender of civil liberties
ACLU is a principled defender of civil liberties Re: “ACLU failing in defense of civil liberties at a vital time,”…
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Congress’s Fingerprint Fine Print
Senate passes a bill mandating the fingerprinting of real estate brokers and the creation of a national fingerprint database…
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Distrust Fund
It’s almost a D.C. truism that anytime Congress creates a "trust fund" for a certain policy issue, the money flowing into the…
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The Value of Hedge Funds
Re “The Great Seduction” (column, June 10): While David Brooks makes some good points about debt and thrift, he paints with…
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Fingerprint Registry in Housing Bill!!!
Earlier this week, a measure creating a federal fingerprint registry totally unrelated to national security passed a U.S. Senate committee almost without notice.
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Bear Fire Sale Leaves Owners Without A Say
Bear Stearns shareholders, the true owners, are being denied a voice in the fate of the firm.
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Freedom and its Digital Discontents
Read John Berlau's closing statement in the Economist.com debate "Proposition: By intervening to regulate business and financial risks, governments have made things worse."…
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Freedom and its Digital Discontents
John Berlau, director of CEI's Center for Entrepreneurship, debates Sarbanes-Oxley in the Economist…
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The Empower Eliot Spitzer Bill
Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation yesterday because of his alleged involvement in a prostitution ring. But this is far from his real scandal.
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Keep Virginia market free
Perhaps more than any other state, Virginia has been a cradle for the ideas of economic liberty. From the writings of Founding Fathers such as…
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Romney Had a Hammer
Mitt Romney’s surprisingly decisive victory in Michigan kept him in the race for the Republican nomination, but he wasn’t the only one Tuesday night…
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Follies of the FHA: Another subprime idea
“How could they have been so stupid?” That's the million-dollar question being asked as mortgage defaults have increased on loans that carried much more…
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Bailout Blues
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Opposing view: Plan Hurts Future Borrowers
The government sure has a funny prescription for restoring confidence in America's credit markets. It purports to solve the nation's credit crunch — a…
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The Subprime FHA
After two months of economic jitters over bad lending decisions, it looks as if the credit markets may have turned a corner. The stock…
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Al Gore and the Mission of the Nobel Prizes
In just a few hours following publication of this article, at approximately 9AM Eastern time this morning, the Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce its selection…
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The Long Petard: The New York Times and Sarbox
Having dug itself into a hole with inept handling of the MoveOn.org ad and its aftermath, the New York Times Company may…
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Tax hike ahead
USA TODAY's debate on private equity taxation raised important points but overlooked a key fact (“Decoy on tax fairness,” Our view; “…
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Bush’s Credit Issues
In the midst of what’s called the subprime mortgage “contagion,” President Bush seems to have caught a virus of his own: Potomac paternalism syndrome.
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CEOs, Like Athletes, Compensated For Their Successful Performances
I am by no means a sports fanatic, but there are times I wish that typical business stories would be more like sports…
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Beckham bends it like a CEO
I don't get it. Where is the outrage? Politicians and pundits love to “bend it” when it comes to stoking resentment about…
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Al Gore’s Whine: What Really Happened on the Mall
Now it's official. Global warming alarmism has indeed “jumped the shark“, as revealed by the dismal failure of the Live Earth concerts to galvanize…
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Chuck Schumer Thinks You’re Stupid
In his new book, entitled “Positively American,” Chuck Schumer wants you to know that he has a vision. Yes, in between leading efforts…
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Rush Limbaugh for the Nobel Peace Prize
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Democrats: There Is Such a Thing as Too Much Regulation
As Democrats take power in Congress, speculation has swirled around the question of why Republicans lost. But there is a factor – a…
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The Case of the DDT Deniers
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Is Fairness Doctrine on Its Way Back?
This election season, much of the GOP’s difficulties stem from the disaffection of conservative talk radio. For the past two years, while supporting…
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A Nobel Prize For Pinpointing U.S. Greatness
America is now five for five in the Nobel Prizes this year. And the announcement of Edmund Phelps as the economics recipient is…
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Credit card ricochet
“Partners in plunder.” That's how an intriguing new book describes the hidden relationship between big government and big business. <?xml:namespace prefix = o…
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Data Mismanagement
Members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat, now say that Sarbanes-Oxley can be unduly burdensome on business. The law that, in…
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Tracey Ross: TV’s Outspoken Individualist
How many Objectivists are there among television actresses? Well, there is one for sure: Tracey Ross of NBC’s popular soap opera “Passions.” As you…
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Making a Meth of the PATRIOT Act
If you thought al Qaeda or Iraqi insurgents were the major threats facing America, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) says you’re wrong. According to Dent,…
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Sarbanes-Oxley vs. the Free Press
Back in June, when New York Times reporter Judith Miller was about to go to jail on contempt charges for refusing to testify…
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Who Is Watching the Watchdog?
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Today in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, outspoken hedge fund manager…
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Is U.S. Embracing a Global Tax Scheme?
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Melbourne, Australia—This week, a good number of liberal activists—when not engaged in trying to stop the…