The vicious lie behind the global warming scare- June 25, 2008 The environmentalist movement believes that unless immediate and drastic measures are taken to combat global warming, "disease, desolation and famine" are "inevitable" on a scale that might spell the end of life on earth, making earth "as hot as Venus." Surely, such an apocalyptic threat demands immediate action. Given the resistance to curtailing industrial production (not to mention the economic destruction and mass death that such a curtailment would entail), environmentalists should...http://blog.mises.org/archives/008228.asp McCain on Economists- June 25, 2008 "You know the economists" McCain said June 12 at Federal Hall, near the New York Stock Exchange. "They're the same ones that didn't predict this housing crisis we're in. They're the same ones that didn't predict the dot-com meltdown. They're the same ones that didn't predict the inflation that's staring us in the face today."http://blog.mises.org/archives/008227.asp Price Controls Create Man-Made Disasters- June 25, 2008 In the wake of the recent flooding in Iowa, the state's attorney general has announced that Iowa's rules against price gouging are now in effect. These rules prohibit businesses from "substantially raising the prices for needed goods or services without justification" in the wake of a natural disaster. Enforcing these restrictions will have predictable effects: shortages of needed supplies, long lines, delayed repairs, and, perhaps, increased incivility. Like other forms of price control,...http://blog.mises.org/archives/008226.asp De Gaulle the gold bug- June 25, 2008 I recently came across a 43 year-old piece from Time, De Gaulle vs. the Dollar. While De Gaulle had an ulterior motive in his reasoning, his rationale for returning to the gold standard is laudable: to keep government spending in check (thus limiting the foreign influence exerted by the US federal government). From Time: There was Charles de Gaulle last week proclaiming that the primacy of the dollar in international dealings was finished, calling for an eventual return to the gold standard.http://blog.mises.org/archives/008225.asp A union's union contract- June 25, 2008 The same folks who attack CEO salaries have no trouble demanding contracts that are otherworldly. This is especially true for the union representing the staff of ... that's right ... you guessed it ... the National Education Association. The NEA has a unionized staff, along with associated union issues. When not bickering with its own employees over work rules, etc., NEA is negotiating an agreement with its staff's union that includes these stipulations (taken verbatim from the latest,...http://blog.mises.org/archives/008224.asp |