February 05, 2005
Oil and Terrorism
Arnold Kling explains why efforts to wean ourselves from the consumption of foreign oil, as a means to combat Saudi funding of terrorism, are a bad idea.
Posted by Old Benjamin at 11:22 AM | Permalink | TrackBack
October 30, 2004
Tax the Rich!!!
It's all about incentives -- something liberals just can't understand:
The reason America's standard of living is high - and why our poor would be considered middle class in the majority of other countries - is because we produce so many goods and services per person. Monetary rewards, and/or a desire to break out of one's current economic class, are largely what motivate us to produce those goods and services.Raising taxes on the rich reduces those monetary rewards, which in turn lowers the incentive to work harder or smarter. That's bad enough. To raise taxes on the rich while reducing them on the middle class - Kerry's plan - reduces that incentive even more.
It's akin to your boss cutting your pay if you put in longer hours, and raising your pay if you work shorter hours.
Actually, lowering taxes on the middle class and raising them on the rich harms economic growth even more than leaving middle-class tax rates intact while raising them on the wealthy. It results in what economists call a higher marginal tax rate - the tax rate on what you earn above a certain dollar amount. It is marginal tax rates - not overall tax rates - that so affect our incentive to produce. Why put in extra work if the extra income that comes with it is going to be taxed higher?
Liberals don't care. Their only way to political power is through redistribution, so they'll be for that no matter what. Political power is their goal. Period.
Posted by Old Benjamin at 04:08 PM | Permalink | TrackBack
October 24, 2004
The Effects of Communism
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Posted by Old Benjamin at 02:10 PM | Permalink | TrackBack
August 11, 2004
Bush's Economic Vision
Tyler Cowen has some great suggestions.
Posted by Old Benjamin at 09:09 PM | Permalink | TrackBack
August 10, 2004
Krugman
Don Luskin links to his own National Review article on the O'Reilly-Krugman debate, and responds to those who thought O'Reilly bullied Krugman. Good stuff.
Posted by Old Benjamin at 09:42 PM | Permalink | TrackBack
July 25, 2004
VoIP
The Anal Philosopher thinks he's being ripped-off by his telephone company. I came to the same conclusion concerning my phone service. Here's my solution: Drop the DSL and switch to a cable modem Internet connection. That way you don't have to pay for the telephone line (which DSL requires). Also, cable Internet is generally faster. Then use Vonage for your phone service. They're not burdened with the FCC-imposed mandatory charges and taxes that the phone companies are. So, for example, you can get 500 minutes (including long distance) for $15 bucks, plus only about $3 in taxes and other charges. A good deal.
Posted by Old Benjamin at 10:04 AM | Permalink | TrackBack
June 29, 2004
Housing Bubble?
Arnold Kling has a helpful column up at TCS on the putative housing bubble. He's offering financial advice too.
Posted by Old Benjamin at 10:05 AM | Permalink | TrackBack
June 22, 2004
Housing Bubble?
Tyler Cohen has thoughts and links on whether we are in a housing bubble. His small bit of advice: "If you are investing in multiple real estate purchases, as opposed to just buying a home, ask yourself the following question? If a "dirty bomb" went off in my area, would I still be a wealthy man?"
This exact concern has had me wondering for some time whether it even makes sense to buy a home here in Manhattan.
Posted by Old Benjamin at 12:00 PM | Permalink | TrackBack
June 21, 2004
Economics and Religion
Tyler Cohen has a very interesting post on those two topics.
Posted by Old Benjamin at 07:07 PM | Permalink | TrackBack
June 17, 2004
Silly Me
CS Monitor: "In the search for answers to grinding poverty, the world's rich nations have decided on a new tack. It's radical in its simplicity: For poor people to succeed, let them start a business."
And all along I had thought the solution was world government . . .