The Exercise of Vital Powers

Significantly, a key player in their press conference was Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief who is now one of McCains most visible economic advisors.(source)

This incompetent woman managed to take a healthy and vibrant Fortune 50 company and run it into the toilet. If there were a tracking stock for China (of for that matter Bangladesh) it would be a good investment with her around the West Wing.

Random thought as I was reading Greenspan’s book. Smith’s fundamental insight was that economic growth occurs with division of labor. Because I’m out there making his email work, some engineer is making sure that fresh water is pumped to my house so I don’t spend 4 hours a day lugging water from a stream allowing me to play with virtualization technology to make email work better.

But how much can division of labor can the human mind support? Is there a limit to the complexity we can comprehend, beyond which division of labor ceases to have economic benefit? As we know more and more about less and less we eventually will know everything about nothing.

So says Stephen Moore:

World-wide illiteracy rates have fallen by half since 1970 and now stand at an all-time low of 18%. More people live in free countries than ever before. The average human being today will live 50% longer in 2025 than one born in 1955.

To what do we owe this improvement? Capitalism, according to the U.N. Free trade is rightly recognized as the engine of global prosperity in recent years. In 1981, 40% of the world’s population lived on less than $1 a day. Now that percentage is only 25%, adjusted for inflation. And at current rates of growth, “world poverty will be cut in half between 2000 and 2015″ — which is arguably one of the greatest triumphs in human history.

RealClearPolitics - Articles - Free Trade: Past vs. Future Interests

Protectionism - the real threat to growth, stability

Yet another reason not to give an entity with sovereign immunity total control over health care:

NHS deliberately gives citizen’s AIDs infected blood.

HT: http://www.haloscan.com/comments/mikedenham/4776414445496382408/

Memo to all Republicans who think that building a wall will solve illegal immigration:

We’ve spent billions of dollars on drug interdiction and drug use has not gone down. As long as there is a supply on one side of the border and demand on the other, goods will flow.

Sure you can build a wall, and the smugglers will dig a tunnel. Fill the tunnels and they’ll come by boat. To paraphrase chaos theory: “commerce will find a way”.

The solution is twofold. First get rid of the quota system and allow anyone to enter the country under a temporary worker visa. Key there is temporary. Give them a biometric id card and put their fingerprints in a national DB.

The second point is that they eventually need to go home. By coming to the US they will learn the advantages of a non-corrupt judicial system. They will learn the virtues of free enterprise. They will earn and save money so when they go home they will make their country better.

As we’ve learned from alcohol prohibition, the drug war, the waves of European immigration in the 19th and early 20th century, government can do very little to stop goods and services from crossing the border. The only way to solve the issue is to make where they are coming from a better place or making where they want to go a worse place. I’m for making the rest of the world better.

Nothing to add, other than I like how economists make stuff up like this.

I would hypothesize that the study time/booze consumption ratio amongst college students has fallen sharply over time. If a student spends 20 hours out of class per week on average studying, preparing papers, etc., and drinks on average the equivalent of 15 cans of beer per week, the ratio would be 1.33 (20 divided by 15). My guess is over the years study time has fallen fairly sharply, while booze consumption has increased. If the average ratio nationally in 1970 was 1.33, I would not be surprised that today it is closer to being less than one-half of that, say .50 (10 hours of studying, 20 cans of beer). (Center for College Affordability and Productivity: The Study Time-Booze Consumption Ratio)

HT: Club for Growth

“This Cold War-era cartoon uses humor to tout the dangers of Communism and the benefits of capitalism.” Enjoy the glorious Technicolor cartoon production by Harding College, complete with a snake oil salesman hawking “ism”s and lots of catcalls at hot (animated) 1940s babes.

H/T: Reason Magazine - Hit & Run

Why didn’t I think of this?

April 16, 2007 issue - Cassandra Devine knows how to solve the coming “entitlements” crisis, preordained when the 77 million baby boomers begin hitting 65 in 2011: pay retirees to commit suicide, a program she calls “transitioning.” Volunteers could receive a lavish vacation beforehand (”a farewell honeymoon”), courtesy of the government, and their heirs would be spared the estate tax. If only 20 percent of boomers select suicide before the age of 70, she says, “Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid will be solvent. End of crisis.” (Samuelson: ‘Boomsday’ Is Approaching - Newsweek Robert Samuelson - MSNBC.com)

Of course, Soylent Green to feed Africa is also doable.

Altmire pushing ‘country of origin’ tags at call centers