no third solution » Rent Seeking
Do Businessmen Make Good Politicians?
I hear a lot of people talking about how Mitt Romney would make a good president because he has been a successful businessman, because he knows how to make profit and turn things around, etc. For example, Pat Burke, a local self-employed entrepreneur says, You need to vote for the most electable conservative. … We want someone new, someone who has business experience. It’s the economy, economy, economy. A businessman doesn’t know how to run government. That’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy is Great!, Election, Left Libertarian, Rent Seeking
Why Does the U.S. Spend More on Health Care?
The fact that the US spends more on health care is not particularly alarming. The NYT points out that, for the last 50 years the US has always spent more (as a % of GDP) on health care than the rest of the developed world. The problem is the velocity of change: health care expenditures are rising considerably faster in the US. If you want to make something more affordable, you cannot continue to spend more money on it, nor can you continue policies which encourage bloat and bureaucracy. To be quite fair, there are dozens if not hundreds of factors that have contributed to the price increases. The $100B/year tax subsidy given to corporations is pretty pervasive. Anyone who doesn’t work for a large corporation is at a … Read entire article »
Filed under: American Politics, Health Care, Rent Seeking
The “Race to the Bottom” is Only a Symptom
Last week the NYT highlighted an ongoing labor struggle between Dr. Pepper Snapple and a local labor union, which Dissent Magazine characterizes as the latest installment in an ongoing “race to the bottom“, something like Marx’s iron law of wages. Per the Times, The strike has become so important because of the prominence of the brands and because of its unusual nature: a highly profitable company is taking the rare and bold step of demanding large-scale concessions. Dissent notes that the productivity gains of the last several decades have simply not “trickled down” in to the pockets of the American worker, instead they’ve been pocketed by the corporate elite. If this sounds somewhat familiar, it should. Mike LeBerth, president of the local union echoes a familiar, but mistaken refrain: “This whole economy … Read entire article »
Filed under: Economic Theory, Economics Lessons, Employment & Labor, Rent Seeking