Private City Government

A town in Georgia, Sandy Spring, runs on an almost entirely private, contract, basis.  Everything typically done by local government, except police/fire, is run by private corporations. 

Very, very, interesting read. 

Best State for Starting a Business

Go here.  An interactive map with details about which states are the best for starting and running small businesses.  Pretty interesting - especially if you start to think about the map in the context of which areas of the country are growing and which are not. 

Taxmageddon

You may or may not have heard about this, but given current law, this country will have its biggest tax increase ever Jan. 1, 2013. Taxes will go up an estimated ~$500 Billion dollars.  Immediately.  That is an amount equal to about 20% of total federal government revenue currently. 

Would this help get rid of deficit/debt?  Unlikely.  The .gov almost certainly will not see such an increase in revenue because the estimate assumes people will not change their behavior.  Problem is, we are already seeing people and businesses changing their behavior to prepare for the new taxes.  Less spending/investment, less business expansion, fewer people hired and jobs created. 

The specter of these increased taxes is the single biggest factor creating the current problems in the economy. 


This article is an excellent summary of the issue.

Taxmageddon also contributes to the continuing problem of uncertainty.  As bad as the economic policies enacted by this current administration have been, their incessant discussion about what they might do - what they want to do - is even worse.  Especially given the propensity to use the regulatory process away from voter accountability rather than the lawmaking process. 

You make how much?!

$9.8 Million per Job!  That's the punchline. 

The joke - $9Billion of federal stimulus funding for solar and wind creates merely 910 jobs. And remember, this is stimulus money that is supposedly all about creating jobs, not about furthering an environmental agenda.  So we should expect results, not get mired in a discussion about whether the "green" energy is worth the investment - that was never the question here.   

Consumption Tax

An interesting interview on the process by which we might replace the income tax with a consumption tax.

The State of "Elder Care"

This article has some very interesting, sobering, things to say about the future sustainability of elder care in this country. 

Essentially, in 50ish years social security and medicare alone will be consuming as much of our GDP as the federal government takes in all taxes - assuming continuation of current trends. 

That seems like a long way away.  Tempting to say "ehh, let your kids and grandkids figure it out.  I'll be dead."  And you may be. 

But, long before Social Security and Medicare consuming the entire federal budget, they will put a significant squeeze on education, transportation, judicial, and defense funding. 

And that is without even taking other mandatory spending into account. 

NSF Waste

The National Science Foundation has the "luxury" of not having to worry about the future worth/usefulness of the research it funds.  After all they don't pay for it, the taxpayer does, nor are the grant-makers responsible to the taxpayers.  So I'm not really surprised to see an article like this one, detailing some of the waste and fecklessness at the NSF. 

Inflation? Deflation?

I have long believed that inflation is imminent, but here is a report from some financial advisors arguing that deflation is actually more likely.  

(green) Crony Capitalism

Few things annoy me, anger me, more than Crony Capitalism because not only does it pervert the true market, but it gives people who hate the freedom and prosperity of the market a handy tool to attack "capitalism".  The problem though, is that crony capitalism ISN'T actually capitalism.  Crony capitalism is the operation of businesses, where the profits and sometimes even the losses are assigned to private individuals, but instead of allowing market competition to occur, winners and losers are determined by government intervention.

Customer service is replaced with lobbying, ground-breaking research funding with campaign contributions, and well-deserved bankruptcy with government bailouts that the taxpayer funds but cannot stop.  Businesses that are out-competed, and should restructure or fail, don't because they are politically connected.  Less well-connected businesses that may provide better services or products are forced out by bureaucrats helping their friends.  

Crony capitalism is perversion, and the friends and enemies of the market alike are right to despise. 

But crony capitalism IS NOT a free market and DOES NOT allow the creation of benefits like the free market.  Many who believe they hate the free market actually hate cronyism.  They hate the political corruption, buying of privilege, taxpayer bailouts, and sweetheart deals that they have been told is the fault of the market but is actually cronyism.  

On the other hand, many who hate green technology/energy actually hate the cronyism that typically attends such efforts.  I have absolutely no problem with someone selling/buying "carbon credits", developing new energy storage solutions, researching battery technology -  - as long as no governmental/taxpayer money, encouragement, favors, or special deals are used to encourage the behavior.

At long last the title of this post makes sense.  THIS article discusses how the UN Rio conference on green something or other is densely packed with cronyism.  Every solution/program discussed at the UN conference is centered around using government to control and reward the efforts of private industry.

That is not freedom.  That is control.

Estonia and the Euro

Estonia is doing everything that the conventional "experts" say is wrong.  As a result of a massive decrease in GDP in 2008 (around 17%), Estonia decreased spending on public employees' salaries and benefits, reduced social safety net type spending, and generally tightened its belt. 

According to the experts, this course of action is exactly what struggling EU countries should avoid.

But Estonia is growing.  Faster than anyone else in the EU.  Funny that.  

Time and time again, when truly government-limiting and fiscally-austere measures are enacted, economies grow.  It is no real mystery, it is historical fact.  Somehow though people always manage to be surprised.