Category Archives: Business

Business, Economics, Philosophy, Political Commentary

Economic Liberty

3 Comments

…taking it seriously:

…James Madison, one of the chief architects of both the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, echoed Coke’s words: “That is not a just government, nor is property secure under it, where arbitrary restrictions, exemptions, and monopolies deny to part of its citizens that free use of their faculties, and free choice of their occupations.” Similarly, Rep. John Bingham (R-Ohio), the author of the first section of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which applied the Bill of Rights and other unenumerated rights to the states, said that the 14th Amendment included “the liberty…to work in an honest calling and contribute by your toil in some sort to the support of your fellowmen, and to be secure in the enjoyment of the fruits of your toil.”

So what went wrong? According to Sandefur, the blame falls largely on the Progressives of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who believed that government action should be the primary agent of all social change. To that end, the Progressives enacted a mountain of new legislation that touched on every aspect of human life, from workplace regulations and antitrust statutes to alcohol prohibition, racial segregation, and eugenics.

How “progressive.” Maybe we need a new amendment.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Egalitarian Policies

2 Comments

…that caused the economic disaster:

This does not strike me as a story about how income inequality caused the financial crisis. Rather, this is a story about how policies intended to reduce inequality had the unintended consequence of precipitating America’s worst economic slump since the Depression. It’s very important that we’re straight on what the story is, since different stories may have very different implications for policy. If the story is that the level of inequality itself—and not our ideas about or political reactions to it—indirectly caused the crisis, then we may think that narrowing the gap is a matter of urgent necessity. But if the story is that an ill-conceived political attempt to reduce inequality—and not the fact of inequality itself—led to apocalyptic economic devastation, then we may well conclude that it is better to refrain from equalising initiatives unless we are quite certain they will not backfire.

Darn those pesky unintended consequences.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

A Clunker Of A Program

24 Comments

Jason Kuznicki takes a look back at one of the economically stupidest and vicious things that the government did in the past two years (and that’s saying something, considering how much policy stupidity has abounded):

See how that works? You can’t get something for nothing. Cash for Clunkers turns out to have been a highly inefficient wealth-transfer program, that is, one that destroyed a bunch of wealth along the way. It gave wealth to those already relatively wealthy people who did the government’s bidding (that is, those who could afford to part with a used car and buy a new one). And now it’s taking wealth from those relatively poor people who need a used car today — in the form of higher prices.

Along the way, it destroyed hundreds of thousands of cars — that’s the real wealth these poor people don’t have access to anymore, because the scrapped cars aren’t a part of the economy.

And this is what passes for a successful government program.

And I had idiots here in my own comments section applauding it as being a “success” because so many people (willing to take handouts) participated in it. This is the same kind of warped thinking that declares a legislator “successful” if he passes lots of legislation, regardless of its quality, or how damaging to the Republic it is. I’m always amazed and amused at the morons who think that I should be impressed by the president, and approve of him more, because he managed to ram so much of his destructive agenda through.

Business, Space

Advice To A Recent Grad

15 Comments

I got this email a few days ago, and haven’t had the time to respond to it, but I thought I’d at least let my readers pick up the slack:

My name is XXXX and I have read your blog for a while now after being introduced to it through Instapundit. I’m sure you get plenty of e-mails like this where people ask for your advice or opinions on something so if you don’t have time to respond it’s more than understandable.

Some background on me; I recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a B.A. in Political Science and just finished my first semester in the University of North Dakota’s M.S. in Space Studies program. Also, I am in the Army National Guard and just transitioned into the public affairs career field, completing a basic course at the Defense Information School.

I had originally planned to go to law school and hope for a career in space law, but after moving to public affairs I’ve fallen in love with the PR-field and now hope to find a PR-related career-path in the aerospace industry. My biggest question to you is, where do I start? I’ve tried researching which PR firms have major aerospace companies as their clients but have found nothing. Also, I don’t see aerospace-PR jobs advertised a whole lot. I’m not sure where exactly to begin looking or who to attempt to contact.

Also, do you have any advice on how I could present my qualifications once I do find someone/place to contact? My issue is that I have a liberals arts bachelors that doesn’t directly apply to the career I want (anymore) and my actual PR-training might not be understood/taken seriously since it comes from the military.

One last question, am I foolish in pursuing the North Dakota program? I talked to a few alumni before I applied and they all had great things to say, however I sometimes wonder if I’m making the wrong decision pursuing an interdisciplinary degree that an employer might not “get” when they review my resume.

Sorry if this e-mail was a bit rambling. I greatly appreciate any help or advice you could give me.

As I said, I hope that some of my readers, who understand the PR world better than I, can help.

[Update later afternoon]

Some advice from a (smart, who knows this stuff) reader who prefers to remain anonymous, but may be useful to more than the emailer:

[He should] save up enough money in his bank account to work as an unpaid intern someplace when he’s done w/ classes in North Dakota. That will give him real-world experience, and could actually turn into a job at the firm he’s interning for. Also, it’ll help him confirm that P.R., which can be a field that chews up young people and spits them out, is what he really wants to do. And if he chooses a city that has lots of outfits working in industries he likes, he can make other useful contacts.

Sounds good to me.

Business, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society

Politics

8 Comments

…not science:

The government report instantly made headlines for the astonishing conclusion that approximately 75 percent of the oil had been collected, burned, skimmed or simply disappeared. Given the magnitude of the spill — the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history — some scientists concluded it was premature to draw such conclusions.

Another independent study released this week estimated as much as 79 percent of the oil remains in the Gulf, beneath the water’s surface.

Lehr’s admission that the peer review wasn’t completed in advance of the report’s release undermines the administration’s claim that it was.

And then, there’s this:

Interior Department officials knew beforehand that President Obama’s six-month moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would cost more than 23,000 jobs and inflict devastating economic damage throughout the region.

Even so, the administration was not deferred from defying a federal judge and doing it anyway.

You’d almost think that they want to destroy the economy. I’m not sure what they’d be doing differently if they did.

And I don’t want to hear any more partisan noise about a “Republican war on science.”