Broback's Blog

Some miscellaneous random clips I snagged this week. Classic examples of the ongoing and pervasive real-world manifestations of what students learn in Public Choice Theory 101. Might provide a little balance to those who obsess single-mindedly over “Market Failure.” Officers were told to arrest people who were doing little more than standing on the street, […]

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Man of good faith and reason can differ on what an appropriate rate of societal wealth appropriation and redistribution is — but the recent volleys back and forth on the Romney tax rate have me scratching my head over the approach taken by many in the collectivist camp. Normally I’d say one’s level of outrage […]

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I’ve had this queued up for some time, but Krugman’s recent assertions (and subsequent backpedaling) about capital gains taxation inspired me to take this live. This is perfect. As Boudreaux tackles the question “Who is today’s Bastiat?” as proposed by David Henderson, he puts forth the best description I’ve heard yet of what Paul Krugman […]

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It’s not just housing bubbles that are caused by good intentions and market intervention. Mungowitz reports on yet another prime example of Soviet-style meddling in the U.S. pharmaceutical market. While the Food and Drug Administration monitors the safety and supply of the drugs, which are sold both as generics and under brand names like Ritalin […]

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Given the recent SEC indictments, I couldn’t resist this passage from Krugman in July of 2008 (emphasis mine:) “But here’s the thing: Fannie and Freddie had nothing to do with the explosion of high-risk lending a few years ago, an explosion that dwarfed the S.& L. fiasco. In fact, Fannie and Freddie, after growing rapidly […]

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Harvard Professor Greg Mankiw wrote about the students who walked out of his introductory econ class because “the biased nature of Economics 10 contributes to and symbolizes the increasing economic inequality in America.” He hit upon a few points that I’ve been meaning to post about. I’ve wanted to go into detail how those with […]

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Ouch. This would appear to handily refute the non-intuitive argument Krugman made (and bloggers parrot) about the imagined efficiency of Medicare and Medicaid. The New York Times reported yesterday: The official in charge of Medicare and Medicaid for the last 17 months says that 20 percent to 30 percent of health spending is “waste” that […]

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@mungowitz before: After:

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Robert Reich laments that workers can no longer purchase the goods they manufacture. “For most of the last century, the basic bargain at the heart of the American economy was that employers paid their workers enough to buy what American employers were selling.” Seems to me like the iPad is a poster child for this […]

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My friend Steve cites a smart, educated, and experienced friend who has sadly been affected by the economic downturn and has now been laid off. She’s been offered a job at a pay scale that’s apparently inconsistent with the residential real estate industry work she’s had in the past (lower) and with hours that are […]

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