Broback's Blog

For many (collectivist) armchair economists it’s great fun to sit back and talk about examples of “market failure” while cherry-picking examples where government proves oh-so efficient in providing services. This exercise is generally used to “prove” how it would really be better for all of us if we just ask the really smart people in […]

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The Economist has provided us with a persuasive, well-documented, logical, data-driven(!) essay that aligns with the accepted models of modern economic theory. Their conclusion is unmistakable. To speed recovery, Europe needs to think more like Ronald Reagan, and less like Barack Obama. The Economist (and OECD economists, McKinsey, University of Groningen, and the Bank of […]

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While on vacation this summer, my son wanted to go to the local bookstore to get some beach reading. As he scoured the bookstore, my eye fell on a book I’d never heard of before, “A Conflict of Visions” by Thomas Sowell. The book claimed to address why “the same people line up on opposite […]

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I’m enjoying “The Economic Crisis and How to Deal with it” — a riveting debate videoed in 2009 with some very heavy hitters in the world of finance and Economics. Participants include Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini, Robin Wells, George Soros, Senator Bill Bradley, and one of my favorites – Niall Ferguson. Lots of insights to […]

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I’m in the middle of a health care debate with my buddy Steve who for years has been unabashedly advocating the migration of the U.S. economy to a Nordic model social welfare state. Steve is no slouch on the subject, he munches the numbers — but in my mind we have a core disconnect. My […]

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This is second hand, but from an extremely reliable source. A friend of a friend had a financed a 2006 Chevy Suburban, but returned it to the finance company a few weeks ago due to personal financial constraints. The finance company (GMAC??) called him and told him to take it back and keep it, but […]

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a) Timely, complete care b) Very low cost c) Sustainable Pick two. United States: A + C France: A + B Canada: B + C Inspired by this post by Greg Mankiw.

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CNN reports that a huge portion of the kits and supplies purchased and donated for the purpose of aiding hurricane victims languished in storage for years, and finally was just kept and used by government. Hmmm, do you think Amazon would let $85 million in ordered products just sit in the warehouse, and then just […]

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Mark Anderson is the host of of the Future in Review conference and is best known for his powers of prediction. He is credited with being the first to predict $100 a barrel oil — something that seemed pretty crazy at the time. He stuck his neck out yet again tonight, by making a prediction […]

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