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Not a Fan of Geithner

James Quinn realizes there is some skullduggery afoot (HT2 Tim Swanson). I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but so far he’s my favorite part: Part 3 of the plan was the fake stress test conducted by Tim Geithner, his Treasury Department, and the Federal Reserve. The entire stress test was a publicity stunt conducted […]

Government Medicine

I’m not a fan. An excerpt: The government ruins everything it touches. Many high school graduates are functionally illiterate, even though per pupil funding is much higher now than in previous generations. Despite billions in subsidies over the years, Amtrak continues to lose money. The Post Office, though not an official arm of the government, […]

Was Keynes a Good Investor?

In a post chocked full of interesting tidbits, Scott Sumner reveals that Keynes as an investor got wiped out in 1920 but his father bailed him out. That changes everything, according to Sumner: Don’t anyone write in and tell me that Keynes made lots of other good investments, because if you’ve got a rich backstop, […]

A Note on Mass Emails

It amazes me how many people still do this: If you are sending out a mass email–e.g. “everyone should read this Forbes piece on Obama’s health plan!!”–then please put your 3 dozen recipients’ email addresses in the BCC field of your email. That way, people’s privacy is more protected, and they are not susceptible to […]

Murphy Tells Sacramento Pols How to Extract More From Their Citizens

The video from my April 9 testimony on California tax reform is finally up. No, I do not have a Gorbachev birthmark on my cheek. What happened is that the combination of the TSA’s restrictions on carrying good razors, coupled with a poor bathroom lighting situation at my hotel, meant that I didn’t realize I […]

Never Quit

On June 17 Bryan Caplan wrote: “My social intelligence is a lot higher than it used to be. I still wouldn’t say that I’m “good with people.” But in my youth, I was truly inept.” Five days later, he wrote: “I’ve got a little toenail fungus. Now that you’re done cringing in disgust, let’s get […]

The CBO’s Estimate of the Cost of Waxman-Markey…

…was somewhat misleading, as we explain in this opinionated post at IER. An excerpt: There are several major flaws with the CBO approach, but perhaps the most outrageous example of sleight of hand is the CBO’s focus on after-tax income. Because Waxman-Markey will raise prices more than incomes, households will necessarily become poorer. This will […]

Tempted by the Ring of Power

Robert Wenzel sent me the below email, in reference to his hard-hitting financial P.I. site. (He sends me a candy bar every time I use that description.) This came up as a search today: “”bob murphy” “council of economic advisors” The search was done by: national archives and records administration Are they setting up for […]