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Give the Gift of Capitalist Understanding
The enormous tragedy for young people today is that so many are sealed off by law from any involvement in the commercial marketplace… until …
Down and Out In California
Gas in Vegas is a dollar cheaper a gallon than in the Golden State, or so a friend and recent LA transplant tells me. …
Casey the Cleanup Crew
There are some authors (I could count them on one hand) who have a transforming effect on the human mind. My list of people …
Why Can’t Schools Secure Themselves?
My inbox has been slammed with notes concerning the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. Given the accessibility of information, and the …
Government, the New Debtors’ Prison
An old banking buddy of mine has been out of work for a full year. I met up with him yesterday, and he told …
The Great Disconnect
Ben Bernanke began his press conference with a touching tribute to the unemployed. Oh, how he cares! And so deeply! His description of the …
How the State Will Die
Google bought YouTube in 2006 at the height of the infringement hysteria. The new owners got busy trying to get the platform up to …
Painting by the Numbers
Times are tough on Main Street. Still, cheap money flows to the top 1%, wherever they live. For example, the fall season for the …
The Christmas Story’s Hidden Capitalism
People talk like capitalism is some strange foreign invader, a mechanical system that was imposed on the world a couple hundred years ago, fueled …
Government, the Thief
How secure are property rights if the police can take your stuff and keep it, citing no particular reason at all? Not very secure. …
The Holy Hangman Still Kills
Half of Americans think that government is their benefactor. The other half think it is a sworn enemy. Depending on the day and the …
Why the Rich Immolate Themselves
In the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, the American rich walked tall. They dressed the part. Top hats, canes, tails, spats, you …
The Everyday Absurdities of the TSA
‘Tis the season to be jolly. But then there’s the TSA. No government agency inspires “Bah Humbug” like the Transportation Safety Administration. For those …
The Homogenization of the Car
The antique car, specially ordered for the occasion, was waiting for the bride and groom to take them to the party after the wedding. …
Will Your Office Pool Get You Arrested?
I’m not a bettin’ man, probably because I’ve lost every time I’ve tried it. Still, I benefit from those who do. We all do. …
2008? That’s Ancient History, Right?
Memories are short, and 2008 is ancient history. Consumers can’t suppress their urge to consume. Lenders can’t suppress their urge to lend. We’ve learned …
Lincoln Uncensored
To be sure, this was a mind-bending experience. I watched Steven Spielberg’s movie Lincoln on the same weekend that I read Joseph Fallon’s Lincoln …
Which E-book Reader Should You Buy?
We are still in the early stages of a literature revolution, a migration from physical to digital, and it is tremendously exciting to see …
Protectionism is a Rip-Off
Winter is upon us, and that means digging out of our closets a whole variety of different kinds of shoes. There are insulated hiking …
Mellon vs. Geithner
Most of America has suffered since the crash of 2007. Property values plummeted, unemployment soared and remained stubbornly high, the use of food stamps …
The Skill Set of the Young and Smart
The unemployment rate for 19-24 year olds hasn’t moved much since 2008, and the reality of the tight job market has fully dawned on …
The House Is Still a Dump
“Half of the nation’s 40 biggest publicly traded corporate spenders have announced plans to curtail capital expenditures this year or next.” This is The …
I, Twinkie
Oh how everyone (of a certain class and income) makes fun of the Twinkie, the ultimate symbol of modern food decadence and phoniness. I …
A Day in the Beast’s Belly
The Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress is the least governmentlike building among all the tax-funded monstrosities in the nation’s capital. It …