Capitalism

w Funds Effective Reading

This entry was posted in bush Capitalism Education Federalism on by

In today’s weekly radio address w tells us about his admin’s record in supporting the No Child Left Behind Act. Next year’s budget proposes a cool $1.1 billion for effective reading programs. That seem like a pretty large sum at first glance but then reality sets in.
In 2001 there were 46,906,607 students in public schools. So that $1.1 billion works out to a little over $23/student. Perhaps enough to buy 1/3 of a textbook each. I’ll bet, though, that the money comes with the usual federal hooks: do it this way or you will not get the money.

Taking on the Feds

This entry was posted in Capitalism Constitution Drug Laws Health Care Law Enforcement Libertarianism on by

Talkleft tells us about a group of Californians who are taking on the feds over medical marijuana use:

these advocates argue that their cultivation and use of pot � approved by Santa Cruz police, free of profit motive, unfettered by illegal transport over state lines � is a constitutionally protected right that trumps federal narcotics laws.

It would be nice to see them win and do it in such a way that it drives the states and the feds right out of the business of legislating in these areas where they do not belong.

Carlyleism

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In June The Economist reviewed the book The Iron Triangle on the Carlyle Group:

You need not be a conspiracy theorist, though, to be concerned about what lies behind Carlyle’s success. Can a firm that is so deeply embedded in the iron triangle where industry, government and the military converge be good for democracy? Carlyle arguably takes to a new level the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower feared might �endanger our liberties or democratic process�. What red-blooded capitalist can truly admire a firm built, to a significant degree, on cronyism; surely, this sort of access capitalism is for ghastly places like Russia, China or Africa, not the land of the free market?

It looks like an interesting and instructive read.

How Many Pages does it Take to Choke a Country?

This entry was posted in Capitalism Democracy Law Libertarianism Regulation on by

I’m afraid we will find out before it gets better. From the Washington Post 2002 Federal Register Is Longest Ever:

The Bush administration, philosophically wedded to the idea of smaller government, issued a record-high number of pages of new federal regulations last year, according to a study to be released today by the Cato Institute.
…Federal Register boasted 75,606 pages of federal regulations in 2002, up from a high of 74,528 pages in 2000, when President Bill Clinton was still in office.

On the other hand:

A total of 4,187 rules were in the federal pipeline in 2002, down from 4,509 rules the previous year and from a 10-year peak of 5,119 in 1994,…..

For a full analysis see the 2003 Cato Institute report: Ten Thousand Commandments, An Annual Report of the Federal Regulatory State.
Via Bespacific.

Corporate Rights

This entry was posted in Capitalism Democracy Economics Libertarianism on by

Emma at Late Night Thoughts joins Dave Pollard and Thom Hartman, author of Unequal Protection, in taking on corporate personhood. A thorough fisking of these folks arguments would find some individual points to argue but I think the essence of what they are saying holds true:

our elected and appointed legislative, executive and judicial ‘public servants’ have enacted, approved and upheld laws that imbue corporations with rights that should belong only to natural persons*

Read Emma’s post and then the Pollard/Hartman material and give it some thought.

Emma observes that:

The screams you hear from the corner are coming from those conservatives that want to protect “capitalism” and “free markets”.

I can’t think of reasons why folks who truly support capitalism and free markets would disagree with the essence (see above) of this discussion. Capitalism does not thrive in an environment wrapped in special protections, subsidies, etc. Most likely those screaming are more of the statist variety and come from both the right and the left.

Thanks to Jeanne at Body and Soul for the pointer.
*orginal text read

our elected representatives have approved laws that imbue corporations with rights that should belong only to natural persons