The problem with such programs that give something away is that people come to depend on the program, and then, more and more become attracted to the giveaway.  With increasing numbers of people depending on the program, spending goes up and up and the taxpayers are asked to assume a heavier and heavier burden.  The ranks of the dependent swell while the number of those providing the payments shrinks. 

Now it looks as if a similar problem is occurring.  Take a look at this recent report from Andrew Breitbart about the reported gasoline shortages in Egypt.  Prices of gasoline have been held down through the Egyptian government’s subsidies, but such subsidies look to be unaffordable, leaving the government but little choice to end them, meaning prices will rise.  How do you think the Egyptians will respond to a government that causes gasoline prices to double?  The new leaders of Egypt have not yet solidified their power.  Just like Mubarak, they may soon be out of a job.

As you can read in the Breitbart article, the authorities blame speculators and smugglers.  Hmm? Maybe.  What needs to be asked is “why is smuggling going on in the first place?  Could it be that the policy that keeps prices of gasoline at half of the price in a neighboring country CREATES the opportunity for someone clever to buy in one market at a low price and sells in another at a higher price?  Here is an excellent analysis of what is going on with subsidized oil in Indonesia Price differences create profit opportunities for smugglers.  They create even larger opportunities for thieves. 

So, are the smugglers causing the shortages, or are they just taking advantage of a situation that politicians set up to build and maintain support?

What we will see this term is that when it takes government edicts to keep prices low, the amount buyers want becomes high compared to the amount that sellers want to sell—the textbook definition of a shortage.

-MC

During the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan, some thoughtful observers noted that African Americans paid a disproportionate  price in casualties.  Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is about how our 30+ years of a “war on drugs” has piled up far more black than white casualties in our jails, destined more black than white families to failure.     

Well, our drug laws and their disproportionate effects on Black vs. White America is something we must examine more closely and more thoughtfully.  Our “War on Drugs” is a war we cannot win.  However, some Americans lose more in this war than others.

- MC

Well, amid Congressional disaster over the dealing (or not dealing) with the deficit problem, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu is doing something about these baggage fees.  You can see a news story about her proposal here.  To keep travelers from getting nickeled and dimed with baggage fees, she is proposing legislation to ban charges for the first checked bag.  While this may sound good, especially good to those who waited patiently behind me while I fought with my luggage, it really represents the rather typical lack of critical thinking by those in power in our nation’s capital. 

It does not look as if either Senator Landrieu or any member of her staff stopped to consider the consequences of her proposed bag fee ban legislation.   It should be obvious as to the reaction of the airlines.  They will just charge higher fares, and travelers, whether they checked baggage or not, will pay for checked bags, and more bags will be checked than now.  I certainly would have checked my luggage, and probably would have brought a larger bag if I could check it with no additionaly cost. 

Notice what happens with charges for checked bags–travelers packing lighter, airlines carrying less luggage, fewer baggage handlers per plane, and less lost luggage problems.  And these are just the obvious savings to the airlines from the behavioral consequences of baggage fees.  I am sure there are probably some that have not occured to me.  Some of these savings are passed on to travelers who carry their own luggage with them.   

With first bag checked for “free,” airlines will not be able to make these savings and instead of a separate charge, the fares will rise as a result.  They probably would not rise by the baggage fee, but now, travelers would not be able to save those fees.  They would not be given the option of saving some money by carrying their own luggage.  The airlines would raise fares because they would be carrying heavier loads and paying more to handle the extra luggage. 

It looks as if our costliest baggage is the lack of thinking that takes place in Washington, thinking that has given us heavy tax and debt burdens and promises that we cannot financially sustain.  

-MC

The Pilgrims came here with altruistic values of  equal sharing based on need, much like the values of the Occupiers.  I was just in Washington, DC for the Southern Economic Association meeting.  On may way from the convention, I had to make a subway change at Metro Center, which is near the White House.  On my way to take a few photos of the White House, I came across a small encampment of the Washington, D.C. Occupiers.  Below are a few of the photos I shot of the OccupyWashington protesters.  (While it looks cold because of the fog and cloud cover, don’t feel too sorry for folks in the photos, as it was probably no cooler than 68 degrees at the time.)  Of course, I like the sentiment in the yellow sign the most.   Just click on a photo to see a larger version.   

Notice the use of the word “Needs” in several photos.  When does one person’s “need” become another’s obligation?  If one person is obligated to work to provide for someone else’s need, and this obligation is not voluntary, but coerced,wouldn’t that be forced labor?  Isn’t forced labor “slavery?”

Enjoy your Thanksgiving.  And enjoy your time with friends and family.

-MC

Last year, I posted this on the exams required for new florists that the Louisiana board that licenses florists uses to keep its numbers down and their prices up, mentioning other cases of occupational licensing, like the ones for CPAs and massage therapists.

Back in June of this year, John Stossel penned this article on local regulation of both taxi operation and hair braiding, and how it hits the poor, the people that politicians often claim to be fighting for.  Stossel makes a great case here against this sort of occupational licensing.

When it becomes more difficult to become a competitor than to go along with the status quo, both consumers and these competitors lose, all in the name of consumer protection.  What irony!  Or is it just that we don’t realize that Orwellian “NewSpeak“ has been here  for some time.

-MC

Maybe if I give them a lot of money, I could get the federal government to buy my product, a true technological breakthrough, a circular shaped object used to roll things on, something I call “the wheel.”

–MC

-MC

-MC

In this CNBC article, Jack Abramoff, without naming names, says that that is exactly what is going on in Congress, corrupt insider trading.

Who to blame?  We keep sending these guys back to DC to do it again.

-MC

MC