Publication Date: Thursday, September 02, 2010

I ran across the following statement in my twitter feed this morning: “No matter how you slice it, Iraq war cost us less than Obama's stimulus. 31,234,000 are now free.”  I thought it was a pretty broad statement to say that a war cost less than a piece of domestic economic policy no matter how you slice it, so I decided to investigate.

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Publication Date: Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Should states suing to block the implementation of ObamaCare accept federal money that is authorized by the law? That question is in the air as seven states suing over the new federal health care law also applied to receive funding under it to help pay for state retiree retirement. I’m not so sure that the charge of hypocrisy is relevant here, though, or in other instances where it is thrown at those who favor limited government and yet use government services.

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Publication Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Three articles caught my eye as I was reading the news this morning, each one focusing on an issue that nearly every resident of Maryland cares about -- drugs, money, and (of course) crabs.  Each of the three articles was what my father, a good parent and a well-educated economist, might refer to as a “teachable moment.”

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Publication Date: Monday, August 30, 2010

Sometimes when I read certain op-eds, there is so much I want to say that I get overwhelmed. That was the case with an August 26 op-ed by Charlie Cooper of the Baltimore MoveOn Council. His anti-corporate op-ed was full of so much economic ignorance and historical inaccuracy that I could write a short book refuting it (many others would do far better job than I, though). I don’t have the time or inclination to discuss every flaw in this op-ed, though. Instead, I’d like to focus on one part where he praised President Theodore Roosevelt for busting the trusts.

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Publication Date: Friday, August 27, 2010

Former governor Bob Ehrlich has come out with an idea to exempt the $5000 in veterans’ pensions from state taxes. I’m all about exempting income from taxes, but I’m uncomfortable singling out one group for special treatment over another. Governor Ehrlich should support income tax reform that will lower taxes on all Marylanders, not just veterans.

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