Quote of the Day
For the skeptic there remains only one consolation:
if there should be such a thing as superhuman law
it is administered with subhuman inefficiency.
Eric Ambler
Big Defense, Sequester and My Own Paradigm Shift
As I read today's alerts about Obama recognizing the Syrian opposition I still wonder if if Obama's meddling further in the Middle East won't come back to bite us as in the cases of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan or the Iraq-Iran War. I believe that Democratic Presidents Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy had noble intentions in interventions but unfortunately we don't have the resources or the geographic positioning to conduct sustained military operations, (Consider for instance when Bush had only the cooperation of Kuwait among Iraq's neighbors.)
I made a case for non-intervention in an earlier post. Like Tom Woods, I was more of a neo-con when I was younger. I didn't come to a change of view through the Austrian School; I am not necessarily a pacifist--after all, I'm an Air Force brat and sought officer commissions through both the Air Force and Navy. Two of my siblings joined the service, I believe a couple of in-laws were also military brats, and I still remember packing a brother-in-law, whom served medical support during the first Gulf War, a care package.
I did worry about global instability as a result of Middle East conflicts and trusted the Bushes, although I was skeptical that an economically crippled Iraq posed a viable strategic threat, and I nrver really bought nation building in Afghanistan. Why did I oppose Obama's surge/withdrawal decision? I think the decision was totally political and a strategic blunder.
But also constantly nagging at me in the back of my mind were Washington's warning about foreign entitlements as well as Eisenhowet's warning about the military-industrial complex. The final straw was the corrupt reelection of Karzai.
The neo-cons are out like Chicken Little over prospective sequester cutbacks, mirroring Dem fear-mongering over domestic expenditures. Don Boudreaux of Cafe Hayek writes one of his trademark letters to the editor: the world;s policeman spends more on its military the the next few countries combined.
On Incivility and Union Opposition to
Individual Economic Freedom
Crowder should file charges against the union thug who committed assault and battery in his viral clip. The Michiigan House has or will pass the Senate-approved measures to restore right to work for public and private sector individuals, and the governor has promised to sign it; improved comparative unemployment in right-to-work vs. crony compulsive union states, speaks for itself.
I did want to correct one blatant falsehood: that workers not electing to pay union dues get a free ride; I do believe a fair share of bargaining costs can be assessed to those not paying dues.
College Cost Bubble Redux
There are a number of things Dr. Lin doesn't discuss here: Vedder points out possible reasons employments may be declining here. (I have found even in my DBA field, there is a glut and it's an employer's market.) I've discussed stories of new PhD's unable to find academic positions, new teachers can't find work, law schools downsizing, etc. Now even with high school graduation rates dropping it is possible higher rates could prop up prices. It is true demand outstripping supply can drive up prices, but all things being held equal, high prices should shrink applicants--unless as Lin suggests government manipulates the market by artificially lowering the cost of college and/or making financing available, not unlike how the government artificially drove home ownership percentage to an all-time high (my comparison, not Lin's , although he does discuss a vicious cycle).
Musical Interlude: Christmas Retrospective
Bing Crosby's Last "White Christmas"
