Men always talk about the most important things to perfect strangers.
G.K. Chesterton
The "Iron Lady" Is Dead: RIP
Former PM Baroness Margaret Thatcher
"The trouble with socialists is that they always run out of other people’s money."
"If it's me against 48, I feel sorry for the 48."
"If it's me against 48, I feel sorry for the 48."
It's been interesting watching the reactions from conservatives and libertarians. Libertarians can be sharply critical of anyone or anything falling short of ideal. For example, Reagan never did eliminate the Dept. of Education, piled up deficits and accepted payroll tax increases to "fix" social security. Consider Rothbard's assessment: "Thatcherism is all too similar to Reaganism: free-market rhetoric masking statist content...the percentage of government spending and taxation to GNP has increased over the course of her regime, and monetary inflation has now led to price inflation. Basic discontent, then, has risen, and the increase in local tax levels has come as the vital last straw. It seems to me that a minimum criterion for a regime receiving the accolade of "pro-free-market" would require it to cut total spending, cut overall tax rates, and revenues, and put a stop to its own inflationary creation of money. Even by this surely modest yardstick, no British or American administration in decades has come close to qualifying."
However, let us recall what Lady Thatcher inherited:
When Thatcher was named prime minister in 1979, England was in disarray. The economy was not growing, unemployment had reached record highs, commercial enterprises were under state control and public labor unions were pushing hard, sometimes violently, for major pay increases. Thatcher believed the answer was to get government out of business. She privatized big, state-owned industries that were losing money, including the nation's utility companies and its national airline, British Airways. Shipping, railways and car manufacturing were also opened up to the free market. When Thatcher assumed power inflation was running at 20%, and more than 1.5 million people -- an unprecedented number at the time -- were of out of work. .Kudlow adds:
Margaret Thatcher fought socialism in England and unyieldingly promoted the free-market views of Nobelists Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. She stopped the destructive British labor unions dead in their tracks. With every bone in her body she attempted to limit government by lowering spending and taxation. She opted for big-bang financial deregulation. And she put London back on the map as a world banking center.I have mentioned, in discussing prospective American female politicians, I could support an American variation of the baroness, but there is no one I can see. Thatcher had a remarkably sharp mind, having earned a chemistry degree at Oxford and later qualified as a barrister.
The end of Thatcher's historic tenure as prime minister was marked by an unpopular poll tax as an alternative to, say, property taxes. (See Rothbard above.) This was, in theory, an equal-taxation mechanism, intended to starve the government beast, but its implementation was unevenly administered and had some regressive aspects, with many finding their local taxes going up by as much as a third.
The poll/capitation tax has an interesting place in American history. Elections are a state, not federal function. The federal government (not the states) is limited from assessing direct taxes, including capitation, by Article 1 Section 9 of the Constitution. After Reconstruction, former Confederate states implemented mechanisms discouraging certain voting rights, particularly for blacks; one of these was the imposition of poll taxes. The 24th Amendment, which outlawed tying taxes/payments to voting eligibility in federal elections, was a mechanism to move past filibusters by conservative Southern Democrats on federal legislation to regulate the process.
Congratulations to NCAA Basketball Champion Louisville Cardinals!
Annette Funicello: RIP
When I was a little boy, Annette was the older girl next door, lovable, pretty, sweet, upbeat, talented; what young man wouldn't fall in love with a young lady like that? I was too young to remember much of the original Mickey Mouse Club (I more clearly remember beach movies). It broke my heart to see how multiple sclerosis affected Annette's quality of life, but I'm inspired by her surviving husband's great love:
But in 1992 at age 50, Annette went public with devastating news -- she had multiple sclerosis, a debilitating neurological disorder. She had the most severe form of the disease and over the years lost her ability to walk, relying first on a cane, then on a wheelchair. The singer and actress eventually lost her ability to talk...
“When she got diagnosed … I told her, ‘I will take care of you and I`ll do everything I can,’” says Glen who is now 81 years old and her primary caregiver.
Annette receives around-the-clock care. She is fed through a tube and must be carried from her bed to her wheelchair.
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| Courtesy of Wikipedia |
Can the Government Create Jobs? OF COURSE NOT!
I'm a big fan of Steve Horwitz, an Austrian School economist and alumnus of George Mason; I've probably discussed his work and/or videos a half-dozen times. Horwitz is spot on--the key concept is creating wealth. If I have any criticism, I would have liked to hear him flesh out what he means by politicians using the issue for their own interests, in particular, dysfunctional policies like protectionist tariffs, restrictive immigration, labor market exit barriers, made-in-America stipulations, barriers to entry (e.g., licensing, permits, zoning), etc.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Sreve Breen and Townhall |
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Crosby, Stills, & Nash, "Southern Cross"
