Quote of the Day
History does not repeat itself.Historians repeat each other.
Arthur Balfour
Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day
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| Via Libertarian Catholic |
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| Via Libertarian Republic |
Guest Quotation of the Day:
On SCOTUS Being Rolled Over By Lawless FDR
In the war emergency that followed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the government built an awesome command economy, suspending many individual rights. As Clinton Rossiter noted, “Of all the time-honored Anglo-Saxon liberties, the freedom of contract took the worst beating in the war.” Ten million men were conscripted. The Supreme Court refused even to review challenges to the constitutionality of the draft. Some 112,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of them U.S. citizens and not one of them proved guilty of a crime, were herded into concentration camps, losing their liberty and sustaining property losses estimated at some $400 million. All quite constitutional, said the justices. Government orders allocated raw materials and plants; the government seized and operated production facilities and sometimes entire industries; and government officially rationed many consumer goods. None of these actions elicited so much as a ruling from the Supreme Court. -- Robert Higgs (HT Boudreaux of Cafe Hayek)Hall of Shame
Professional Sports: An Immigration Success Story
Quick--which player was picked over Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA draft? Hakeem Olajuwon. I know because the Phi Slama Jama UH Cougars advanced 3 times to the Final Four during 1981-84 (while I was finishing my MBA and starting on my doctorate), the finals twice in the last 2 years (to NC State and Georgetown). The Nigerian-born center is the best big man I've ever seen play the game; this is what Michael Jordan said about him:
If I had to pick a center [for an all-time best team], I would take Olajuwon. That leaves out Shaq, Patrick Ewing. It leaves out Wilt Chamberlain. It leaves out a lot of people. And the reason I would take Olajuwon is very simple: he is so versatile because of what he can give you from that position. It's not just his scoring, not just his rebounding or not just his blocked shots. People don't realize he was in the top seven in steals. He always made great decisions on the court. For all facets of the game, I have to give it to him.I've been a fickle NBA fan; I was a Spurs fan from my undergraduate days, but I started following the Rockets after Olajuwon was drafted. I also favored the Bulls after I moved to the Chicago suburbs in 1993, except when the Rockets won back to back championships in 1994-5, the latter which I watched from Brazil. Olajuwon, a devout Muslim, became a naturalized citizen in 1993; he was the first foreign-born MVP, plus finals MVP during the Rockets' championships, multiple defensive player of the year, and 12-time all-star; he was the first NBA player to retire in the top 10 lifetime for rebounds, scoring, steals, and blocks. (Since then he's been eclipsed in rebounds by a couple of players.) I reverted to the Bulls after Jordan came back from his hiatus from basketball, and then back to the Spurs after Jordan retired (and should have stayed retired).
Forbes has an interesting piece about how the NBA and MLB have become more cosmopolitan, including my beloved champion Spurs (HT Mark Perry of Carpe Diem) (my edits):
In the 2013-14 season, the National Basketball Association (NBA) set a record with 90 international players, representing 20 percent of the players on the opening-night NBA rosters, compared to 21 international players (and 5 percent of rosters) in 1992. The San Antonio Spurs led the league with 7 foreign-born players, according to the NBA. Moreover, data on Wins Produced, compiled by BoxScore Geek, indicate the foreign-born players on the Spurs were responsible for 32 of the team’s league-leading 62 wins in 2013-14. The leading win producer among foreign-born players was Marco Belinelli, from Italy, with 6.7 wins produced, followed by Manu Ginobili, born in Argentina, with 6 wins produced, with important contributions also from Patty Mills (Australia, 5 wins), Tiago Splitter (Brazil, 4 wins), Boris Diaw (France, 3.8 wins), Tony Parker (France, 3.6 wins), and Cory Joseph (Canada, 2.8 wins).And especially for the benefit of the anti-immigrant populists worried about aliens taking jobs from American players or driving down compensation:
On the 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) opening-day roster there were 213 foreign-born players, representing 25 percent of the total, an increase of 2 percentage points from an NFAP analysis of MLB rosters performed in 2006. Leading foreign-born baseball players include 2013 American League MVP Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela), 2013 World Series MVP David Ortiz (Dominican Republic) and Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish (Japan).
NBA and Major League Baseball teams, like all employers, seek out employees that will make their companies better able to compete. Both leagues rely on the voluntary purchases of tickets (and TV viewership) by consumers, who appear to be fine with foreign-born players on their favorite teams: revenues for Major League Baseball rose from $1.4 billion in 1995 to over $8 billion in 2013, reports Forbes. And there is no evidence the entry of foreign-born talent has lowered the wages of NBA or Major League Baseball players, who have been enjoying record salary levels.Facebook Corner
(FEE). Pundits are calling David Brat a free-market hero. But his comments on immigration leave plenty to be desired.
So what happens to those who come here, can't find work, and seek subsidized income/welfare? That existence may well be better than home. Assuming that all come here to find work is not a given. And what about minimum wages? If the MW is high enough to price them out of labor markets, what then? Not arguing- I'm asking. Are you applying free labor market logic to a labor market that is not free now, and shows little sign of becoming so?
Exactly! A generous government safety net cannot be accompanied by an open border. If we're able to muster the political will to eliminate all of the wasteful welfare programs then perhaps we can discuss a more open border. What we do need is a dramatic increase in temporary labor visas so we can get more workers where shortages exist. Contrary to popular opinion many agricultural harvesting jobs aren't unskilled labor, they require a specific skill set that we have a shortage of among Americans. Partly because Americans aren't interested in learning a skill they can only use 3-6 months out of the year.
Listen--stop putting up with Milton Friedman's pathetic garbage excuse for rationalizing vulgar anti-immigrationism. Don Boudreaux pointed out recently that Friedman was inconsistent, e.g., he didn't make his opposition to the war on drugs contingent on doing away with the welfare state. What happens if you migrate somewhere only not to find work? Do you stay there or move on?
(IPI). The Village of North Riverside is considering privatizing its fire department, saying rising pension costs and a state requirement that municipalities fully fund pensions have forced it to make drastic changes.
YES. I've been encouraging privitization for YEARS. Let's hope this starts a trend......
(Jeffrey Tucker). I'm not feeling sympathy for the Redskins. Trademarks are coercive and often viciously enforced against entrepreneurs. They are also a consumer ripoff because they artificially restrict supply and raise prices for all product-related things. The removal of the trademark privilege changes nothing about the right for the team for call itself what it wants. And yet: there is an irony to see the very government that systematically slaughtered Native Americans purporting to be their great defenders.
The lawless Obama Administration ignored a 2003 ruling on this very issue (President Zipper tried to do the same thing) . The greater issue is the rule of law, Tucker. (I personally don't think when an organization spends considerable effort and resources promoting its marks, others should be able to freeload and profit from that investment; if you want to field your own team and market your own marks, that's the American way.) But discriminating against one team's marks by implementing a concept of political correctness not only goes beyond executive discretion but also violates Constitutional rights of free expression and due process.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Lisa Benson via Townhall |
The Commodores, "Sail On". This song reminds me of my relationship with a college girlfriend whom left after one semester of college
