Miscellany: 9/24/15

Quote of the Day
Man is happy only as he finds work worth doing -- and does it well.
E. Merrill Root

Image of the Day

via Catholic Libertarians

Remembering a REAL President and a REAL Pope

One of the Best Catholic Pro-Liberty Video Clips Ever



Rev. Sirico On the Pope's Speech Before Congress

I haven't heard or read the Pope's speech yet (available here), but depending on the contents I may post in an upcoming daily post or a one-off post. I will say that DiLorenzo, as a familiar reader may guess, wasn't thrilled with the pontiff's references to Lincoln. Father Sirico founded the Acton Institute, a Catholic free market think tank.



The Comeback of Craft Beer: A Consequence of Deregulation



Lawrence Reed On the Speech Pope Francis Should Have Delivered

Pope Francis, Address to the United States Congress — September 24, 2015:

Members of the U.S. Congress and the American people:

I come before you in glowing admiration for the historic accomplishments of your spirit of enterprise. In the pursuit of personal gain — the desire to improve your lives while serving others in the process — you Americans have fed, clothed and housed more people at higher levels than all the combined efforts of humanitarians worldwide throughout history.

In my profession, we speak of “collecting” money. Americans practically coined the phrase, “making money.” After 36 hours in the United States, I now realize that we can’t collect it until you first make it, and while both activities are motivated at least in part by a shared desire to “do good,” the one that your risk-taking, visionary entrepreneurs, investors, builders, inventors and job creators do so well is by far the bigger challenge.

I’ve said some things lately that gave you reason to think I was hostile to the dynamic spirit of enterprise that made this country a beacon for the world and the most generous society in history. I’ve spoken about excessive greed in the capitalist system, but now I realize that no variant of socialism ever does away with greed. It simply ensures that the only way a person can satisfy it is by using his political connections to steal what he wants, to pillage hapless value-creators while condemning the poor to a life of politicized dependency. I’m a little ashamed now that I fell for such nonsense, but I am happy to be here to begin my education in economics and politics in earnest.

One of the beautiful things about your country is the intellectual diversity. One example is my conversations with American Christians who have spent much time in thought and prayer on the question of Jesus’s views on property and politics. In my conversations, we have discussed how Jesus, the man whose teachings I regard as sacred and divine, never once argued for redistribution of income by political power.

While he disdained the worship of money, he never disparaged the crucial role of money as a medium of exchange or as a wealth-creating motivator. I had apparently forgotten Jesus’s advice (in the Book of Luke) to a man who asked him to redistribute some wealth. “Who made me a judge or divider over you?” he asked. I think as legislators, you should ask that very question of yourselves.

So rather than read a stock speech of clichés and finger-wagging, I’m simply going to implore you to keep learning, as I have dedicated my life to doing. And before any of us are quick to jump to policy prescriptions on things about which we know so little, let’s all remember what the Austrian economist Murray Rothbard advised:

It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a “dismal science.” But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.

Thank you.

The FDA Bureaucrats Killed Him



Facebook Corner

(IPI). [BREAKING] Food carts are now legal in Chicago!
Today, City Council registered a historic vote to establish a legal path to food-cart vending for Chicagoans.
Above all else, Chicago’s vote to legalize food carts is a victory for the entrepreneur – street vending is one of the most affordable ways to enter the food industry.
Chicago politicians doing the right thing for once? Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day...
Food cart tax coming. It's on the horizon. The city council is counting the food cart tax money already without any consideration for lost restaurant taxes.
Shut the hell up, you crony restauranteur!

(Liberty.me). Government protectionism, not the free market, caused an insane increase in the price of this HIV drug. The current system is the opposite of a free market.
Besides the ludicrous attack on intellectual property (as if intellectual labor is less equal...), let's point out that Daraprim is off patent; the issue has to deal with the fact that only about 10,000 prescriptions a year in the US are written; compare that to say 4 billion prescriptions written in the US each year--and the drug is available to poorer patients at negligible prices. Even in the case of generics, there are high upfront expenses, approvals, etc. Second, patents don't necessarily mean a monopoly in meds addressing a certain disease or condition. For example, Gilead Sciences has a very popular hepatitis C drug; there are other price-competitive formulations (e.g., ABBV). 

What you guys need to focus on is the ability to lower barriers to market competition, which have more to do with regulatory policy and especially FDA approval processes.

PS. This is not an HIV drug. It is an antiparasitic medicine; babies and others with weak immune systems including cancer and HIV/AIDS patients are at risk (e.g., from inadequately heated meats, use of contamined kitchen tools, etc.)

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Scott Stantis via IPI

Courtesy of Steve Kelley via Townhall

Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

Lionel Richie, "Se La"