Drex Davis Recent Posts- Why I supported Proposition 102 in Arizona (and Prop. 8 in CA)
- Today I voted Libertarian, and it felt great
- oh, this is rich; the “maestro” suprised, and Waxman hits all the wrong notes
- My ongoing battle with NJ
- Thugz at the DailyKos targeting Mormons
- Painkillers vs. Cocaine
- Is Obama inevitable?
- The Super Easy Guide To Understanding the Financial Crisis
- Responding to an Altgate blog - We the people are not We the investors
- 72 cents for your soul, young one
What is government doing to your money?
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The misleading, but effective, meme you’ll be hearing for the next 5 months
In visual form (see the graphic below).
Politics is interesting, if for nothing else than the sinister way politicians imply that (1) some politicians are responsible for all bad in the world and (2) some politicians are responsible for all good in the world and (3) all politicians believe they’re in the second category while their political adversaries are in the first.
Most politicians are incompetent. They’re experts in (a) making outrageous promises that are incompatible with economic law and human nature in exchange for votes, (b) ingratiating themselves with special interests and (c) pressing the flesh at cocktail parties in order to carry out (a) and (b).
Oh yeah, and they’re good at voting themselves pay increases.
The skills you need to get elected are primarily a combination of charisma and the ability to look someone in the eye and tell them a falsehood. The skills to you need to run an organization are integrity and the ability to look someone in the eye and tell them the truth.
As to the graph below, long-tern inflation is a monetary phenomenon. Short-term inflation is a fixed-supply/rising-demand phenomenon that is usually short lived and usually remedies itself.
I have a belief that we’re in a commodity bubble (in the short term, but a rising trend in the long term). The price of crude oil will likely plummet at some point in the next 8 months. By more than half.
Technorati Tags: gas prices, politicans, politics, inflation, monetary policy
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Is the US Government a Kleptocracy?
Kleptocracy is government rule by thieves.
In answer to the question in the title above, this article should give you some thought. Key graph:
The wage increases for government workers from 2006–2007 in 45 different job classifications averaged 5.7%. A USA Today news story earlier in the year reported that the total compensation for government employees from 2000–2007 had risen by 16%, while their private-sector counterparts lagged behind with an increase of 11% over the same period. With increases in private-sector compensation trailing in comparison to that experienced in government pay, the income gap that once heavily favored the former has all but disappeared.
Government employees play by different rules than the rest of us. They don’t feel the effects of inflation like we do in the private sector because they legislate inflation indexed wage increases.
So the government does jobs poorly and inefficiently, devalues the currency, but pays themselves more (by force through mandatory taxation increases) so they don’t feel the effects of the devaluation like the private sector does.
Is that a kleptocracy? Are they kleptocrats?
You tell me.
Technorati Tags: kleptocracy, minarchism, inflation, taxation, currency, devaluation
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You should read this - just what the Doctor ordered
Doctor Ron Paul, that is.
Something big is going on.
Key graph:
“One of the best parts of accepting self reliance in a free society is that true personal satisfaction with one’s own life can be achieved. This doesn’t happen when the government assumes the role of guardian, parent or provider, because it eliminates a sense of pride. But the real problem is the government can’t provide the safety and economic security that it claims. The so-called good that government claims it can deliver is always achieved at the expense of someone else’s freedom. It’s a failed system and the young people know it.”
Speaking truth to power, that’s what I love about Dr. Paul. Is there a more honest and rational man in politics today?
No. There is not.
I’ve got a fever and the only cure is more Ron Paul.
Technorati Tags: paul, libertarian, minarchism, inflation