Economics and Social Policy - XXXVII

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Welcome to the November 8, 2007 edition of Economics and Social Policy. As an experiment, this will be the first E&SP composed on something called“Open Office”. I'm going to fool around with this for a bit; don't expect much issue with word processing – everybody does words – but spreadsheets are the real test.

But on with the carnival.

Phil B.: Please Help Solve America's Economic Issues « Phil for Humanity, and The Only Future is a Sustainable Future. « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity.

It's a gloomy business. But I had no idea that the US was giving away a trillion a year to other countries. Furthermore, I'm not sold on the notion that we're not on a sustainable development path already. Just as long as we don't fall for more green shibboleths like organic farming. Man's greatest resource has always been ingenuity – the key to success is a governmetal system that doesn't stifle it with a bunch of soft Euro economic controls and groupthink.

Joshua Dorkin presents Fortress Manhattan: No Real Estate “Crisis” There posted at Real Estate Investing For Real.

No real estate crises in Manhattan? Come to Akron, buddy, and I'll show you a crisis. A specialized fixed asset market – there may yet be a Manhattan real estate bubble. However, even with a collapse, I don't see the BMD household making enough to move there. Or even wanting to. NY is a great town if you're The Donald; for everyone else, it's suckiness increases as you move down the income scale.

DWSUWF presents GWB vs. LBJ Redux posted at Divided We Stand United We Fall, saying, "Let's not kid ourselves. A single party Democratic government in 2009 will be every bit as bad as the single party Republican government of the last six years. The only difference will be which special interests and lobbyists will be the beneficiary of the increased spending of our tax dollars. The logical vote in 2006 was to vote for a straight Democratic ticket to divide our government. The logical vote to avoid LBJ Redux in 2009 is to vote for a Republican president in 2008 to keep it divided."

DWSUWF puts his best foot forward here – the strongest argument for divided government is that it helps to get the government to just stand there, rather than doing something – a profoundly conservative response.

The unfortunate thing is that at least one of the parties is choosing to seek power on the basis of losing a war. And neither party seems to have a grasp on what to do now that Iraq is turning our way, but the ideology funded by the Saudis and Iranians (not to mention the Iranian nukes).

Adam Gurri presents Peaked oil posted at Sophistpundit.

An interesting analysis. Didn't Paul Erlich predict that we would be out of oil and living on twigs and dirt by 15 years ago? The real threats to oil production are, of course, politicians. Estimated or proven reserves are valueless if you are not allowed to drill for them. And if there's one thing that politicians hate, it's the freedom and mobility that a population with access to cheap energy has. The other political danger is the quasi-regulated markets in carbon credits designed to enrich the politically connected.

Matthew Paulson presents What To Do If Your Kids Move Back Home After College posted at Getting Green.

Mr. Paulson makes some excellent parenting points here. Congratulations on graduation & have fun at Dakota State!.

Stefan Töpfer presents THE SMALL BUSINESS BLOG » Blog Archive » Work-Life Balance 2.0 and Small Business posted at The Small Business Blog.

Sagar presents 10 Ways a Ron Paul Presidency Would Help Entrepreneurs posted at Bootstrapper.

Well I don't think that a Ron Paul Presidency is likely any time soon. And I wouldn't describe Dr. Paul as “the conservative Constitutionalist”. While Dr. Paul is running as a Republican, he's really a libertarian. I support a lot of his positions regarding the scope of the Federal Government. Foreign Policy isn't one of them.

The other core issues are that a) Presidents do not actually have that much power in the American system. They have to persuade Congress to go along to enact any of their agenda. Only about 3 members of Congress are likely to go to bat for Paul. Four, if Dick Armey decides to make a comeback.

b) libertarianism provides an excellent debating forum, but provides lousy governance. (even assuming that the American people could be persuaded to give up the socialist goodies we're all addicted to). Essentially, the dogmatic libertarian has a tendency to take Homo Economicus as reality, rather than a simplifying assumption.
All of that said, a block of 50 Dr. Pauls in Congress would be worth more to the libertarian and small government cause that one Dr. Paul as president.

Ian Welsh presents Why Eating Healthy Food Costs More Than Eating Junk posted at The Agonist.

I don't want the government to re-direct agriculture subsidies toward more “healthy” foods – I want the government to end agricultural subsidies. And lift sugar, peanut, and other import tariffs on food as well. The government just isn't smart enough to get this right.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Economics and Social Policy using our carnival submission form.

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