Or, “how much government is too much?” A video from the Center of Freedom and Prosperity:
Hat tip to Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, who notes that the last time we were anywhere close to the sweet spot on the Rahn curve was 1965.
economics
Friday Links
Power Line‘s been following the SEIU protest in a Bank of America executive’s front lawn. This link is part five of a series: A Thug Too Far. The semi-hidden subplots: SEIU want to the guy’s front lawn, which means the SEIU now considers it okay to intimidate an opponent’s family; and BofA holds a $120 million dollar loan to SEIU — which might make one think this all might go away if BofA forgives their loan. Which might be the reason for the protest in the first place.
In happier news, there are New Drugs for Macular Degeneration.
Also, it looks like we’ve dodged a lethal epidemic carried by the swine flu. Debora MacKenzie breaks down what our government did right and wrong in Swine flu hoax? Get real.
Over at Hot Air, Ed Morrisey summarizes a recent Harvard Business School study: Study finds increased gov’t spending results in unemployment.
Ending with doom-and-gloom: US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus.
Economics Links
From John Mauldin at Business Insider, a story of Greek debt, how confidence affects markets, and what this means for America: We Are So Screwed
More specifically for California, Loren Steffy looks at Which governments pose the greatest default risk?
Tim Cavanaugh over at Reason asks a different question: Why Isn’t the Government Hiring Short Sellers?
Investors.com looks at Democratic efforts to nationalize your 401(k): Federal Mutual Fund
It’s not that good an idea. Daniel Foster at NRO says that we have a Pain in the Fannie
Greece and You
Rep. Paul Ryan begins: EU contagion will spread to the US
Robert Samuelson asks the question: Depression 2010? His answer is that we’re dependent on China, India, and Brazil moving from export economies to consumption ones. Read the whole thing.
Things are so bad in Greece they’re given the opposite of the advice we got all winter: NYT Tells Greece to Abandon Socialized Medicine?
And if you think Greece is getting off lightly, Anne Applebaum describes the conditions attached to the EU/IMF bailout thusly: “This is the kind of thing a surrendering field marshal signs in a railway car in the forest at the end of a bloody war. ” Read the details: Time for Greece to play by the E.U.’s rules
Finally, there seems to be some troublesome things going on behind the scenes: Rater Haters Finally Find a Reason to Turn On Moody’s, and It’s a Bad Reason