Textbook Economics: The idiots were warned. We tried to tell them raising the minimum wage was pointless. It doesn’t help the poor. It only devastates young people who are trying to get jobs. It should be no surprise that youth unemployment has hit a record high. I hope all those “progressives” feel better. The only thing they accomplished is helping unions. Milton Friedman talked about this very issue decades ago. Friedman is gone, but he’s still right.
Content-neutral: Two months ago students from the Young America’s Foundation were told to shut up when they started an impromptu version of the National Anthem at the Lincoln Memorial. Evidently the harsh rhetoric of our nation’s National Anthem is offensive to someone. This is another great moment for our United States Park Police.
He’s No Saint: CNN has an article by Ed Henry on the late Senator Ted Stevens who passed away in an airplane crash earlier this week. The headline of the article is “Stevens was no saint but his word was his bond.” Fair enough, but where was this kind of somber analysis of the late Senator Ted Kennedy? If Stevens wasn’t a saint what was Kennedy? Or did Stevens get drunk, drive off the road, and flee the scene with someone drowning in the car as well?
I’m headed up to Atlanta tomorrow to watch the Braves in the post-Chipper era. The Braves third baseman injured himself on a throw to first base a couple of days ago. His ACL requires surgery so it’s possible this is the end of the road for Chipper. We’ll catch two games against the Dodgers and drive back on Sunday.
This video is older than I am but it’s still as relevant today as it has ever been. Sadly Milton Friedman’s logical arguments are no match for a public hungry for entitlements.
It is a sad day for economists everywhere. Milton Friedman has passed away at age 94. It’s impossible to overstate Friedman’s importance to economic policy the past sixty years. His ideas have been fundamental in the unprecedented economic growth experienced in the West the past three decades. For economists everywhere Friedman’s shadow looms larger and his presence will be missed.
Milton Friedman believed that government forays into economic policy ultimately damages the economy. He argued that the measures put in place by the Federal Reserve after the 1929 stock market crash turned a severe recession into the Great Depression. The policies passed in the New Deal under FDR never helped the country pull out of the Depression, and in the long run created more problems than solutions. Friedman was also instrumental in eliminating the draft and moving the military towards a volunteer system. During the 90′s he supported school vouchers as a way to improve education. School vouchers are a great idea that Republicans never really pursued and one that the Democrat party is opposed due to their close ties to teacher unions. Despite the lack of courage of Congress to deal with many of the problems that exists Friedman’s ideas are still very much relevant today. Much can still be learned from Friedman and his legacy will live on.
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