The
Rational Argumentator
Issue CXLIII
February
3-6, 2008
Credit Expansion, Economic Inequality, and Stagnant Wages:
George Reisman
February 4, 2008
Credit expansion creates artificial economic inequality by showing up in the stock market and driving up stock prices. Since stocks are owned mainly by wealthy people, they are the main beneficiaries of this process. Government-driven credit expansion is not only the reason for boom-bust cycles but also the reason for growing income inequality in some time periods. Dr. George Reisman explains that the ills commonly blamed on capitalism are in fact the results of government manipulation of the credit system.
Politics
The Clintons, Race, and the 50-Year-Old Calculation:
Selwyn Duke
February 3, 2008
If Bill and Hillary Clinton are playing the race card in an attempt to get Hillary the Democratic nomination, they are making a mistake typical of many contemporary leftists. They misjudge the political and cultural situation of today and mistake it for one that existed fifty years ago. Selwyn Duke explains.
Does the New York Times Hate Meat?:
Alan Caruba
February 3, 2008
After a while, one grows accustomed to the environmental rants that appear in The New York Times. This newspaper, so often pointed to as an exemplar of the highest standards of journalism, has been repeatedly revealed to employ fantasists for whom truth and facts are mere impediments to the advancement of their obsessions and agendas.
Therapeutic Substitution: Another Step in the Bureaucratization of Drug Use:
Valentin Petkantchin
February 3, 2008
With the aim of controlling health care spending, public authorities in several countries increasingly are regulating the prescription, use, and reimbursement of drugs. One of the latest examples is therapeutic substitution policies concerning drug therapies. Valentin Petkantchin writes that although such policies can reduce some pharmaceutical spending by favouring systematically the use of cheaper medicines, this involves a bureaucratisation of drug use that presents risks for the health of the insured and a potential increase in other health care or patients' costs.
Ron Paul Beats McCain in Maine Caucus, Primed to Win Over 1/3 of Convention Delegates:
Ron Paul Campaign
February 4, 2008
While most reports about this past weekend's Maine Caucus focused on the purely symbolic presidential preference poll, in the meaningful race to secure delegates to the state convention, Ron Paul is primed to finish second with likely 35 percent of the total delegates. The Ron Paul Campaign explains this spectacular outcome -- a new high for Dr. Paul's candidacy.
Ron Paul Secures Three Delegates in West Virginia State Convention:
Ron Paul Campaign
February 5, 2008
In today's West Virginia Republican State Convention, Ron Paul's campaign secured three of the 18 national delegates up for grabs. Read about this promising development in the future of this effort for liberty amid a rising tide of statist sentiment in the Republican Super Tuesday outcomes.
Poisoning the Economy:
Roy Innis
February 6, 2008
CORE national chairman Roy Innis does not believe it makes any sense to pass “stimulus” bills, at the same time that Congress and the White House are doing so much to UN-stimulate the economy … with counter-productive energy, land use, climate change and environmental policies. He hopes his commentary will stimulate debates in
Ron Paul National Delegate Count Now 42 or More:
Ron Paul Campaign
February 6, 2008
With the results of many of the “Super Tuesday” primaries and caucuses now finalized, the Ron Paul campaign is now projecting that it has at least 42 delegates to the national convention secured. This is a fortuitous development in Dr. Paul's campaign, which will give him considerable clout in the Republican National Convention.
The Nausea Factor:
Alan Caruba
February 6, 2008
It seems to Alan Caruba that the wheels are coming off both parties. Forget about the rallies filled with cheering crowds, the endlessly parsed speeches and answers, or the drama of who won what state, has x-number of delegates, or cried (again). The voters are so sharply divided that the party leaders must be wondering how their candidate will be nominated without conventions where television viewers will watch anarchy in the aisles.
Paving Paradise:
Ron Paul
February 6, 2008
Ron Paul writes that the principle of private property is the cornerstone to a free and prosperous society. In situations where a colossal government land grab is a distinct possibility, investment or improvement becomes more risky with an uncertain future and tends not to happen. How do you sell land that may or may not be taken by the government at some point in the not too distant future? Who would buy it? How do you cultivate or build on, or even near, land that may or may not be paved over and turned into a massive, noisy thoroughfare in a few years?
Videos
Power Symmetries and Asymmetries: #1: What Power Is - Video:
G. Stolyarov II
February 3, 2008
Power Symmetries and Asymmetries: #2: Soft and Hard Power - Video:
G. Stolyarov II
February 3, 2008
Power Symmetries and Asymmetries: #3: Definitions - Video:
G. Stolyarov II
February 3, 2008
Power Symmetries and Asymmetries: #4: No-Harm Symmetries - Video:
G. Stolyarov II
February 3, 2008
Power Symmetries and Asymmetries: #5: Equal-Harm Symmetries - Video:
G. Stolyarov II
February 3, 2008
"I have never met anyone who did not support our troops. Sometimes, however, we hear accusations that someone or some group does not support the men and women serving in our Armed Forces. But this is pure demagoguery, and it is intellectually dishonest."
~ Ron Paul
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