The
Rational Argumentator
Issue CCXXXIII
January 20-25, 2010
Real Economic Reform for a Hurting Haiti:
Richard M. Ebeling
January 20, 2010
Our televisions screens have been full of those tragic pictures of the devastation and human hardship that have been caused by the earthquake in the Caribbean country of Haiti. Dr. Richard Ebeling argues that, for its long-term improvement, Haiti needs what Adam Smith, in his Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, called a "System of Natural Liberty".
Too Big to Fail:
Charles N. Steele
January 25, 2010
What to do with banks that are "too big to fail?" When President Bush and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson first concocted TARP, one argument against it was that it would create a moral hazard problem, that by bailing out banks that took on high risk for high profits, we'd only be encouraging more of such behavior in the future. TARP supporters responded that it wasn't the time to be worrying about such things, and the banks were bailed out. These banks are now bigger, more profitable, and expanding their trading operations, not their lending, confirming the fears of those of us who opposed the TARP. We're back on the road to another round of banking crisis. What to do about banks "too big to fail?" Dr. Charles Steele addresses this question.
History
The Myth That is FDR (1949):
Garet Garrett
January 25, 2010
This review of John T. Flynn's The Roosevelt Myth was published in American Affairs in 1949. Garet Garrett writes that, when John T. Flynn has put the Roosevelt myth through his terrible wringer and thrown aside the empty sack, all that remains of it is — the myth.
Politics
The Revolution is Gathering Strength:
Tom DeWeese
January 20, 2010
Even today, the Democratic leaders are in denial, determined to continue to work to impose Obama’s radical agenda, believing in their delusional world that the American people are going to give them a hero’s welcome for “sticking to their guns.” But, writes Tom DeWeese, the recent victory of Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senatorial election shows that the support of the American people for a peaceful political revolution is growing.
The Federal Government is Too Big to Succeed:
Ron Paul
January 20, 2010
Last week, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission kicked off its first round of hearings on the causes of the economic meltdown on Wall Street. The commission is being compared to the the Pecora Commission launched in 1932 to investigate the causes of the Great Depression. The Pecora commission is beloved by those who believe the solution to every problem is more laws, because it was used to justify a number of new laws, including Glass-Steagall. Of course, writes Rep. Ron Paul. none of those laws addressed the real causes of the Great Depression. It was the introduction of unsound monetary policy and central economic planning pursued by the Federal Reserve that really threw everything off balance. The Fed was founded in 1913 to stabilize the economy and prevent a recurrence of the short-lived Panic of 1907, but instead it promptly produced the Great Depression, which lasted more than 15 years.
The Pro-Life Election of Scott Brown:
William R. Thomas
January 24, 2010
America still stands for achievement, writes William R. Thomas. Republican Scott Brown has been elected to fill the U.S. Senate seat for Massachusetts that arch-Liberal Ted Kennedy had filled. Startlingly, Brown ran on a fairly free-market platform, advocating tax cuts and opposing the Federal takeover of health care. Does this mean that a majority in America is ready to support a strongly pro-liberty political program? Probably not. But the outcome of this election is, nonetheless, a hopeful step toward achieving greater economic growth and prosperity in the near future.
Banking on Envy:
Edward Hudgins
January 24, 2010
The Obama administration is launching a rabble-rousing assault on big banks. Thus, writes Dr. Edward Hudgins, we see on display in Washington another example of how ideas have an impetus of their own that drives those who hold them to predictable deeds. These acts need not be destructive, but in this case they definitely are.
Debate Over Constitutional Legitimacy of Health Care Reform Heats Up:
Tenth Amendment Center
January 25, 2010
Are health care mandates constitutional? Constitutional Scholar Rob Natelson responds with a resounding 'no' in his rebuttal to claims made by Akhil Reed Amar. "The claim that the Founding Fathers would have thought the Constitution allows Congress to impose health care mandates is little short of absurd."
The Bill Comes Due for Socialism:
Alan Caruba
January 25, 2010
It began as a beautiful cruise to a land of “hope and change”, but it has become a nightmare in which the ship of state is being deliberately steered toward a whirlpool of debt from which, if Obama is successful, the nation cannot escape.
Videos
Painting "Blue Jay" - Part I - Video:
Wendy Stolyarov
January 24, 2010
Mrs. Stolyarov is currently working on this painting of a bluejay, inspired by a small ceramic statue that Mr. Stolyarov purchased at a garage sale years ago. This is therefore both a nature painting and a still life. This video details the beginning of the process of this work's creation.
"People do not cooperate under the division of labor because they love or should love one another. They cooperate because this best serves their own interests. Neither love nor charity nor any other sympathetic sentiments but rightly understood selfishness is what originally impelled man to adjust himself to the requirements of society, to respect the rights and freedoms of his fellow men and to substitute peaceful collaboration for enmity and conflict."
~ Ludwig von Mises