“Take housing, for example. The cheapest form of housing is small, prefabricated homes for zero-lot developments. However, zoning regulations in most cities outlaw them — an act that effectively doubles the price of the cheapest housing. There are also other expensive restrictions on new housing, such as forcing builders to build on bigger lots and […]
Archive for the '(modern day) Liberalism' Category
Oct31st2011
“As a side note, the Communist Party has also given their endorsement. While Communists are certainly responsible for more deaths and misery than the Nazis could ever dream of, at least their intentions were good, so I’ll give them a pass.” — Post on the very liberal DailyKos blog
Jul13th2011
Quote Of The Day
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Economics, ModernPolitics, Myths and Taxes. 2 Comments“BTW, progressives like Yglesias often point out that no matter what they say, the GOP is devoted single-mindedly to one goal, and one goal only—lower tax rates for the rich. And I have to agree that that is an obsession of many GOP economists. But then why the strange pattern of state […]
Jun22nd2011
David Leonhardt On Liberal Economists
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism and Economics. 0 CommentsOn Monday, I posted a quote from Paul Krugman stating that it’s usually conservatives who are less aligned with facts than liberals. Well I dug up a post from David Leonhardt (a well respected liberal), implying the opposite.
He writes:
The difference, I think, is that conservative economists’ blind spots overlap more with general conservative blind […]
May16th2011
“I find it maddening how many upper middle class parents energetically “support public education” against the depredations of vouchers and other reforms, while moving their own children into better school districts or better programs. Especially parents in Manhattan and a few areas of Brooklyn who proudly note that their experience shows […]
Apr14th2011
“Here we see the fundamental differences between the parties: One believes in spending more and allocating that spending via central planning. The other believes in spending less and harnessing individual choice and competition to ensure that the money is spent wisely.” — Greg Mankiw, professor of economics at Harvard on the difference between the Ryan plan and ObamaCare
Mar10th2011
“That’s right, and George Will isn’t Michael Moore; and a liberal blog, almost by definition, is a blog written by someone who chooses not to notice that asymmetry. No need to read Marginal Revolution, Becker/Posner, Econlog, John Taylor, Greg Mankiw, Robin Hanson, Steven Landsburg, etc, etc. Nothing of interest, just move […]
Nov30th2010
In Defense Of For-Profit Colleges
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Academia, Education, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues), ModernPolitics, Personal and University. 2 CommentsOne of the biggest blind spots of policymakers and pundits is the inability to take target market into account. For example, you can’t just compare the wages of employees at Hilton Hotels vs Motel 6’s and conclude that Hilton Hotels are superior because the employees are paid more. You have to take the companies vastly […]
Jul20th2010
“When historians look back on this period, they will see it as another progressive era. It is not a liberal era — when government intervenes to seize wealth and power and distribute it to the have-nots. It’s not a conservative era, when the governing class concedes that the world is too complicated to be managed […]
May13th2010
“Liberals sometimes argue that their preferred approach to family life reduces the need for abortion. In reality, it may depend on abortion to succeed. The teen pregnancy rate in blue Connecticut, for instance, is roughly identical to the teen pregnancy rate in red Montana. But in Connecticut, those pregnancies are half […]
May6th2010
Unions Kill Voucher Bill In Chicago
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Economics, Education, Hispanics (Minority Issues), Unions and Vouchers. 1 CommentThe Chicago Tribune gives the details:
The legislation got through the Senate in March after being championed by Sen. James Meeks, D-Chicago, and suburban Republicans. But by Wednesday, teachers unions had regrouped and its supporters found themselves pleading with opponents to overcome a furious lobbying effort to stop the bill.
“Think back […]
Apr15th2010
“A recent survey by Pew revealed that 86 percent of conservatives agree that “not reporting all income on your taxes is morally wrong” compared to only 68 percent of liberals. Conservatives want lower taxes but feel they should pay what they owe. Liberals want you to pay more but don’t stress about paying their own.” — Ron Guhname
Apr5th2010
“For several decades the most dynamic part of the US economy has been Texas. Rich people, middle-class people, and working class people are voting with their feet and moving to Houston and Dallas and Austin. Whites, blacks and Hispanics are moving to Texas. Not because of oil wealth (Louisiana has even more oil per capita), […]
Mar25th2010
The Path To Single-Payer
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Economics and HealthCare. 0 CommentsHow does ObamaCare lead to Single-Payer? The steps are explained in a conversation overheard between Dennis Kucinich and Obama:
Obama: Dennis, I know you want single-payer and so do I. I’ve made that clear on numerous occasions. We both see the public option as a step to single-payer, but that’s a step too far. I can’t […]
Mar22nd2010
Quote Of The Day
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Economics, HealthCare and ModernPolitics. 2 Comments“But there is one thing of which I am nearly perfectly certain: If we pass this thing, no American politician, left or right, is going to cut any of these programs, or raise the broad-based taxes necessary to pay for them, without any compensating goodies to offer the public . . . […]
Mar22nd2010
Quote Of The Day
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Economics, HealthCare and ModernPolitics. 1 Comment“We’ve been arguing about the health care bill, in all its many iterations, for more than a year. Along the way, liberals have made a lot of predictions about what its passage will mean for America — for our health care system and our health, our economy and our long-term solvency. […]
