Almost unanimously, economists express great fear of a deflationary scenario, yet they're all wrong. This is not surprising since their economic worldviews are all wrong. Frank Shostak does a great job proving Bernanke an idiot, albeit much more kindly than I would. » read more »

The number of expats renouncing their U.S. citizenship has more than doubled. The biggest reason is taxation. The fedgov is the only one to tax its citizens even when they no longer live here.

I spotted this car in the parking lot of my office today. It's nice to see somebody else who, at least to a degree, gets what is going on.

Given an $88 million deficit, the Dekalb County school system^* is closing four schools this year and another 8-10 schools next year. I'd say that they are well on their way to complete success. All they need to do is reduce the overall budget to $0 and close the remaining schools. » read more »

Ayn Rand was wrong about a lot of things. However, the sort of economic idiocy that she described in her seminal work, Atlas Shrugged has become reality^* in Oregon. Those on the left coast have passed "Measure 67," which levies additional taxes on high-income individuals as well as businesses. » read more »

By now we have all seen the LED traffic lights being installed at every corner around town. I do not doubt that they represent a cost savings over conventional lights, in terms both of maintenance and energy. However, the energy efficiency of these lights has exposed an unintended consequence of their design. The LED lights do not melt snow the way that conventional lights do. » read more »

Vox provides a great introduction of his new book, The Return of the Great Depression:

To be an economist with integrity means having to say things that people don't want to hear and especially to say things that the regime does not want to hear. It takes more than technical knowledge to be a good economist. It takes moral courage, and that is in even shorter supply than economic logic.

~ Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr., "Economics and Moral Courage" » read more »

Let's put two and two together: » read more »

• Suicide bombing has been normalized and justified, as long as the targets are politically acceptable;
• The economy is in a nosedive;
• The fedgov is doing everything feasible to make the economy worse;
• Unemployment is rising and will worsen as the depth of the still unfolding economic crash comes to light;
• Desperation increases in such times, with some quickly approaching a "nothing to lose" conclusion;

It isn't bad enough that the feds are printing "stimulus" money (talk about doublespeak) at an alarming rate. It seems that the Georgia Dept. of Transportation (GDOT) has a requirement that projects funded with this fiat money include a sign announcing the source of the income. The reported cost of each sign is either $1200, $1500, or $2500, depending on which figure you want to believe (the AJC article includes all three numbers--crackerjack journalism, that), plus $100 for installation. » read more »

In this editorial, Neal Boortz does a very nice job of explaining how Obama's tax plan will affect small businesses, and how taxing the "rich" winds up taking money out of the pockets of those who probably voted for Obama in the first place. I especially like Neal's comments toward the end: "This is part of the education you should have received in the government schools, but didn’t. Class is now dismissed."