- Tyler Cowen on Health Care Reform. “The Obama administration is proposing that we start by spending more now so we can spend less later. This runs the risk of becoming the new voodoo economics.”
- The Next Urban Renewal Boondoggle. Bulldozing decaying cities may be good policy in some places. But if it’s adopted at the federal level, it could be another in a long line of failed urban renewal policies.
- Can Washington Be ‘Hands-Off’ With GM? “Many commentators worry that this new, nationalized GM will answer to politicians rather than profit and loss. They fear that this could lead to a $100 billion quagmire. Their fears are not without reason.”
- Ponnuru on the GOP’s Economic Naysaying “Shouldn’t we have a fallback plan in case the economy recovers? I think Republicans would be better advised to say that there are some good signs, none of which seem connected to liberal policies, and that those policies threaten to increase inflation before too long.”
- Right Answer, Wrong Reason. Even the New York Times calls for changing the tax treatment of health care–but to raise revenues for another big spending plan, not to limit government distortions in the marketplace.
- Washingtonian Cheap Eats — Google Map.
- Competitive Altruism. This article misses a key point that economists since Adam Smith have understood: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages.”
- VATs Mean Big Government “The income tax system we have today is a nightmarish combination of class warfare and corrupt loopholes. Adding a VAT does not undo any of the damage it imposes. All that happens is that politicians get more money to spend and a chance to auction off a new set of tax breaks to interest groups. That’s good for Washington, but bad for America.”
- The Health Care Fight Got Tougher. The Blue Dogs have agreed in principle to a “public option” government-run health insurance provider, one that would “compete” with private sector plans.