Category Archives: economics

Evil or Stupid?

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Apparently, Lew Rockwell doesn’t like unions any more than I do. However, Mr. Rockwell’s feelings seem to be much stronger than mine, prompting him to call them evil. IMHO, he would do well to remember Napoleon’s wise maxim, “Never attribute to malice what could be sufficiently explained by ineptitude.” While some unions have certainly arrogated enough power to prove Lord Acton’s maxim regarding absolute power, I think in most situations unions are populated and run by ordinary, fallible people who fail to act in their own best interest or in the best interest of society in general. I don’t think it was malignant intent that priced the steel industry out of Pittsburgh; I think it was short-sighted, foolish selfishness.

No Tenure for Teachers

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“The [New York State teachers’] unions late Tuesday were successful in banning student performance in the classroom from the tenure process.”

Say what?! News stories like this drive me nuts. There should be no such thing as tenure for teaching faculty who are not also professional researchers. The latter need tenure to protect them from malicious firing related to unpopular research topics, methodology, or results. Educators who exclusively teach should be held accountable for how well they do their jobs, just like anyone else in any other job. If you are a poor teacher who fails to adequately educate children, your boss should have the right to fire you. Period.

On a tangentially related note, I hate the idea of closed shops. Unions should have to compete with other unions and individual workers. A monopolized workforce is as bad as a monopolized industry.

The Ontological Status of Tobacco

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Tobacco Regulation Smokescreen

Have you ever seen anyone sit down at the breakfast table and pour themselves a big ol’ bowl of cigarettes? Of course not. Why not? Because cigarettes aren’t food, that’s why.

Have you ever seen someone at the drug store waiting for their prescription of Marlboros? Of course not. Why not? Because cigarettes aren’t drugs.

Fatuity, thy name is Chuck Muth. Lots of things – chewing gum and lip balm, for instance – are neither breakfast cereal nor prescription drugs, but they’re still regulated for the sake of public safety. Of course protecting public safety couldn’t possibly be the reason being efforts to regulate tobacco as food and/or drug. Nope; the boogymen in the DNC are to blame.

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It’s the Market, Stupid: Negative Economic Impacts of Raising the Minimum Wage

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Before beginning to write this article, I was of the opinion that minimum wage should at least be adjusted for the cost of inflation, but I had put little additional thought into the matter. Raising the minimum wage is certainly a popular idea with Americans today. Indeed, Americans overwhelmingly support an increase in the minimum wage. Sadly, however, we can not rely on the good judgment of Americans at large to determine what is a good idea (we can’t even count on them to stick to their guns….war in Iraq, anyone?).

The idea of a minimum wage was originally applied in Australia and New Zealand. The U.S. Federal minimum wage was established in 1938 at $0.25/hr and covered less than half of all jobs. The current minimum wage is $5.15 and covers more than 75% of all jobs.

I’d like to discuss some of the implications of a minimum wage hike and some of the claims that have been made about its effects. But before I delve into the details of the wage hike, I think it’s important for a brief reminder of market economic theory 101.

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Port Authority Transit is Riding Me

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Somebody at Port Authority Transit must have a screw loose.

Port Authority transit cutbacks are biggest in history

The series of bus and trolley changes include eliminating:

  • 124 of 213 weekday bus routes.
  • 55 of 100 Saturday bus routes.
  • 26 of 75 Sunday and holiday bus routes.

Light-rail service would be trimmed by cutting hours of operation and increasing the time between trolleys. Besides reducing the number of daily transit vehicle hours, the changes would reduce the number of one-way vehicle trips by 24 percent and overall ridership by 11 percent, the authority has estimated.

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