MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'bailout'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:12:24 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975830&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5wSlBN3174w%2F By Daniel J. MitchellIt appears that American taxpayers are about to subsidize another Greek bailout (via the Keystone Cops at the IMF). This is way beyond economically foolish. It is also morally offensive. To turn Winston Churchill’s famous quote upside down, “Never have so many paid so much to subsidize such an undeserving few.” Let’s start with a few facts: Greece’s GDP is roughly equal to the GDP of Maryland. Greece’s population is roughly equal to the population of Ohio. Despite that small size, in both terms of population and economic output, Greece already has received a bailout of about $150 billion (actual amount fluctuates with the exchange rate). Don’t forget the indirect bailout resulting from purchases of Greek government bonds by the European Central Bank. No... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975830 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:11:00 +0100 4975830 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893396&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FaToZGrJjoo0%2F By Daniel IkensonWith his appearance at a Toledo factory today, President Obama seems to want to make the auto bailout a campaign issue. Let’s welcome that. Americans should understand what transpired. Fancying himself “Savior of the Auto Industry,” the president deserves credit only for choosing to insulate two companies (and the UAW) from the consequences of their decisions. But with that credit he must accept responsibility for sluggish U.S. business investment, limited job creation, and the anemic economic recovery, which is due in no small measure to the regime uncertainty that descends from his intervention in the auto industry. The administration suggests that the entire cost of the auto bailout is captured by the outlays that haven’t or won’t be returned. Despite... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893396 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:47:53 +0100 4893396 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4883555&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKW1EQMnEyew%2F By Daniel J. MitchellWay back in February of 2010, I wrote that a Greek bailout would be a failure. Not surprisingly, the bureaucrats at the International Monetary Fund and the political elite from other European nations ignored my advice and gave tens of billions of dollars to Greece’s corrupt politicians. The bailout happened in part because politicians and international bureaucrats (when they’re not getting arrested for molesting hotel maids) have a compulsion to squander other people’s money. But it also should be noted that the Greek bailout was a way of indirectly bailing out the big European banks that recklessly lent money to a profligate government (as explained here). At the risk of sounding smug, let’s look at my four predictions from February 2010 and se... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4883555 Tue, 31 May 2011 20:19:10 +0100 4883555 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862514&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBrZgMjl4-q0%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThere’s a great piece in the spring issue of The Independent Review on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke by San Jose State Professor Jeffrey Rogers Hummel.  Although a bit long, its well worth the read for anyone wanting to understand both Bernanke’s thinking and his actions during and since the financial crisis. First, Prof. Hummel discusses the differences between Bernanke’s and Milton Friedman’s explanations for the Great Depression.  Those that debate whether Bernanke’s actions, especially the quantitative easings, would be approved of by Friedman will get a lot out of this discussion.  From this comparison, you get the point that Friedman was concerned about overall credit conditions and liquidity, whereas Bernanke is less focuse... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862514 Tue, 24 May 2011 19:15:18 +0100 4862514 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4828859&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FO3uaghfl2zE%2F By George Scoville It is false to assume that GM’s earnings report means the auto bailout was a success. It is false that, among other things, failing to raise the debt limit means defaulting on our obligations. It is false that Osama bin Laden’s death means torture is a good idea. It is false that international institutions can deliver what they say they can deliver. It is false that oil speculators are to blame for fluctuating oil prices: Monday Links is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4828859 Mon, 16 May 2011 14:01:40 +0100 4828859 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4605809&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FCMScOf5gXHM%2F By Tad DeHavenThe U.S. Postal Service is in financial trouble. Undermined by advances in electronic communication, weighed down by excessive labor costs and operationally straitjacketed by Congress, the government’s mail monopoly is running on fumes and faces large unfunded liabilities. Socialism apparently has its limits. While the Europeans continue to shift away from government-run postal monopolies toward market liberalization, policymakers in the United States still have their heads stuck in the twentieth century. That means looking for an easy way out, which in Washington usually means a bailout. Self-interested parties – including the postal unions, mailers, and postal management – have coalesced around the notion that the U.S. Treasury owes the USPS somewhere around $50-$75 b... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4605809 Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:48:34 +0100 4605809 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4337920&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDkwGhT5SrxA%2F By Mark A. CalabriaMIT Professor Simon Johnson recently argued that Bill Daley’s appointment as Obama’s Chief of Staff signals that “too big to fail,” as it relates to our largest financial institutions, is here to stay.  Personally I never thought it was in doubt.  With Geithner at Treasury and Dodd-Frank further codifiying “too big to fail,” its been clear for some time that the bailout net is larger than it’s ever been, and is not being pulled back.  That said, Professor Johnson’s focus on Daley distracts from the real issue, which is changing our bank regulatory structure to end bailouts.  The focus on Daley has the potential to lead us down that path of “if we just had the right people in government…”  We shouldn&#... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4337920 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:53:09 +0100 4337920 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4183281&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPGBb9vLnnD4%2F By Daniel IkensonI don’t particularly relish picking on a president who, on virtually every policy front, is showing all the markings of a man in way over his head.  But the president’s actions and statements are becoming excruciating to watch—like a highly-touted Olympic figure skater who can’t complete a maneuver without falling to the ice.  President Obama’s salutary statement about GM’s IPO yesterday reveals a man so focused on defending his policies that he can no longer conceal the incongruity between his political objectives and the country’s imperatives. American taxpayers are now positioned to recover more than my administration invested in GM, and that’s a good thing. (My emphasis) Besides revealing the president’s preference for LIFO accounting procedure... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4183281 Fri, 19 Nov 2010 18:44:32 +0100 4183281 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4179303&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYxlU1guvzQA%2F By Daniel IkensonThere seems to be a lot of confusion about the meaning of GM’s IPO today.  A common narrative in today’s media is that GM’s return to the stock market affirms the wisdom of the auto bailout.  Some tougher customers in the media insist on a higher threshold being met—that taxpayers get back the entirety of their $50 billion investment in GM—before declaring “mission accomplished.” And then there are the rabid partisans who—in their seething animosity toward the Obama administration—reach conclusions devoid of logic and rich only in conspiratorial-mindedness.  For example, yesterday I was contacted by a media outlet vetting this conclusion: “The IPO is evidence of the failure of the bailout because taxpayers were excluded from buyin... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4179303 Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:59:37 +0100 4179303 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4159209&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FcA9IZ3ouTMQ%2F By Michael F. CannonReuters has helpfully published another article demonstrating that ObamaCare‘s biggest cheerleaders are the insurance and drug industries.  That’s because, barring repeal and despite the Obama administration’s fatuous rhetoric about standing up to the special interests, ObamaCare will shower those industries with massive subsidies.  Excerpts follow. Health Overhaul Should Press Ahead: Industry By Susan Heavey Thu Nov 11, 2010 1:39pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) – Repeal reform? No thanks, say health insurers, drugmakers and others looking for a clearer picture of the U.S. healthcare market after the bruising passage of the controversial overhaul law… The new healthcare law created “a stable, predictable environment, however painful it ha... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4159209 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:45:07 +0100 4159209 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151760&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmQSJmRaKWns%2F By Michael F. CannonThis Reuters headline says it all: “Cigna CEO: Don’t repeal U.S. health law.” ObamaCare = A Bailout for Private Insurance Companies is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151760 Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:22:46 +0100 4151760 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133661&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyTHsTqDHzVg%2F By Daniel IkensonThough it has been relatively successful in the marketplace lately, the Ford Motor Company continues to confound in its public policy commitments. First, the company remained silent for the better part of two years as its chief domestic rivals General Motors and Chrysler were nursed back to viability by a doting government dispensing $65 billion of taxpayer-funded nourishment. Not once (to my knowledge) did Ford publicly complain that the government bailout of its struggling competitors was an affront to its own prospects or that it would deny the company its rightful increase in sales and market share (the so-called spoils of competition). But now Ford is trumpeting its opposition to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. In a full page ad in today’s Washington Post, Ford... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133661 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 19:43:03 +0100 4133661 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4074023&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FkuP-cXewgo4%2F By Roger PilonIn a long essay in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, “What the Tea Partiers Really Want,” University of Virginia psychology professor Jonathan Haidt argues, as the subtitle puts it, that “the passion behind the populist insurgency is less about liberty than a particularly American idea of karma.” Taking his cue from Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe’s claim in their new book, Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto, that tea partiers “just want to be free, … so long as we don’t infringe on the same freedom of others,” Haidt notes that his research shows that while self-described libertarians agree most strongly with that view, liberals are not far behind, in contrast with the social conservatives “who make up the bulk of the tea party,” who are more tepid in ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4074023 Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:45:10 +0100 4074023 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4074042&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fem53Rj8AHnc%2F By Daniel IkensonWhen you believe in things that you don’t understand, Then you suffer, Superstition ain’t the way - Stevie Wonder David Ignatius is entitled to this opinion: We have just lived through one of the more notable successes of government intervention in modern times – the auto and bank rescues that almost surely saved the country from another Great Depression. But if his intention is to convince skeptics—and not just to rally the deflated spirits of those who came to Washington with high hopes of teaching Americans how to love their government—he does a lousy job.  A bold assertion like his requires supporting evidence more rigorous than hearsay, superstition, and the opinions of his friend, and former “Car Czar,”  Steven Rattner. Ignatius considers ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4074042 Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:50:58 +0100 4074042 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4003239&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FWAlBPvZa85s%2F By Tad DeHavenThe House Republicans’ release of its “Pledge to America” has been met with criticism from across the ideological spectrum. While excoriation from the left was inevitable, those who were hoping that the GOP would set out a detailed agenda for limiting government were also not satisfied. The 48-page document contains more pictures of Republican members of Congress than it does evidence that the GOP is seriously prepared to cut spending. While the introductory commentary is designed to appeal to the tea party movement, the actual “plan” to return budgetary sanity to Washington is both timid and incomplete. The following are some thoughts on the pledge’s “plan to stop out of control spending and reduce the size of government”: The document immediately notes th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4003239 Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:06:55 +0100 4003239 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3895865&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbIGYk2CC6lQ%2F Our friends at The Economist magazine usually talk good sense about free trade and free markets, which makes their retrospective endorsement of the government bailout of General Motors all the more disappointing. In a leader in the current issue, the editors write that critics of the bailout (count Cato scholars among them) owe President Obama an apology. “His takeover of GM could have gone horribly wrong, but it has not,” they opine. The Economist argues that, in contrast to state coddling of industries in, say, France, President Obama has driven a hard bargain by requiring GM to fire top management, cut jobs, close plants, and reduce its brand names. The magazine grants that the president’s labor-union allies won special concessions that came at the expense of bondholders, but “b... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3895865 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:25:48 +0100 3895865 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3885334&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FhetA7bgoDSU%2F GM announced yesterday its intention to go sell shares on the New York Stock Exchange, thus officially beginning the process of re-privatizing the company. A GM initial public offering is the right move, and cannot happen soon enough.  Let’s get the government out of the car business now.  But successfully reprivatizing GM should not be seen as a sign that the intervention itself was successful.  The intervention was akin to theft — from Ford, Honda, Toyota, the other automakers and taxpayers — and was highly damaging to crucial longstanding institutions in the United States, like property rights and the rule of law. The costs of GM’s ”turnaround,” if it is to happen, will never be fully appreciated.  The other auto companies were denied t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3885334 Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:59:04 +0100 3885334 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3880841&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FuA55WNm8Kmk%2F Ronald Brownstein points to the many measures showing Americans have lost confidence in their government and in some private institutions.  He concludes that these signs of distrust “point toward a widely shared conviction that the country’s public and private leadership is protecting its own interest at the expense of average (and even comfortable) Americans.” Maybe. But there is another interpretation. Consider the recent performance of the government and of more than a few businesses. Most Americans do not pay attention to the details of governing. They have other things to occupy their time. They do, however, notice important matters like war and the economy. Since about 2004, Americans have steadily soured on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The economy remains wea... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3880841 Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:25:39 +0100 3880841 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3831339&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FXl5FH4XAvAE%2F By Andrew J. CoulsonNeal McCluskey’s latest post on the “Grigori Rasputin” public school employee bailout caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal this morning. As the House gets set to pass the legislation next week, here’s another under-appreciated angle: it is merciless intergenerational warfare. Supporters of the bailout like to claim that it’s for the kids. In reality, it will only saddle the next generation with a bigger debt, without actually improving their education so that they are better-equipped to pay it off. After adding millions of extra public school employees and hundreds of billions in extra spending, achievement at the end of high school has remained flat (see the charts in Neal’s post).   So why perpetuate this litany of f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3831339 Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:24:27 +0100 3831339 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3784244&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1UPfeJEsVqQ%2F By Daniel IkensonVia General Motors, American taxpayers will soon own a 61 percent stake in a Texas-based company called AmeriCredit.  GM announced plans yesterday to acquire the auto finance firm for $3.5 billion, which management believes will help boost its auto sales and improve chances for an IPO later this year or next.  Thus, a greater chance for re-privatization later is the rationalization for more nationalization now. For those who opposed the nationalization of GM for its affront to free markets and the rule of law in the first place, the acquisition presents a dilemma.  On one hand, the deal means that the nationalization virus is spreading to infect another company in a different industry, ensuring that yet more business decisions are driven by political, rather than econo... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3784244 Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:57:26 +0100 3784244 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3662651&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPyuPJ5QUa_I%2F By Tad DeHavenPresident Obama is proposing giving the states another $50 billion. However, this would amount to another bailout for state and local government employees and their unions. The president claims that more deficit spending is necessary to sustain the nascent economic recovery. But the only thing the money would sustain is the excessive wages and benefits government employees enjoy at the expense of the private sector. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average state and local government employee receives 45 percent more in total compensation per hour worked than the average private-sector employee. Perhaps we should cut generous government wages and benefits rather than putting the federal government further into debt? Total compensation for state and local worker... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3662651 Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:42:42 +0100 3662651 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3658941&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIoqVHdZ4mjg%2F By Adam SchaefferGov. McDonnell just signed a bill that will give a tax credit to the film industry. They will shell out up to $2.5 million to movie-makers in the first year and up to $5 million thereafter. Proponents say it might save money. Unfortunately, the evidence from other states suggests it will lose money. At a time of economic turmoil and budget problems, the Governor wants to lose money by giving a tax credit to the film industry. It’s even refundable, which in normal-talk means the state will send a check to a film executive even if he doesn’t owe any taxes; that’s a straight BAILOUT, not a tax credit. The last thing Virginia needs is another corporate bailout. What is wrong with our Commonwealth? And what in the world is Governor McDonnell thinking? There is one tax cre... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3658941 Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:31:43 +0100 3658941 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3648472&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYrCpVrDzsKE%2F By Mark A. CalabriaToday begins the televised political theatre that Barney Frank has been waiting months for:  the first public meeting of the House and Senate conferees on the two financial regulation bills.  While there are a handful of important differences between the House and Senate bills, these differences are overshadowed by what the bills have in common.  The most important, and tragic, commonality is that both bills ignore the real causes of the financial crisis and focus on convenient political targets. As our financial system was brought to its knees by an exploding housing bubble, fueled by government mandates and distortions, one would think, just maybe, that Congress would roll back these distortions.  Despite their role in contributing to the crisis and the size of ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3648472 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:35:23 +0100 3648472 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3610319&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FArTeXgSOuwE%2F By Neal McCluskeyAs the Obama administration continues to send mixed signals about the proposed $23 billion public-school bailout, rescue advocates are offering some very wimpy defenses of their cause. That is, except for the National Education Association, which has launched a PR blitz for the bailout in its grandest — and most shameless — tradition of using cute kids to get lots of dues-paying members: OK, enough of the NEA. The more numerous defenses of the bailout try to offer more reasoned and less emotional arguments for the bailout than does the NEA. But not much more reasoned Case in point, the The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson, who takes issue with an op-ed I had in the New York Post yesterday making clear that even cutting 300,000 public-school employe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3610319 Fri, 28 May 2010 19:58:58 +0100 3610319 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3610324&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FrKHqe-122BM%2F By Mark A. CalabriaA new Rasmussen poll has 80% of the American public supporting an audit of the Federal Reserve.  Only 9% of the public oppose, with the rest unsure. Unfortunately the poll did not ask specific questions over whether such an audit should cover monetary policy or just the Fed’s 2008 bailout activities.  So while the poll is likely to keep pressure on Congress, during its conference negotiations over financial regulation, to retain some audit of the Fed, the likely result is that Congress will leave out any real, on-going audit of monetary policy.  After Sen. Bernie Sanders essentially gutted his own amendment, Senator Dodd and the Obama administration agreed to a minor audit of the Fed’s emergency lending programs.  Ron Paul, sponsor of the House version o... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3610324 Fri, 28 May 2010 17:29:03 +0100 3610324 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3577389&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyC8SNr6u_6M%2F By Neal McCluskeyThere’s a lot to learn about what’s going on in federal education policy today, and none of it is good. First, Steven Brill offers a revealing look at the Race to the Top evaluation process in a piece that can be added to the ever-growing pile of evidence that Race to the Top isn’t even close to the objective — or, I’d add, powerful — catalyst for meaningful reform that the Obama administration insists it is. Second, it appears that congressional Democrats are preparing to pass a Harkin-proposed, Obama-endorsed, $23 billion bailout for teachers by attaching it to an “emergency” appropriation for the war in Afghanistan. (Passing major — and highly suspect – education legislation by attaching it to something to... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3577389 Tue, 18 May 2010 17:39:02 +0100 3577389 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3556068&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmkI2yEpfDsM%2F By Chris Moody A few questions to ask Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. How to treat a taxaholic. In England there are 4 million government security cameras, one for every 14 Britons. Are we headed in that direction? The E.U.’s aggressive bailout plan: An experiment in levitation? Podcast:“Understanding ‘Epistemic Closure’” featuring Julian Sanchez. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3556068 Wed, 12 May 2010 14:49:58 +0100 3556068 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3515339&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOzLA9q35N5o%2F By David BoazTim Carney has a blog post at the Examiner that’s worth quoting in full: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has issued its 2009 congressional scorecard, and once again, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex. — certainly one of the two most free-market politicians in Washington — gets the lowest score of any Republican. Paul was one of a handful of GOP lawmakers not to win the Chamber’s “Spirit of Enterprise Award.” He scored only a 67%, bucking the Chamber on five votes, including: Paul opposed the “Solar Technology Roadmap Act,” which boosted subsidies for unprofitable solar energy technology. Paul opposed the “Travel Promotion Act,” which subsidizes the tourism industry with a new fee on international visitors. Paul opposed the largest spending bill in history, Obama’s $... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3515339 Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:24:48 +0100 3515339 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3504898&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FoGlAdo6D2n8%2F By Daniel J. MitchellPrice fixing is illegal in the private sector, but unfortunately there are no rules against schemes by politicians to create oligopolies in order to prop up bad government policy. The latest example comes from the bureaucrats at the International Monetary Fund, who are conspiring with national governments to impose higher taxes and regulations on the banking sector. The pampered bureaucrats at the IMF (who get tax-free salaries while advocating higher taxes on the rest of us) say these policies are needed because of bailouts, yet such an approach would institutionalize moral hazard by exacerbating the government-created problem of “too big to fail.” But what is particularly disturbing about the latest IMF scheme is that the international bureaucracy wants ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3504898 Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:31:50 +0100 3504898 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3502794&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FAlzMmwO_XM0%2F By David BoazGeneral Motors chairman Ed Whitacre is appearing in ads on all the Sunday morning shows repeating the message of his Wall Street Journal op-ed, titled “The GM Bailout: Paid Back in Full,” and the company’s full-page newspaper ads: We’re proud to announce: We’ve repaid our government loan. In full. With interest. Five years ahead of the original schedule. But wait: In the Wall Street Journal, Whitacre says the company has made a $5.8 billion payment to the governments of the United States and Canada. But don’t I recall that the GM bailout was $50 billion? Shikha Dalmia of the Reason Foundation explains the whole story in Forbes: First, part of the bailout went into an “escrow fund,” and that government money is being used to pay... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3502794 Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:18:51 +0100 3502794 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3499286&cid=t_170880_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F04%2F23%2Fregulate-the-banks-youll-spoil-the-fun%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on AOL’s Politics Daily. Regulate the Banks? You’ll Spoil the Fun. Filed under: Politics Daily Tagged: bailout, bank, bank regulation, chaos theory, foreclosures, political cartoon (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3499286 Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:53:35 +0100 3499286 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3482883&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyAt8AlivMAo%2F By Mark A. CalabriaSeveral commentators have reacted to Senator McConnell’s floor statement regarding the Dodd bill as a defense of “doing nothing”.  And accordingly argue that such a position would be, in the words of Simon Johnson, both dangerous and irresponsible.  This familiar canard is based upon the oft repeated assertion that the failure of Lehman proved that we cannot simply let large financial companies enter bankruptcy. The simple, but important, fact is that we have no idea what would have happened had we let AIG and Bear go into bankruptcy proceedings.  Nor do we know what would have happened if Lehman had been saved.  Macroeconomics does not have the luxury of running natural experiments to determine the impact of a corporate failure.   Scholars have a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3482883 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:33:03 +0100 3482883 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3467736&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-qJgsKzYZik%2F By Mark A. CalabriaPresident Obama seems to be slowly waking up to the fact that the American public has grown tired of the endless bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The public has also rejected the talking point that Fannie and Freddie were simply victims of a 100 year storm in the housing market.  So what’s Obama’s response?  To ask for public comment and have public forums. This strategy is clearly one of delaying and avoiding any reform of Fannie and Freddie while pretending to care about the issue.  Where was the public comment and forums on the Volcker rule?  Seemingly the standard is that fixing the real causes of the financial crisis should be delayed and debated while efforts like the Dodd bill, which do nothing to avoid future financial crises, should be r... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3467736 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:13:37 +0100 3467736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3424836&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FqLrVGKVqc9Y%2F By Tad DeHavenThe Federal Housing Administration is heading toward a taxpayer bailout, yet the president’s latest mortgage modification plan would further increase the agency’s exposure to risky mortgages. Mark Calabria calls it a “Backdoor Bank Bailout.” The administration’s plan would encourage borrowers who owe more than their house is worth to refinance into FHA-insured mortgages. Therefore, the risk of a future foreclosure on these mortgages would fall to the government and taxpayers instead of private lenders. A recent study from economists at New York University found that the FHA is underestimating its risk exposure. One of the problems is that the FHA isn’t properly accounting for the risk to underwater FHA mortgages that have been refinanced into new FHA mortgages. So... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3424836 Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:00:51 +0100 3424836 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3346443&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYFYcgS5FLlg%2F By Tad DeHavenAs the Federal Housing Administration edges closer to a taxpayer bailout due to the large number of risky mortgage loans it has insured, it continues to insist that no such bailout will be required. However, a new study from a group of economists at New York University finds that the FHA’s assurances might not be based in reality. According to the study, the actuarial analysis FHA used to determine it won’t need a bailout seriously understates its exposure to risk: More FHA mortgages are underwater than the FHA’s analysis identifies, and unemployment is naturally particularly high in areas where FHA borrowers are furthest underwater. Therefore, potential default costs are underestimated. FHA’s analysis relies on house values that are inaccurate. Overvalued houses m... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3346443 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:47:38 +0100 3346443 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3331276&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPF4QysQiVgg%2F By Daniel J. MitchellFiscal crises have a predictable pattern. Step 1 occurs when the economy is prospering and tax revenues are growing faster than forecast. Step 2 is when politicians use the additional money to increase government spending. Step 3 is that politicians do not treat the extra tax revenue like a temporary windfall and budget accordingly.Instead, they adopt policies – more entitlements, more bureaucrats – that permanently expand the burden of the public sector. Step 4 occurs when the economy stumbles (in part because more resources are being diverted from the productive sector to the government) and tax revenues stagnate. If the resulting fiscal gap is large enough, as it is in places such as Greece and California, a crisis atmosphere is created. Step 5 takes pla... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3331276 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:53:29 +0100 3331276 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3287721&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FNzFTrqOzcBA%2F By Jerry TaylorA good default proposition regarding the government’s role in the economy would state that the government should not loan money to an enterprise if the enterprise in question cannot find one single market actor anywhere in the universe to loan said enterprise a single red cent.  It might suggest – I don’t know – that the investment is rather … dubious. Alas, like all good propositions regarding the government’s role in the economy, this one is being left by the roadside by the Obama administration.  Unfortunately, the only complaint being made by a not insubstantial segment of the political Right – frequently, the political crowd that is busy decrying “Bailout Nation” – is that the loan guarantees are not fat enough. I write, of course, about the $8.3 b... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3287721 Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:17:49 +0100 3287721 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3243775&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYXH5kCtENcE%2F By Chris Moody Why the Tea Partiers should not date the GOP: “This movement is simply saying: ‘We are fine without you, Washington. Now for the love of God, go attend a reception somewhere, and stop making health care and entrepreneurship more expensive than they already are.’” Why President Obama should be open to cutting military spending: “A real test of a leader’s wisdom and strength would recognize that more spending does not equal greater security.” A growing disconnect: “A nasty spat has erupted between Washington and Beijing over the Obama administration’s arms sales to Taiwan….The bulk of the evidence suggests that storm clouds are building in the US-China relationship.” Podcast: “Obama’s Permanent Bai... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3243775 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:09:32 +0100 3243775 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3239555&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIlqtPPZJIE4%2F By Mark A. CalabriaDespite still defending the Fed’s bailouts, Fed Governor Kevin Warsh gave a speech this morning offering a few insights about reforming our financial system that seem to be lost on both Obama and Bernanke. A few highlights: The mortgage finance system is owed far stricter scrutiny to gather a fuller appreciation of the causes of the crisis. The government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for example, were given license and direction to take excessive risks. One has to hope that both Bernanke and Obama are listening.  The silence of the Obama administration on fixing Fannie and Freddie is nothing short of shocking and irresponsible.  Any commitment to real reform has to include the GSEs. Granting new powers to resolve failing firms in th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3239555 Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:36:16 +0100 3239555 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3235822&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5enJUOi_gbY%2F By Tad DeHavenThe Federal Housing Administration has been one of the government’s main instruments for propping up the housing market in the wake of the housing bust. But as has been widely reported, the FHA is in danger of needing a taxpayer bailout because of rising defaults on mortgages it insures. FHA-insured loans originated in 2007 and 2008 – when Bush administration housing officials were mainly concerned with “winning back our share of the market” – are defaulting at higher rates as this graphic from the Washington Post shows: FHA officials are optimistic a bailout won’t be needed, but the Post reports that not everyone shares this optimism: The audit, released in November, found that the cash the FHA set aside to pay for unexpected losses had dipped to historic lows, ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3235822 Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:36:23 +0100 3235822 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3212305&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKktZfHgKEmc%2F By Jeffrey A. Miron1. Abandon Obamacare 2. Forget Cap and Trade 3. Reject the Card Check Bill 4. Withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan 5. Legalize Drugs 6. Scrap the tax code and replace with a flat tax 7. Expand free trade and immigration 8. Stop the bailouts 9. Cut spending 10. Cut spending BONUS -  Cut spending (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3212305 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:03:17 +0100 3212305 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3197611&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fv_PjdAIck80%2F By Chris Moody The back story behind the Citizens United free speech case. (Or if you don’t have time to read about it, this short video clip explains it all.) RomneyCare: Obama’s OTHER Massachusetts problem. Tim Geithner’s lifelong love of bailouts. How substantial and meaningful change can be brought to Haiti. Podcast: “Supreme Court Affirms First Amendment” featuring John Samples. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3197611 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:01:32 +0100 3197611 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3189123&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4FBpYnwq4Lo%2F By Tad DeHavenThe Federal Housing Administration will reportedly announce more stringent lending requirements and higher borrowing fees. The move comes in response to growing concerns that rising losses on mortgages it insures will require a taxpayer bailout. Although any credit tightening is welcome, the agency will not propose an increase in the minimum downpayment, currently 3.5 percent. (Borrowers with credit scores below 580 will be required to put down a minimum of 10 percent, but most FHA lenders already require a 620 minimum score.) Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal noted that “home builders are worried” the FHA would propose raising the minimum downpayment. The CEO of a Texas builder said it would be a “game changer,” meaning that it would hinder the nascent housing recov... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3189123 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:25:01 +0100 3189123 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3171890&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FrBfejxnclPI%2F By Mark A. CalabriaPerhaps I am a little confused, but didn’t the Obama Administration tell the American public only months ago that TARP was turning a profit?   But now the same administration is proposing to assess a fee on banks to cover losses from the TARP. Maybe President Obama is coming around to the realization that the TARP has indeed been a loser for the taxpayer. He appears, however, to be missing the critical reason why: the bailouts of the auto companies and AIG, all non-banks. This is to say nothing of the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose losses will far exceed those from the TARP. Where is the plan to re-coup losses from Fannie and Freddie? Or a plan to re-coup our rescue of the autos? If the effort is really about deficit reduction, then it completely misses ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3171890 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:29:00 +0100 3171890 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3163756&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FfwSfET6L-J4%2F By Daniel J. MitchellKudos to Nicki Kurokawa, a former Cato employee, for this short but substantive video explaining “moral hazard.” She notes that government-subsidized risk played a pernicious role in the housing bubble and financial crisis, and warns that “too big to fail” may create similar problems in the future. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3163756 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:37:01 +0100 3163756 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3156446&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fsuoyds664hs%2F By Tad DeHavenOver at Downsizing Government, we focused on the following issues this week: Central Michigan defeated Troy in the “Bailout Bowl,” but taxpayers are the biggest losers. The 2010 census will pave the way for subsidies to state and local governments. Secure property rights and government support help make U.S. farmland a good investment. But what about the property rights of taxpayers? The federal government’s IT budget increases by $5 billion while Uncle Sam’s private sector counterparts make do with less. New York’s fraud-ridden Medicaid program is a prime example why government involvement in healthcare is part of the problem, not the solution. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3156446 Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:00:11 +0100 3156446 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3142520&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZAXIWFAK4z4%2F By Tad DeHavenNeal McCluskey wrote an op-ed on the ways that taxpayers subsidize college football bowl games. As a college football fan, it pains me that I can’t even get a respite from big government on game day. This Wednesday’s matchup between Central Michigan and Troy will be particularly insulting to taxpayers because it’s the annual GMAC Bowl. GMAC, the former in-house financing arm of General Motors, has been sponsoring the bowl game since 2000, when it paid $500,000 for the right. More recently, the firm was battered by the collapse of GM and the housing market, and it was allowed to restructure as a bank holding company, which made it eligible for TARP bailout funds. The federal government has given GMAC $12.5 billion in return for 35.4 percent ownership stake in the company... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3142520 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:21:30 +0100 3142520 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3123368&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fi9z0IVvlkFA%2F By Daniel J. MitchellEven though politicians already have flushed $400 billion down the rathole, the Obama Administration has announced that it will now give unlimited amounts of our money to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-created mortgage companies. While President Obama should be castigated for this decision, let’s not forget that this latest boondoggle is only possible because President Bush did not do the right thing and liquidate Fannie and Freddie when they collapsed last year. And, to add insult to injury, Obama’s pay czar played Santa Claus and announced that that a dozen top “executives” could divvy up $42 million of bonuses financed by you and me. Not a bad deal for a group of people that more properly should be classified as govern... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3123368 Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:27:16 +0100 3123368 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3115062&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2gqAm8mv3Lc%2F By Daniel J. MitchellSince Senators engaged in open extortion and bribery to enact Reid’s government-run health care plan, it is hardly newsworthy that Washington is riddled with corruption. But the magnitude of sleaze is probably far greater than most people realize. There is a new study from a couple of academics at the University of Michigan, who found significant relationships between lobbying and bailout money, as well as a greater chance of getting bailouts depending on a bank’s ties with either the Federal Reserve or key members of Congress. Hopefully, people across America will draw the obvious conclusion and realize that big government is inherently corrupting, as discussed in this video. Reuters has the details on this latest example of big government and malfeasance:... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3115062 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:53:25 +0100 3115062 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096832&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYC84ZLvXw_U%2F By Tad DeHavenU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan recently gave a speech in New York in which he spoke of a “new direction in housing.” If there’s one constant with cabinet secretaries, it’s that they all promise that their department will be new and improved. The following are a few of Donovan’s lines that deserve comment. The Federal Housing Administration is providing another critical bridge to economic stability…And with nearly half of first-time buyers using FHA loans, it is clear that the FHA has been central to recovery. Thanks to his predecessor, Alphonso Jackson, who was “absolutely emphatic about winning back our share of the market,” the FHA’s willingness to pick up the subprime lending slack when the housing bubble burst ha... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096832 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:55:24 +0100 3096832 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096837&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsKnypt1sG80%2F By Michael F. CannonHere’s my answer to today’s “Big Question” on The Hill’s Congress Blog: Now that the “public option” is dead, both the Left and the Right should be able to agree: the Senate bill is nothing but a $450 billion bailout of the private insurance companies. In fact, the bailout may be several multiples of that figure. That $450 billion just represents checks that the Treasury would write to private insurance companies. The Reid bill would also force nearly every U.S. citizen to fork over cash to the private insurance companies — no matter how lousy a deal they offer. A recent CBO memo reveals that Reid has been meticulously working behind closed doors to conceal the full cost of his private-insurer bailout. The Left and the Right should in... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096837 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:26:10 +0100 3096837 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3089256&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSqRqgKHfyCA%2F By Michael F. CannonSenate Democrats now appear to be jettisoning the idea of creating a new government program to snuff out compete with private insurance companies.  It was an audacious proposal from the start, as it made their health care plan even more left-wing than the Clinton plan, which voters soundly rejected for being too statist. Yet it was always a sideshow that helpfully distracted the Left, the Right, and the mainstream from what shrewd Democrats and their allies at AHIP have really wanted all along: an individual mandate forcing all Americans to purchase health insurance under penalty of law. As I argue in this Cato study, an individual mandate gives government more (and more immediate) control over Americans’ health care than even the so-called “public option&... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3089256 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:08:14 +0100 3089256 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3079322&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTGslb_rm3AA%2F By Daniel IkensonAs described in the current Cato Policy Report, one of the “Hard Lessons from the Auto Bailout” is that management at GM is likely to be “highly erratic, as the president and Congress wrestle for decisionmaking primacy at this majority taxpayer-owned entity.”  The “dealerships” issue is Exhibit A. One of GM’s first decisions upon emerging from bankruptcy was to announce closures of a number of dealerships to help reduce costs. Then-nominal-CEO Fritz Henderson explained that the planned closings would save GM about $100 in distribution costs per vehicle–a few hundred million dollars per year when factoring in the millions of units GM expects to produce. But many of GM’s congressional CEOs cried foul, demanding reco... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3079322 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:39:39 +0100 3079322 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3071130&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FNZ7UqXUUQ-o%2F By Tad DeHavenHuge deficit spending, a supposed stimulus bill, and financial bailouts by the Bush administration failed to stave off a deep recession. President Obama continued his predecessor’s policies with an even bigger stimulus, which helped push the deficit over the unimaginable trillion dollar mark. Prosperity hasn’t returned, but the president is persistent in his interventionist beliefs. In his speech yesterday, he told the country that we must “spend our way out of this recession.” While a dedicated segment of the intelligentsia continues to believe in simplistic Kindergarten Keynesianism, average Americans are increasingly leery. Businesses and entrepreneurs are hesitant to invest and hire because of the uncertainty surrounding the President’s agenda for higher... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3071130 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:04:42 +0100 3071130 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3052127&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYBvsqTfHpCo%2F The Associated Press reports: The federal government is wading into deliberations over the future of journalism as printed newspapers, television stations and other traditional media outlets suffer from Americans’ growing reliance on the Internet. With the media business in a state of economic distress as audiences and advertisers migrate online, the Federal Trade Commission began a two-day workshop Tuesday to examine the profound challenges facing media companies and explore ways the government can help them survive. Media executives taking part are looking for a new business model for an industry that is watching traditional advertising revenue dry up, without online revenue growing quickly enough to replace it. Government officials want to protect a critical pillar of democracy—... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3052127 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:43:21 +0100 3052127 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3039764&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FdB8uKN8QnFo%2F I caught a lot of flack from my Republican friends for my post blaming the FY2009 deficit on Bush instead of Obama. Well, I must be a glutton for punishment because I can’t resist jumping (albeit reluctantly) to Obama’s defense again. I’m venting my spleen for two reason. First, FoxNews.com posted a story headlined “Obama Shatters Spending Record for First-Year Presidents” and noted that: President Obama has shattered the budget record for first-year presidents — spending nearly double what his predecessor did when he came into office and far exceeding the first-year tabs for any other U.S. president in history. In fiscal 2009 the federal government spent $3.52 trillion …That fiscal year covered the last three-and-a-half months of George W. Bush&#8... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3039764 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:15:53 +0100 3039764 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2999497&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FhAMHZaYbUIs%2F The recession has given the government an excuse for major interventions into markets, and the word “bailout” is found in business section almost daily. While there are justified concerns over government bailouts of large corporations, big businesses cashing in on the economic stimulus plan have flown below the radar. In an essay for Cato Unbound on the issue of corporations and markets, libertarian theorist Roderick Long states: “Corporate power depends crucially on government intervention in the marketplace.” This dependency is on full display in an insightful Wall Street Journal story on General Electric’s overt efforts to hitch its future to billions of stimulus dollars. The article is worth reading from start to finish, but here are some snippets: The government has taken on... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2999497 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:50:48 +0100 2999497 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2943758&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FX1NXb5M8pik%2F Over at Think Progress, Matt Yglesias takes me to task for saying that the so-called public option in the House’s health care bill “would all but eliminate private insurance and force millions of Americans into a government-run system.” Yglesias apparently still buys into the myth that the public option is, well, an option. For people who receive health insurance through their employers, which is to say the vast majority of the Americans who currently have health insurance, the House bill would change very little. Or, rather, the biggest change would simply be the confidence that if, in the future, you cease to get health insurance from your employer (maybe you’ll lose your job or want to change jobs) that you’ll still be able to get health care. What’s more, of the minority of... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2943758 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:37:15 +0100 2943758 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2923241&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FWC6SQ9CskpI%2F The Obama administration’s announcement this week on cash compensation for those seven institutions receiving “extraordinary assistance” has generated the all-too-predictable responses. Either you think executives at the entities are bad and greedy and should be punished, or you believe this is just the first step in an all-out class war.  Sadly the real victim in all these efforts has been, and continues to be, the taxpayer. Now that the taxpayer is the most significant shareholder in these companies, the top priority for Washington, as representative of the taxpayer, should be to see these companies return to profitability.  Quite simply, if these companies are not profitable, that loss will fall on the taxpayer, as shareholder. And of course, without the ability to... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2923241 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:19:32 +0100 2923241 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2916081&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FziYjmUwKyB8%2F According to reports, executives from bailed out companies Citigroup, Bank of America, GM, Chrysler, GMAC, Chrysler Financial and AIG are going to see major pay cuts this year, which will be enforced by the president’s “pay czar,” Kenneth R. Feinberg. WaPo: NEW YORK — The Obama administration plans to order companies that have received exceptionally large amounts of bailout money from the government to slash compensation for their highest-paid executives by about half on average, according to people familiar with the long-awaited decision. The administration will also curtail many corporate perks, including the use of corporate jets for personal travel, chauffeured drivers and country club fee reimbursement, people familiar with the matter have said. Individual per... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2916081 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:30:50 +0100 2916081 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2905073&cid=t_170880_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2009%2F10%2F19%2Fchaos-theory-the-bonus-on-wall-street-nothing-could-stop-it%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on AOL’s Politics Daily: The Bonus on Wall Street: Nothing Could Stop It! Posted in Politics Daily Tagged: bailout, bank, economy, political cartoon, wall street bonus (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2905073 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:52:35 +0100 2905073 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2886418&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FqU-D-xKXTAk%2F Perhaps the worst feature of the bailouts and the stimulus has been that, whatever their merits as short terms fixes, they have done nothing to improve economic policy over the long haul; indeed, they compound past mistakes. Here is a good example: For months, troubled homeowners seeking to lower their mortgage payments under a federal plan have complained about bureaucratic bungling, ceaseless frustration and confusion. On Thursday, the Obama administration declared that the $75 billion program is finally providing broad relief after it pressured mortgage companies to move faster to modify more loans. Five hundred thousand troubled homeowners have had their loan payments lowered on a trial basis under the Making Home Affordable Program. The crucial words in the story are “$75 billio... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2886418 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:35:51 +0100 2886418 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2832131&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQ9S6Mew6hiY%2F Perhaps the biggest problem with the Obama plan to “reform” our financial system is the impact it would have on the market perception surrounding “too big to fail” institutions.  In identifying some companies as “too big to fail” holders of debt in those companies would assume that they would be made whole if those companies failed.  After all, that is what we did for the debt-holders in Fannie, Freddie, AIG, and Bear.  Both former Secretary Paulson and Geithner appear under the impression that moral hazard only applies to equity, despite debt constituting more than 90% of the capital structure of the typical financial firm. Geithner believes he’s found a way to solve this problem – he’ll just tell everyone that there isn’t an ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2832131 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:54:35 +0100 2832131 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2823964&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGP_FEocr8sE%2F “My critics say that I’m taking over every sector of the economy,” President Obama sighed to George Stephanopoulos during his Sunday media blitz. Not every sector. Just health care energy local schools banks insurance companies automobile companies compensation at financial firms newspapers the internet This president and his Ivy League advisers believe that they know how an economy should develop better than hundreds of millions of market participants spending their own money every day. That is what F. A. Hayek called the “fatal conceit,” the idea that smart people can design a real economy on the basis of their abstract ideas. This is not quite socialism. In most of these cases, President Obama doesn’t propose to actually nationalize the means of product... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2823964 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:10:35 +0100 2823964 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2823969&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FnrE1pz9sFzE%2F The FDIC’s insurance fund, which it uses to pay off despositors in failed banks, is getting low. One way it can bolster its reserves is to draw on a $100 billion line of credit from the Treasury. Instead, however, Senior regulators say they are seriously considering a plan to have the nation’s healthy banks lend billions of dollars to rescue the insurance fund that protects bank depositors. That would enable the fund, which is rapidly running out of money because of a wave of bank failures, to continue to rescue the sickest banks. A brilliant scheme to avoid another taxpayer bailout? Not really. The banks are willing to lend because the FDIC will pay them a good interest rate. Repayment is virtually guaranteed because the FDIC can always draw on its line of credit. Thus the banks... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2823969 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:23:12 +0100 2823969 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2820202&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fr0FOmOjG7YI%2F The health care plan now being debated in Congress is not reform. It’s an insurance-company bailout–and you’re going to paying for it. The true cost of financial regulation: “A detailed anatomy of the bubble shows that many of the policies and regulations meant to reduce financial risk actually increased it.” A great prep for the upcoming G-20 meeting: Here’s a quick crash course in global economics. Government: “Hey, let’s start meddling in the Internet business.” A better idea: Preserve net neutrality without regulation. Here’s how. Podcast: Do certain climate change policies threaten global commerce? More here. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2820202 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:41:13 +0100 2820202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2803878&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FezH7ncJ3cEM%2F Today the Center for American Progress rolled out its proposal that we add “public directors” to the boards of companies that have been bailed out by the government.  CAP scholar Emma Coleman Jordan argues that “public directors will provide a corrective to the boards of the financial institutions that helped cause the crisis.” One has to wonder whether Ms. Jordan has ever heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  If she had, she might recall that a substantial number of the board members of Fannie and Freddie were so-called “public” members appointed by the President.  Perhaps she can ask CAP adjunct scholar and former Fannie Mae executive Ellen Seidman to review the history of those companies for her. Where’s the evidence that any of those Fannie... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2803878 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:45:44 +0100 2803878 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2803895&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtlWqSujwMDA%2F Was it just me, or did there seem to be a whole lot of applause during Obama’s Wall Street speech?  Remember this was a room full of Wall Street executives.  The President even started by thanking the Wall Street execs for their “warm welcome.” While of course, there was the obligatory slap on the wrist, that “we will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess,” but there was no mention that the bailouts were a thing of the past.  Indeed, there is nothing in Obama’s financial plan that would prevent future bailouts, which is why I believe there was such applause.  The message to the Goldman’s of the world, was, you better behave, but even if you don’t, you, and your debtholders will be bailed out. The president also... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2803895 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:21:46 +0100 2803895 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2796414&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgXSkReayefo%2F When Treasury Secretary Hank Paul proposed the bailout of Wall Street banks last September, I objected in part because the TARP meant that government connections, not economic merit, would come to determine how capital gets allocated in the economy. That prediction now looks dead on: As financial firms navigate a life more closely connected to government aid and oversight than ever before, they increasingly turn to Washington, closing a chasm that was previously far greater than the 228 miles separating the nation’s political and financial capitals. In the year since the investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, paralyzing global markets and triggering one of the biggest government forays into the economy in U.S. history, Wall Street has looked south to forge new business strategies... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2796414 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:27:19 +0100 2796414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2778393&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F6j5nOdypIY8%2F Reports the Washington Post: The federal government is unlikely to recoup all of the billions of dollars that it has invested in General Motors and Chrysler, according to a new congressional oversight report assessing the automakers’ rescue. The report said that a $5.4 billion portion of the $10.5 billion owed by Chrysler is “highly unlikely” to be repaid, while full recovery of the $50 billion sunk into GM would require the company’s stock to reach unprecedented heights. “Although taxpayers may recover some portion of their investment in Chrysler and GM, it is unlikely they will recover the entire amount,” according to the report, which is scheduled to be released Wednesday. Well, it’s only money.  And with the taxpayers facing more than $100 tri... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2778393 Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:45:03 +0100 2778393 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2774610&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F50MF7VBRR9c%2F The reaction to President Obama’s planned speech to schoolchildren and the lesson plans sent out by the Dept. of Ed have sparked a firestorm of criticism and accusations about indoctrination, etc. Many, many people just can’t underst and what the big deal is. After all, it’s just a pep-talk about doing well in school and working hard. Sure, there was some language promoting Obama and political leaders. But who cares? It’s just a brief speech by the President after all. Just like Bush the Elder gave in gentler times (which got him a Congressional investigation). Many are asking the same questions about a number of issues theses days. Why the outrage over the deficit? Where were the complaints when Bush the Younger ran it up? Why so exercised about the government health option? Don�... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2774610 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:44:16 +0100 2774610 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2765997&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FB493KuxXxbI%2F The housing boom and bust that occurred earlier in this decade resulted from efforts by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — the government sponsored enterprises with implicit backing from taxpayers — to extend mortgage credit to high-risk borrowers. This lending did not impose appropriate conditions on borrower income and assets, and it included loans with minimal down payments. We know how that turned out. Did U.S. policymakers learn their lessons from this debacle and stop subsidizing mortgage lending to risky borrowers? NO. Instead, the Federal Housing Authority lept into the breach: The FHA insures private lenders against defaults on certain home mortgages, an inducement to make such loans. Insurance from the New Deal-era agency has enabled lending to buyers who can’t make a big d... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2765997 Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:23:40 +0100 2765997 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2766276&cid=t_170880_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2009%2F09%2F04%2Fchaos-theory-obama-wheres-our-bailout%2F New cartoon by Trussell and Trussell on AOL’s Politics Daily: Obama, Where’s Our Bailout? Posted in Politcal Cartoons Tagged: bailout, clown, economy, obama, recession (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2766276 Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:28:57 +0100 2766276 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2751887&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FM5BkKGxa-aQ%2F Last November’s rejection of the failed GOP didn’t mean voters were ready to embrace a massive increase in the size of the federal government, says Scott Keeter, director of survey research at Pew Research Center: Obama campaigned for strong government action on the economy and health care, and most of his voters agreed with this direction. But Obama’s efforts to expand the role of government have alienated many of those who did not vote for him but nonetheless gave him high marks when first he took office. Pew Research’s political values survey this spring showed no surge in public demand for more government. Indeed, anti-government sentiment, which had been building for years, was heightened by the financial bailout and stimulus program. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2751887 Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:08:18 +0100 2751887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2734014&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FXmuqbPJu1us%2F In re-appointing Bernanke to another four year term as Fed chairman, President Obama completes his embrace of bailouts, easy money and deficits as the defining characteristics of his economic agenda. Bernanke, along with Secretary Geithner (then New York Fed president) were the prime movers behind the bailouts of AIG and Bear Stearns. Rather than “saving capitalism,” these bailouts only spread panic at considerable cost to the taxpayer. As evidenced in his “financial reform” proposal, Obama does not see bailouts as the problem, but instead believes an expanded Fed is the solution to all that is wrong with the financial sector. Bernanke also played a central role as the Fed governor most in favor of easy money in the aftermath of the dot-com bubble — a policy t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2734014 Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:25:29 +0100 2734014 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2712065&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FacawJ5E21T8%2F Since the June House vote on the Waxman-Markey “cap-and-trade” bill, lawmakers from both chambers have backed significantly away from the legislation. The first raucous “town hall” meetings occurred during the July 4 recess, before health care. Voters in swing districts were mad as heck then, and they’re even more angry now. Had the energy bill not all but disappeared from the Democrats’ fall agenda, imagine the decibel level if members were called to defend it and Obamacare. But none of this has dissuaded the editorial boards of the The New York Times and Washington Post. Both newspapers featured uncharacteristically shrill editorials today demanding climate change legislation at any cost. The Post, at least, notes the political realities facing cap-and-trade and ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2712065 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:41:08 +0100 2712065 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2715925&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiSDJzCS6uyM%2F Earlier this summer, the House of Representatives approved legislation intended to, as Rep. Frank, put it, “rein in compensation practices that encourage excessive risk-taking at the expense of companies, shareholders, employees, and ultimately the American taxpayer.” While there are real and legitimate concerns over CEOs using bailout funds to reward themselves and give their employees bonuses, Washington has operated on the premise that excessive risk-taking by bank CEOs, due to mis-aligned incentives, caused, or at least contributed to, the financial crisis.  But does this assertion stand up to close examination, or are we just seeing Congress trying to re-direct the public anger over bailouts away from itself and toward corporations? As it turns out, a recent research pa... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2715925 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:34:59 +0100 2715925 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2681878&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FW9fhTflpsiE%2F The profits being reported so far this year by the major financial firms appear to be driven by proprietary trading (trading for their own account, as opposed to those of their customers). The recent $3.44 billion profit of Goldman Sachs in the second quarter is a dramatic case in point. Proprietary trading is a high-risk activity and signals the financial sector is returning to its bad old ways. Returns cannot be systematically high unless risk is correspondingly high. None of this would matter if it were just private capital at stake. But Goldman, along with other major financial firms, is being guaranteed under the dubious doctrine that it is too-big-to-fail. Better there were no government guarantees. As long as these guarantees are in place, however, high-risk activity must be curtail... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2681878 Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:37:33 +0100 2681878 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2674228&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKCnOeNVKZxg%2F As reported in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner called fellow bank regulators, included Fed Chair Ben Bernanke and FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, over for an obscenity-laced rant about their audacity in raising questions about his scheme to fix our financial system. Reportedly the Secretary told regulators that “enough is enough” and that they’ve been heard, so the time for debate is over.  This sounds eerily like the President’s previous comments about including Republicans in the talks over the stimulus – you’ve been heard, so you were “included,” now shut up.   The shouting down of debate is becoming all too much a signature of this Administration. The Secretary apparently also told the regulators in att... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2674228 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:55:56 +0100 2674228 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2653669&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgXFYSxav4ZQ%2F While banks such as Goldman and J.P. Morgan have managed to find a way to re-pay the capital injections made under the TARP bailout, their reliance on public subsidies is far from over. The federal government, via a debt guarantee program run by the FDIC, is still putting considerable taxpayer funds at risk on behalf of the banking industry.  The Wall Street Journal estimates that banks participating in the FDIC debt guarantee program will save about $24 billion in reduced borrowing costs of the next three years. The Journal estimates that Goldman alone will save over $2 billion on its borrowing costs due to the FDIC’s guarantees. One of the conditions imposed by the Treasury department for allowing banks to leave the TARP was that such banks be able to issue debt not guaranteed�... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2653669 Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:48:54 +0100 2653669 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2634350&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwuzaidfTLyY%2F There’s lots of outrage in the blogosphere over revelations that some of the biggest recipients of the federal government’s $700 billion TARP bailout have been spending money on lobbyists. Good point. It’s bad enough to have our tax money taken and given to banks whose mistakes should have caused them to fail. It’s adding insult to injury when they use our money — or some “other” money; money is fungible — to lobby our representatives in Congress, perhaps for even more money. Get taxpayers’ money, hire lobbyists, get more taxpayers’ money. Nice work if you can get it. But the outrage about the banks’ lobbying is a bit late. As far back as 1985, Cato published a book, Destroying Democracy: How Government Funds Partisan Polit... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2634350 Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:37:08 +0100 2634350 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2630047&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIBK96jTDjOc%2F The First Amendment guarantees our freedom to petition the government, which is one of the reasons why the statists who wants to restrict or even ban lobbying hopefully will not succeed. But that does not mean all lobbying is created equal. If a bunch of small business owners get together to lobby against higher taxes, that is a noble endeavor. If the same group of people get together and lobby for special handouts, by contrast, they are being despicable. And if they get a bailout from the government and use that money to mooch for more handouts, they deserve a reserved seat in a very hot place. This is not just a hypothetical exercise. The Hill reports on the combined $20 million lobbying budget of some of the companies that stuck their snouts in the public trough: Auto companies and eigh... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2630047 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:37:15 +0100 2630047 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2621751&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fp8fk8Y8IffI%2F ABC News reports: “The total potential federal government support could reach up to $23.7 trillion,” says Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, in a new report obtained Monday by ABC News on the government’s efforts to fix the financial system. Yes, $23.7 trillion. “The potential financial commitment the American taxpayers could be responsible for is of a size and scope that isn’t even imaginable,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “If you spent a million dollars a day going back to the birth of Christ, that wouldn’t even come close to just $1 trillion — $23.7 trillion is a staggering figure.” Granted, Barofsky is n... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2621751 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:36:49 +0100 2621751 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2605947&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FcgC1HzVkYvo%2F The logic in Washington is ineluctable.  If government provides money, then it needs to impose regulations.  If the government takes ownership, then it must provide management. Bail out the banks.  Set bankers’ salaries.  Bail out the insurers.  Decide on corporate bonuses. And if the government takes over the automakers, then it should run the automakers.  That, of course, means deciding who can be dealers.  Reports the Washington Post: Now that the Obama administration has spent billions of dollars on the bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler, Congress is considering making its first major management decision at the automakers. Under legislation that has rapidly gained support, GM and Chrysler would have to reinstate more than 2,000 dealerships that the companies had sl... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2605947 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:03:27 +0100 2605947 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2601959&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FXvLhoGrFeH8%2F Mark Krikorian of National Review reminds us that Gene Healy had complained about the “Obama Shop” at Washington’s Union Station, featuring lots of “Obama-related tchotchkes and talismans.” Every shop I’ve been into lately — from Macy’s to 7-11 to the airport souvenir shops — has offered Obamastuff. It’s been oppressive. But I just passed through Dulles Airport, and guess what the America! store on Concourse C was offering? Sure, they had Obama t-shirts, along with the usual White House shot glasses and Washington Monument paperweights. But as you walked past the store, you saw these t-shirts out front: “I Love My Country; It’s the Government I’m Afraid Of” (an oldie but goodie that I first saw a few years... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2601959 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:42:50 +0100 2601959 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2598196&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmU7eq3nB1Us%2F Jeffrey A. Miron explains in Reason why a government bail-out of most everyone was neither the only option nor the best option: When people try to pin the blame for the financial crisis on the introduction of derivatives, or the increase in securitization, or the failure of ratings agencies, it’s important to remember that the magnitude of both boom and bust was increased exponentially because of the notion in the back of everyone’s mind that if things went badly, the government would bail us out. And in fact, that is what the federal government has done. But before critiquing this series of interventions, perhaps we should ask what the alternative was. Lots of people talk as if there was no option other than bailing out financial institutions. But you always have a choice. You may not... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2598196 Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:42:45 +0100 2598196 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2588180&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1T4tUy8qlJY%2F Time and again my colleagues and I have warned that the government’s takeover of GM would divorce business decisions from economics and wed them to politics ‘til death do they part. But I won’t gloat. Better to be right and satisfied that government is reasonably restrained than right and house hunting in Galt’s Gulch. We’ve already seen the president insist on the firing of a CEO, design and negotiate a bankruptcy plan devoid of much economic merit, impose preferences about which models to produce, and assure the diabolical, undeserving management of the UAW that GM won’t import small cars from its foreign plants to make space for its U.S.-produced budget-busting green vessels. Now Congress is attempting to legislate its way into the boardroom. Last month, GM/Obama announced p... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2588180 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:14:27 +0100 2588180 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570381&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFLnyxQ0sxGQ%2F One of the most pernicious public policies aggravating the financial crisis is that of “too big to fail.” The doctrine states that some banks (now financial institutions generally) are so large that their failure would incur “systemic risk” for the financial system. That sounds terrible and it is intended to. Financial services regulators and Treasury secretaries use it to frighten small children and congressmen. How can an elected official vote to incur systemic risk? He must vote to approve the bank bailout of the day. In fact, people who use the term cannot even agree among themselves as to what it means, much less what causes it and, therefore, what the appropriate response would be. I suggest the reader substitute the phrase “too politically connected to fail” whenever he ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570381 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:57:36 +0100 2570381 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2561203&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZzljOs5BDLg%2F The Washington Post reports: Sen. Daniel K. Inouye’s staff contacted federal regulators last fall to ask about the bailout application of an ailing Hawaii bank that he had helped to establish and where he has invested the bulk of his personal wealth. The bank, Central Pacific Financial, was an unlikely candidate for a program designed by the Treasury Department to bolster healthy banks. The firm’s losses were depleting its capital reserves. Its primary regulator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., already had decided that it didn’t meet the criteria for receiving a favorable recommendation and had forwarded the application to a council that reviewed marginal cases, according to agency documents. Two weeks after the inquiry from Inouye’s office, Central Pacific ann... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2561203 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:36:29 +0100 2561203 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2556078&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0v7Ww26fJhU%2F As my colleague Doug Bandow pointed out this morning, today’s Washington Post has an analysis about the uncertain prospects of GM ever making taxpayers whole again. It is a very similar analysis to the one I gave in this L.A. Times Dust-Up installment four weeks ago, although I find prospects unlikely, rather than just uncertain. If GM emerges from bankruptcy next month in accordance with the pre-packaged Obama plan (as expected), taxpayers will be on the hook for $50 billion. That $50 billion will buy taxpayers a 60 percent stake in the company, which according to the laws of mathematics means that GM has to be worth $83.33 billion for the taxpayers to get their equity back without making a dime in capital gains or interest.  In the L.A. Times, I asked: How and when will that ever ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2556078 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:32:42 +0100 2556078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2477535&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYn8JdhViL8Y%2F It has been a good run, but it appears government might finally bring America’s love affair with the car to an untimely end, says Cato Mencken Research Fellow P.J. O’Rourke. The author of the new book Driving Like Crazy, spoke at Cato last week about classic cars, government regulation, the takeover of GM and the forthcoming “Obamamobile.” (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2477535 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:59:53 +0100 2477535 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473189&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOVHZMzbFKSM%2F Will Obama Raise Middle-Class Taxes to Fund Health Care? President Obama is promoting an expansion in federal health care spending, and Democratic leaders are scrambling to find ways to pay for it. The plan is expected to cost about $1.5 trillion over the next decade, but the administration has promised that health care legislation won’t add to already huge federal budget deficits. In a new paper, Cato scholars Michael D. Tanner and Chris Edwards argue that expanding government health care will likely involve huge tax increases on the middle class. Tanner warns of “Obamacare” to come, saying that Obama’s new health care plan will give “government control over one-sixth of the U.S. economy, and over some of the most important, personal, and private decisions in Americans&#8217... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473189 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:17:08 +0100 2473189 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473194&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-z_ze-eEF9s%2F As Dan Mitchell noted below, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched a “Campaign for Free Enterprise” to stop the “rapidly growing influence of government over private-sector activity.” Chamber president Thomas Donohue told the Wall Street Journal that an “avalanche of new rules, restrictions, mandates and taxes” could “seriously undermine the wealth- and job-creating capacity of the nation.” Indeed. Given the scope and extent of the Obama administration’s assaults on private enterprise — national health insurance, energy central planning, pay czars, abrogation of contracts, skyrocketing spending, and so on — free enterprise can use all the help it can get. I welcome the Chamber to the fight. But it would be nice if the Chamb... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473194 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:33:48 +0100 2473194 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473195&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5YSZF6r4Fok%2F What is to be done with the nation’s largest financial institutions, 19 of which have been officially designated as “too big to fail?” When thus guaranteed government protection, such institutions can be expected to take excessive risk and generally operate recklessly. Profits on risky ventures remain privatized, while losses become socialized. That is what happens when you bet with other people’s (that is, taxpayers’) money. I have called the system “casino capitalism.” The solution, of course, is to end the policy of “too big to fail.” That will not happen soon, however, and we will likely see the government’s safety net extended to more institutions before there is any prospect for its withdrawal. In the interim, the risk-taking appetite of the large banks must be co... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473195 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:28:12 +0100 2473195 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473197&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbblJhOh0tG8%2F Thursday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform questioned Ken Lewis about Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch and the subsequent injection of tens of billions of taxpayer funds into Bank of America. While much of the hearing focused on Lewis’ leadership of Bank of America, the hearing also touched upon the more important questions of government regulators pressuring BoA to purchase Merrill even after BoA realized that Merrill’s losses were greater than expected. One of the basic tenets of sound regulation, exercised in the public interest, is that regulators remain at “arm’s length” from the entities they regulate. As defined by Black’s Law Dictionary, “arm’s length” relates to “dealings between two parties who are not related or not ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473197 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:00:10 +0100 2473197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2464101&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjNvnLCy3gRU%2F There are lots of reasons Washington should not bail out the automakers.  Whatever the justification for saving financial institutions — the “lifeblood” of the economy, etc., etc. — saving selected industrial enterprises is lemon socialism at its worst.  The idea that the federal government will be able to engineer an economic turnaround is, well, the sort of economic fantasy that unfortunately dominates Capitol Hill these days. One obvious problem is that legislators now have a great excuse to micromanage the automakers.  And they have already started.  After all, if the taxpayers are providing subsidies, don’t they deserve to have dealerships, lots of dealerships, just down the street?  That’s what our Congresscritters seem to think. Observes St... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2464101 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:04:51 +0100 2464101 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2458040&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FUEOvs9puy04%2F Obama Speaks to the Muslim World In Cairo on Thursday, President Obama asked for a “new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world,” and spoke at some length on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Cato scholar Christopher Preble comments, “At times, it sounded like a state of the union address, with a litany of promises intended to appeal to particular interest groups. …That said, I thought the president hit the essential points without overpromising.” Preble goes on to say: He did not ignore that which divides the United States from the world at large, and many Muslims in particular, nor was he afraid to address squarely the lies and distortions — including the implication that 9/11 never happened, or was not... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2458040 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:44:16 +0100 2458040 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2452373&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDNh0SGI5fA4%2F A month ago, President Obama issued a list of proposed spending cuts that I dismissed as “unserious” due to the fact that they were trivial when compared to his proposed spending and debt increases.  Today, the House Republican leadership released a list of proposed spending cuts. I’d love to say I’m impressed, but I can’t. Both proposals indicate that neither side of the aisle grasps the severity of the country’s ugly fiscal situation, or at least has the guts to do anything concrete about it. The GOP proposal claims savings of more than $375 billion over five years, the bulk of which ($317 billion) would come from holding non-defense discretionary spending increases to no more than inflation over the next five years. First, it should be cut — pe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2452373 Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:39:20 +0100 2452373 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2448124&cid=t_170880_145_f&fid=35715&url=http%3A%2F%2Fusmlesteps.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F06%2Fgovernment-motors.html I know this is not strictly related to USMLE... but I have read today that General Motors is bankrupt and people renamed it to Government motors.The Government Motors started by selling the Hummer brand to unnamed buyer... Do you know what will happen with General Motors after it have filed the Chapter 11(AD)powered by www.usmlestep.com (Source: USMLE blog for smart people) USMLE blog for smart people blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2448124 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:18:00 +0100 2448124 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2447456&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjWdgEibyRF8%2F It’s not as if we didn’t know this was going to happen to GM for a long time now. GM’s bankruptcy announcement today is perhaps the least shocking news we’ve heard about the company in more than seven months. It might well be remembered as the company’s last act of capitalism. If GM emerges from bankruptcy organized and governed by the plan created by the Obama administration, it is impossible to see how free markets will have anything to do with the U.S. auto industry. With taxpayers on the hook for $50 billion (at a minimum), the administration will do whatever it has to — including tilting the playing field with policies that induce consumers to buy GM or hamstring GM’s competition or subsidize its costs — in order for GM to succeed. Thus, what’s going to happe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2447456 Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:24:19 +0100 2447456 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441821&cid=t_170880_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2FYWtde3g8adM%2F It used to be that when you worked for a company, you were “set.” If you packed in, say, 30 years on a job, you were rewarded later in life by having the burden of finding health insurance and making extra money lifted by the company. You received health benefits in retirement and also a pension. Even before this poor economy, companies were changing the way they dealt with retirees. They began to look at retiree benefits as a burden and not an obligation. Now, GM, which is victim to this economy, may cut retiree medical benefits “with immediate effect at the insistence of the U.S. Treasury because of GM’s “difficult financial situation.” Even more cuts for retiree benefits could be made in the next two years. Do you think this is the right course of a... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441821 Wed, 27 May 2009 21:20:44 +0100 2441821 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405043&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtZlSp42e6lw%2F Yes, I know.  It’s hard to believe.  Fannie Mae continues to lose money and, even more surprisingly, isn’t likely to ever pay taxpayers back for all of the billions that it already has squandered.  Rather, it says it will need more bail-out funds — probably another $110 billion this year alone. Reports the Washington Post: Fannie Mae reported yesterday that it lost $23.2 billion in the first three months of the year as mortgage defaults increasingly spread from risky loans to the far-larger portfolio of loans to borrowers who have been considered safe. The massive loss prompts a $19 billion investment from the government to keep the firm solvent, on top of a $15 billion investment of taxpayer money earlier this year. The sobering earnings report was a reminder of the f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405043 Tue, 12 May 2009 22:12:16 +0100 2405043 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2375844&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiHS3c0AJvS0%2F In Washington, the symbolic almost always trumps the substantive.  Thus, legislators complain, for good reason, about pork and earmarks, which ran about $35 billion at their maximum, and ignore entitlements, which entail some $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. So it is with President Obama.  He continues the endless bailouts, which cumulatively now run around $13 trillion.  He proposed a $3.6 trillion budget and will leave us with a $1.4 trillion deficit next year–and nearly $5 trillion in additional debt on top of the massive deficits already projected over the coming decade.  But he asked his Cabinet officers to chop $100 million in administrative expenses. And he says he doesn’t need a new helicopter.  Fiscal responsibility in action. Alas, the helicopter, while... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2375844 Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:11:46 +0100 2375844 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2375850&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FLnHTq4wp_Y0%2F Bloggers from all over are discussing Cato’s research and commentary. Here are a couple we found: Stephen Littau wrote about Glenn Greenwald’s paper on drug decriminalization at The Liberty Papers. At the U.S News and World Report’s “Risky Business” blog, Matthew Bandyk discussed Ilya Shapiro’s Supreme Court coverage in the Washington Examiner. Net Right Nation editor Adam Bitely has linked to Cato commentary and analysis regularly over the past few months. Writing for the Libertarian Party Blog, Donny Ferguson discussed the new Cato study, “Bright Lines and Bailouts: To Bail or Not To Bail, That Is the Question.” Tom Jackson just started The Libertarian News Network and has linked to many Cato events and commentaries. At the Show... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2375850 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:44:55 +0100 2375850 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2375852&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FLTDX_h9nBD4%2F President Obama campaigned on a promise of change. But the first 100 days of his administration have seen a continuation of the Bush administration’s irresponsible fiscal policies: more bailouts, higher spending, and mounting debt. The president has already signed a tax hike that disproportionately hurts lower-income people, and is seeking additional tax increases to fund a transition to a more centrally-planned, European-styled economy. Just as previous administrations have done, the president is using the current economic ‘crisis’ to justify further government encroachment upon the private sector. In doing so, dangerous precedents are being set that could have negative repercussions for future economic growth and individual liberty. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2375852 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:45:48 +0100 2375852 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2364921&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEEwxPca-7E0%2F At Capitol News Connection, brought to you each morning by your tax dollars, they reported this morning: With more than a trillion tax dollars tied up in the Troubled Asset Relief Program and stimulus spending, Congress is trying to figure out how to account for every penny. Uh-huh. Congress is always on top of our federal dollars. Coincidentally, just hours after the CNC report, the Government Accountability Office released a report warning about the lack of oversight procedures in the kitchen-sink stimulus bill. And a few days earlier the inspector general for the TARP program reported that Treasury has no real details on how TARP funds are being spent. In fact, IG Neil Barofsky told Congress that there were 20 criminal investigations into possible TARP fraud already underway. Two mont... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2364921 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:38:18 +0100 2364921 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2364923&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMX9DiBhDkbQ%2F I happen to own shares in Bank of America, so I’ve just received a proxy statement for the upcoming annual meeting. The Board of Directors recommends that I authorize them to vote my shares FOR an uncontested slate of candidates for the board. Usually I go along with such proxy requests. But this time I thought: Why should these people get something like $250,000 a year to take orders from President Obama and Secretary Geithner? It’s become pretty clear that the Obama administration intends to use the bailout money to control private companies. He intends to tell companies what cars to make, how much to lend, how much to charge for credit cards, what to pay their executives, what kinds of bonuses are acceptable, and other crucial management decisions. So I decided to write in ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2364923 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:56:00 +0100 2364923 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2353749&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJwXg0e7VWAE%2F Here are a few highlights from Cato Today, a daily email from the Cato Institute. You can subscribe, here. “Bright Lines and Bailouts: To Bail or Not To Bail, That Is the Question”: Vern McKinley and Gary Gegenheimer have a new Policy Analysis that discusses the failure of bank bailouts. In a new piece at National Interest (Online), Doug Bandow offers a new strategy for dealing with Kim Jong Il. Nat Hentoff reports on Obama’s broken promises of transparency in the Washington Times. Make no mistake: “Of course it was torture,” says Gene Healy in this week’s Examiner column. In Tuesday’s Cato Daily Podcast, foreign policy analyst Benjamin Friedman discusses the record of Defense Secretary Robert Gates under Obama. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2353749 Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:49:53 +0100 2353749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2353752&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsJrYqPvz50U%2F Here’s a round-up of bloggers who are writing about Cato research and commentary: National Review’s Mark Hemingway quoted Ilya Shapiro about the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal’s recent decision on gun laws. He also posted David Boaz’s reaction to the New York Times blog that stated that Cato has been “remarkably silent on bailouts.” QandO’s Michael Wade offered his own thoughts on the New York Times blogger who said Cato’s voice against bailouts has not met her “expectations of adequate noise.” Blogging about high-speed rail, The Reason Foundation’s Samuel Staley cited Randal O’Toole’s study, High-Speed Rail: The Wrong Road for America. At The New Republic’s “The Plank” blog, James Kirchick ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2353752 Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:16:29 +0100 2353752 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2347774&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F3QRyYqc9nh4%2F At the New York Times Economix blog, economist Nancy Folbre of the University of Massachusetts writes: The libertarian Cato Institute often emphasizes the issue of corporate welfare, but it’s remained remarkably quiet so far on the topic of bailouts. Excuse me? Since she linked to one of our papers on corporate welfare, we assume she’s visited our site. How, then, could she get such an impression? Cato scholars have been deploring bailouts since last September. (Actually, since the Chrysler bailout of 1979, but we’ll skip forward to the recent avalanche of Bush-Obama bailouts.) Just recently, for instance, in — ahem — the New York Times, senior fellow William Poole implored, “Stop the Bailouts.” I wonder if our commentaries started with my blog post &#... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2347774 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:53:14 +0100 2347774 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2347779&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQAhmMVZEW2k%2F I’ve read conflicting reports on how focused last week’s tea parties were on the anti-tax and spend message.  It does appear there were  confused folks who thought the protests were platforms for nationalism, war, and partisan anti-Obama rants.  But I’m not buying the completely dismissive tone taken by some pundits who viewed the events as simply being pro-GOP rallies fueled by Fox News. A boisterous crowd in Greenville, SC saw right through Republican Congressman Gresham Barrett’s transparent attempt to curry their favor heading into his 2010 campaign for governor of the Palmetto State: Frankly, I can’t believe the guy made it through the five minute speech given the level of heckling and booing. Regardless of what one thinks of the crowd’s behavi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2347779 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:09:34 +0100 2347779 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2306729&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F24LVmhFGt18%2F G-20 Summit Agrees to International Spending Plan The Washington Post reports, “Leaders from more than 20 major nations including the United States decided Thursday to make available an additional $1 trillion for the world economy through the International Monetary Fund and other institutions as part of a broad package of measures to overcome the global financial crisis.” Cato scholars Richard W. Rahn, Daniel J. Ikenson and Ian Vásquez commented on the London-based meeting: Rahn: “President Obama of the U.S. and Prime Minister Brown of the U.K. will be pressing for more so-called stimulus spending by other nations, despite the fact that the historical evidence shows that big increases in government spending are more likely to be damaging and slow down recovery than they ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2306729 Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:32:27 +0100 2306729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2284344&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEwZpnqY6sFA%2F House Approves 90 Percent ‘Bonus Tax’ Sparked by outrage over the bonus checks paid out to AIG executives, the House approved a measure Thursday that would impose a 90 percent tax on employee bonuses for companies that receive more than $5 billion in federal bailout funds. Chris Edwards, Cato’s director of tax policy studies, says the outrage over AIG is misplaced: While Congress has been busy with this particular inquisition, the Federal Reserve is moving ahead with a new plan to shower the economy with a massive $1.2 trillion cash infusion — an amount 7,200 times greater than the $165 million of AIG retention bonuses. So members of Congress should be grabbing their pitchforks and heading down to the Fed building, not lynching AIG financial managers, most of whom... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2284344 Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:50:14 +0100 2284344 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2284348&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fu1ybREkJtxQ%2F The House of Representatives has passed a 90 percent tax on the bonuses paid to AIG employees, seemingly forgetting President Obama’s admonition “that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment.” Everybody’s angry. But anger doesn’t make good law. And there are real questions about both the wisdom and the legality of such legislation. Bloggers like Conor Clarke, Megan McArdle, and Eugene Volokh have asked if the bonus tax is legal or constitutional. And thank goodness for bloggers who ask the questions that members of Congress and print journalists seem to ignore! The bloggers wonder if after-the-fact taxes on specific people violate the constitutional ban on bills of attainder and ex post facto laws. (... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2284348 Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:19:29 +0100 2284348 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2195450&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F542652552%2F Earlier this week, the Congress and President Obama authorized a $787 billion borrow-and-spend plan to create “or preserve” 3.5 million American jobs. So, could there be a better time than now for GM and Chrysler to announce they will need billions more taxpayer dollars to avoid having to let go hundreds of thousand of workers? How likely is Washington to cut off the auto producers at this particular juncture? It shouldn’t come as a surprise that GM and Chrysler are asking for a lot more money because, well, the warnings were issued. In fact, Bush’s decision to defy Congress and provide “loans” to GM ($9.4 billion) and Chrysler ($4 billion) back in December wasn’t even intended as a cure all. It was designed to buy time for the producers to come up with detail... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2195450 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:32:26 +0100 2195450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2122200&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F519112758%2F Here’s an excerpt from a letter that House Republicans sent today to Speaker Nancy Pelosi: We applaud your recent decision to require the “Big Three” automakers to submit a restructuring plan to Congress before either chamber would consider legislation providing additional federal aid to the auto industry.  Unfortunately, the $87 billion allocated for more Medicaid money for states doesn’t appear to hold them accountable for ensuring that the tax dollars are spent wisely.  Similar to what was requested of the automakers, we believe it is necessary to require our nation’s Governors to submit formal budget plans for their respective Medicaid programs detailing how additional funds will be spent before Congress considers any legislation to provide a temporary i... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2122200 Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:19:26 +0100 2122200 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2108121&cid=t_170880_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F511852498%2F In its story yesterday about Obama pushing for release of the second half of the TARP boodle, the New York Times reported that Lawmakers are angry about many aspects of the  bailout, which they intended for the government purchase of troubled assets, particularly mortgage-backed securities, but instead has been used  to recapitalize banks and even prop up failing Detroit automakers. Initially, I had a lot of sympathy for this critique.  I had a little burst of outrage myself right before Christmas when I read the following quote from White House spokesman Tony Fratto, explaining why the White House was going to use the TARP authority to bail out GM and Chrysler–despite Congress’s having just voted down the auto bailout: “Congress lost its opportunity to be a par... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2108121 Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:38:28 +0100 2108121 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2104515&cid=t_170880_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F01%2Fwill-obama-eliminate-advertising.html (Source: Pharma Marketing Blog) Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2104515 Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:00:00 +0100 2104515 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1894950&cid=t_170880_135_f&fid=35262&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsurvivinghiv.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F10%2Foff-topic-wall-streets-disaster.html (Source: Nelson Vergel's HIV Blog) Nelson Vergel's HIV Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1894950 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:46:00 +0100 1894950 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1856029&cid=t_170880_109_f&fid=34795&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoloshrink.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F10%2Fagitated-grumpiness.html For about the past week I have been in a series of states, somewhere between moderate crankiness and full-out, “I’m madder than hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” (Except for the fact that I don’t have much of a choice other than to take it.) I began to rearrange my financial affairs about three months ago such that they were so conservative as to be laughable – at that time. At least I was correct in doing that, although I had hoped I was just being silly. For all concerned, I hate the reasons I felt it necessary to act in that manner, but the simple perceived need for self-preservation took over. The Senate and the House lived down to my expectations when a three-page refusal to financially patch the economy, on a temporary basis, turned into a 451 page bill, laden ... Solo Shrink blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1856029 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:57:00 +0100 1856029 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1852736&cid=t_170880_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F410446213%2F The House has just passed the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act” and you may want to flip to page 270 to read Section 301, which is called the Extension and Modification of Research Credit. This little chunk of legislative verbiage renews a federal tax credit for corporate R&D, which had expired last year. Now, though, the credit is revived, because it’s retroactive to this past January 1. Why does this matter? Well, had the credit been in place this year, corporate earnings would have benefited from lower tax rates. Of course, we are now in this year’s fourth quarter, so the retroactive credit can give drug and device makers a nice earnings boost. And they stand to get a lift next year as well, since the credit was extended through December 31, 2009. Of co... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1852736 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:44:25 +0100 1852736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1837204&cid=t_170880_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F09%2Fare-soon-to-be-off-patent-blockbuster.html While everyone was focused on the $700 billion proposal to bailout Wall Street, hardly anyone noticed the $25-$50 billion bailout of the automobile industry that is currently in the works (see "House passes auto industry bailout").Many other industries, including the pharmaceutical industry, would probably love to join the Bailout Billions Recipient Club.For some time now, I've been running a poll of readers asking them if the pharmaceutical industry is in a recession. Almost 80% of the nearly 800 respondents have said that it is in a recession (you can take the poll here - "Bailout Bonanza, Recession Redux" - and see the current results).According to an article published in the "Yer Biotech Blues" column on MidwestBusiness .com (see "Will the Same Chaos Happen to the Pharma Industry?"), t... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1837204 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:11:00 +0100 1837204 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1825666&cid=t_170880_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F09%2Fbailout-bonanza-recession-redux.html The issues facing us Americans today go way beyond our vested interest in the pharmaceutical industry. For example, debating whether or not the industry is in a recession is a small matter and almost goes without saying considering recent events unfolding on Wall Street and Main Street.When I first asked the question "Is the pharma industry in a recession?" back in March, 2008, (see here), the world was a much different place and you could cite economic statistics that showed that technically we were not in a recession. Pity the fool who would now claim that the economic indicators are sound and we are not yet in a recession. ("Prevent a recession," however, is the rallying cry of the administration in its bid to force Congress to act hastily in approving the administration's bailout bonan... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1825666 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:03:00 +0100 1825666