Budget Hero

Control the federal budget in this game! Watch the intro though to get the directions down. I did okay my first time, didn't shrink it as much as I would want. I would have liked to eliminate whole sectors but it didn't let me.

A Helpful Allegory

Peter Kreeft cited this Chinese proverb about faith so I thought I would share it since it helped me visualize the process and place of faith in daily life. I, like him, will be paraphrasing.

Imagine three people walking on top of a wall in this order: Fact, Faith and Feeling. As long as Fact is leading, Faith and Feeling will not fall off of the wall because Faith will be looking at Fact and Feeling will be looking at Faith. But as soon as Faith turns around to look at Feeling, Faith and Feeling will fall with Fact walking on despite their spill.

Perhaps something that the parable misses is if Fact is not Fact but "fact". For if Fact is wrong, then what? At some point all three would be ruined. Facts are important, to understate the fact. And to make matters more difficult, facts are manipulated, watered-down, ignored or regarded as irrelevant. As can be proved by basic human knowledge, I believe that facts run into Fact sometime or another and distill themselves into knowable Fact.




(Fact is a funny word, huh?)

Bootleggers and Baptists

I became familiar with the economics phrase "bootleggers and baptists" this month. It comes from the days of the Prohibition, obviously, but can refer to any issue where a government mandate will have those who would profit from it, either materially or morally, on the same side. For instance: during the Prohibition, the bootleggers backed the anti-alcohol policies because it kept other alcohol venders out of competition. The Baptists (and others) backed prohibitionist policies because it was a moral issue to them. So in this basic example you have two groups who might never have anything to do with each other both advocating for prohibition but for completely different purposes.

Here in VA, all vehicles are required to have a vehicle inspection which is good for one year. I have yet to have mine, however I have heard from others that often you will be required to have a certain part fixed if the inspector so mandates. This is a bootlegger/baptist situation in that some morally principled legislator said at one time I am sure that in the name of safety and the children, the state should inspect all cars on the road. The mechanics fully agreed because they had the power of the state on their side mandating people to get their cars fixed.

One other example: tariffs on imports. The baptist side says we must protect American industry and the American worker. Think of the children. While the domestic companies (bootlegger side) fully agree because the high tariffs will keep otherwise viable competition out of the market.

It seems that any legislator proposing these sorts of idealistically motivated laws/protections/whatever would be doubly lobbied. The baptists and the bootleggers will beat a path to their door. No wonder we have increasing regulations.

Government Spending 101

Check out this very useful site at Mercatus.org for some basic information on government finance (which sounds super exciting, right?). No but seriously, who doesn't want to know this stuff these days? The articles are brief and easy to understand. I found it very enlightening.

Also, in listening to some Michael Medved yesterday, during his interview with Arthur Brooks, Brooks stated that most government growth has occurred at the state level. When the federal problems are foremost in the news, one forgets about the fact that our states are mostly suffering the same issues. Our governments are hurtling toward fiscal failure. We cannot have our cake (vast social programs, primarily) and eat it too (not pay for it).

Space Is THE Physical Reality Check

For You Higher Ed People Out There...

This article by John Stossel caught my attention: The College Scam

Tell me your thoughts.

Below, an excerpt:

...[L]ots of people not suited for higher education get pushed into it. This doesn't do them good. They feel like failures when they don't graduate. Vedder said two out of five students entering four-year programs don't have a bachelor's degree after year six.

"Why do colleges accept (these students) in the first place?"

Because money comes with the student -- usually government-guaranteed loans.

A Few Thoughts

After hearing one Dr. Richard Williams of the Mercatus Center speak about government regulations (of which there are 165,000 pages of and growing by 80,000 pages a year), he brought up a point I have been mulling over for a bit: Regulations serve the purpose of closing the knowledge gap. For instance, you can't check up on how your food, drugs, clothing, entertainment and other consumables are prepared because you do not have the capability or time. Therefore government regulations via agencies fill that role for you. However with the advent of the internet, that knowledge gap is closing rapidly and it is now possible for you, the individual with the help of other individuals to find out information on whatever it might be you are looking to consume. I do not know whether all government regulatory agencies should be done away with, but this idea of the internet filling up the knowledge gap the agencies otherwise would need to fill, is an interesting idea. For more on regulations check out this Mercatus Center policy resource.

I am reading Atlas Shrugged right now. Last year I read The Fountainhead. Overall I like the economic philosophy of Ayn Rand, however not her general philosophy of Objectivism. I have also enjoyed the stories in the books. Reading these Rand works is essential if I am to be current within the circles I run in here in DC. A friend referenced this quote so I looked it up. It is by John Rogers (a blogger, and then made more famous by Paul Krugman): "There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

A 'South California'? Okay

I know hardly any details about this proposal, but it looks like an attractive idea. There are cultural differences between north and south as well as ideological ones. Making a state legislature more local for those in the south counties could improve government. At least it may provide a fresh start. It's all very, very preliminary and probably won't happen. An intriguing idea nonetheless.