Assorted Links (5/2/2012)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading and videos that I have been viewing lately:

Obama losing rock star status with young

campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com

“Michael Barone on polls showing the Obama enthusiasm deficit among young voters.”

Can Obama Run on His Foreign-Policy Record?

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Fouad Ajami writes that the American people may demand more than the killing of bin Laden and the hunting down of Somali pirates.”

Smackdown: Ron Paul vs. Paul Krugman on the role and scope of government in the economy

www.youtube.com

“Ron Paul – “Governments aren’t suppose to run the economy, people are suppose to run the economy.” Paul Krugman – “I’m a believer in capitalism.””

A New Age for the Catholic Church in Cuba? From Survival to Planting Seeds

www.patheos.com

This posting by UNC-Chapel Hill sociologist Margarita Mooney provides a fascinating history of the Catholic Church in Cuba since the Cuban Revolution of 1959. I also highly recommend listening to the related “Research on Religion” podcast located at http://bit.ly/JCHiHd…

Forgot Algebra

xkcd.com

“It’s weird how proud people are of not learning math when the same arguments apply to learning to play music, cook, or speak a foreign language”.

Time to make a moral case for free enterprise

washingtonexaminer.com

This article is excerpted and adapted from AEI president Arthur Brooks’ book “The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise”.

Taylor on monetary and fiscal policy history

cafehayek.com

“The latest EconTalk is John Taylor giving his take on the last four decades of fiscal and monetary policy in the United States.” This non-technical, 1 hour-long presentation of the economics of fiscal and monetary policy by Stanford economist John Taylor also provides a very interesting historical narrative of the last 50 years of American economic and political history!

Sitting Out Obama

www.nationalreview.com

Quoting from this article NRO’s Victor David Hanson, “The president has investors scared stiff… the more the government seems to take over private enterprise — the car bailouts, the mortgage industry, student loans, wind and solar partnerships — the more private enterprise is frightened of being the next small guitar company or the next Chrysler creditor.”

Virginia Could Be an Energy Power—If Only Washington Would Let It

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Gov. Bob McDonnell writes that in 2010, Virginia was poised to become the first on the East Coast permitted to produce oil and natural gas offshore—then politics intervened.”

Obama and the bin Laden Bragging Rights

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey writes that it is hard to imagine Lincoln or Eisenhower claiming such credit for the heroic actions of others.”

Education Is the Key to a Healthy Economy

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, George P. Shultz and Eric A. Hanushek write that if we fail to reform K-12 schools, we’ll have slow growth and more income inequality.”

Government doesn’t give tax cuts, it takes more or less taxes

keithhennessey.com

“To make a balanced decision you need to incorporate the harm done by taking money from someone.” Interesting and informative points on the economics of tax cuts from Stanford University’s Keith Hennessey.

While Syria burns

www.washingtonpost.com

“Obama stands idly by and embarasses the nation.” The latest missive from the Washington Post’s Charles Krauthammer…

Chile’s Cautionary Lesson for Americans

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Americas columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady writes that a free economy is at risk when a demand for equality is not answered by a defense of liberty.”

Stop Telling Students to Study for Exams

chronicle.com

According to this Chronicle of Higher Education article, I should refrain from telling my students to study for their upcoming final exam, since by so doing I apparently “… communicate to students that the process of intellectual inquiry, academic exploration, and acquiring knowledge is a purely instrumental activity—designed to ensure success on the next assessment.” My bad!

The President Has a List

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kimberley Strassel notes Barack Obama’s attempts to intimidate contributors to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.”

Does Government Have a Revenue or Spending Problem?

www.youtube.com

“People say the government has a debt problem. Debt is caused by deficits, which is the difference between what the government collects in tax revenue and the amount of government spending. Every time the government runs a deficit, the government debt increases. So what’s to blame: too much spending, or too little tax revenue? Economics professor Antony Davies examines the data and concludes that the root cause of the debt is too much government spending.”

The President’s Incoherent Economic ‘Philosophy’

www.nationalreview.com

“Whatever he’s for, apparently it’s not a free-market economy.” Quoting further from this article, “The key (to long-term economic growth) is to embrace a strong free-market economy with stable monetary policy, free trade, low marginal tax rates, a tight rein on government entitlement promises and regulations, and narrow deficits. The president’s plan touches on none of this. He has proposed no serious tax reform or deficit-reduction package. He is, at best, reluctant to promote free trade, for fear of offending his union base. And, on entitlements, he has taken the largest expansion in a generation and piled that on top of the unaffordable programs already on the books.”

How the Fed Favors The 1%

professional.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Mark Spitznagel writes that the Fed doesn’t expand the money supply by dropping cash from helicopters—it does so through capital transfers to the largest banks.”

God and Man in Tennessee

www.nytimes.com

“By politicizing our faith, lawmakers are ignoring Tennessee’s true religious roots and threatening the liberties they claim to protect.”

One thought on “Assorted Links (5/2/2012)”

  1. Thanks for the plug for our interview with Margarita Mooney on Cuba over at Research on Religion. We have another podcast that you will like coming up next Monday regarding the Catholic bishops’ critique of the health care mandate.

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