Bad Policy, Bad Judgment, Bad Outcome

This entry is not about the crimes of one man and the moral failings of his associates. Justice has been served to them. The perpetrator has been tried, convicted and imprisoned, potentially for the rest of his life. His associates justice will be served shortly through the criminal system, if not in the afterlife. A completely new organization now leads Penn State, with no ties whatsoever to the past, and processes in place to rectify and...

Sanity Zone 9-25-2011

The Role of Government

I am not going to offer a political commentary on this topic, but rather an attempt to offer a distillation of the competing theories of “government” and what the impacts may be. As with any short piece, there will be missing or abbreviated concepts, so address those with comments, please.

First, let’s get definitions:

• Government: A third party formed to create and enforce

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Hi Everyone.

I thought it somewhat necessary for my intellectual health to write at least something on the foolishness surrounding the so-called "Debt Crisis." I hope you all remember that I have no dog in this hunt, save that I am partial to eating and sleeping safely in my home, working for a wage, and not being persecuted for my beliefs.

For all those who wonder whether it would be catastrophic to allow the US to default on its obligations, the answer is yes....

After watching a bit of propaganda from both political extremes, it occurred to me that people may not know what kind of economic policy options that are available to our leaders. Believe it or not, it’s pretty easy to draw up and easy to understand.

I realize that there is a lot of anger in some people’s attitude toward our government, and it is rightly deserved. Our leaders have screwed up. However, policy options and their effects on the economy and jobs don’t change when there’s...