Episode 434 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics from r/blackpeopletwitter and r/whitepeopletwitter: the dangerous stupidity of using experts (who always disagree) to make public policy; agreeing with Rep. Ilhan Omar that it’s time for the Feds to decriminalize marijuana; whether Jesus counseled people to take care of the poor or needy, or to outsource that to government; agreeing with Senator Cory Booker’s call to phase out factory farming; and the need to reconsider our entire economic system.
Tag: america
Private Charity Beats One-Size-Fits-All Government
Charities are free to help people who truly need help.
COVID-19 Lockdowns: Liberty and Science
The Chinese Coronavirus (COVID-19) hit American shores — officially, anyway, there is significant evidence that it arrived earlier — in late January 2020. The American public was then told that a two-week shutdown of the economy would “flatten the curve,” relieving the pressure on hospital intensive care units and saving lives in the long run. The average American, including conservatives,…
Life-Years Lost: The Quantity and The Quality
A few weeks ago, the NYT reported that “The Coronavirus Has Claimed 2.5 Million Years of Potential Life.” If you read the original study, you’ll discover one crucial caveat: The authors’s calculations assume that COVID victims would have had the standard life expectancy for Americans of their age. They freely admit that this is unrealistic and inflates their estimate.
Peter Hill: The Not So Wild, Wild West, Property Rights on the Frontier (48m)
This episode features a lecture by economics professor emeritus Peter J. Hill from 2016. Hill looks at the development of property rights across the American West in the 19th century.
Government Has Too Much Power
If government didn’t have the power to force you to close your business because a new cold virus showed up, and punish you if you ignored its demands, the American economy would still be strong. Much tragedy could have been avoided. The pandemic would have most likely run its course and be only a memory by now.
Absurd Thanksgiving Guidelines Reveal an Astonishing Level of Government Overreach
When we get to the point where individuals find it “natural” for the government to tell us how to take turns eating our Thanksgiving turkey, a pandemic is the least of our concerns.
Thankful, 2020 Edition
This year, the words of President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation ring especially true: “I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to [God] for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged …” It’s been a rough year, hasn’t it?
Entrepreneurship Is Accelerating at the Fastest Rate in Decades During This Pandemic
This week, the Wall Street Journal reports that entrepreneurship during the pandemic is accelerating. Several metrics point to this growth, including the number of people applying for tax identification numbers. The Journal cites US Census Bureau data revealing that applications by small businesses rose nearly one-third between January and September, compared to the previous year. In particular, applications skyrocketed between July and September, rising 77 percent from the previous quarter—the biggest quarterly increase in 16 years of tracking this data.
AIER, Cost of Lockdowns: A Preliminary Report (28m) – Episode 427
Episode 427 has Skyler giving his commentary on a new report by the American Institute of Economic Research titled, “Cost of Lockdowns: A Preliminary Report”. It begins: “In the debate over coronavirus policy, there has been far too little focus on the costs of lockdowns. It’s very common for the proponents of these interventions to write articles and large studies without even mentioning the downsides. Here is a brief look at the cost of stringencies in the United States, and around the world, including stay-at-home orders, closings of business and schools, restrictions on gatherings, shutting of arts and sports, restrictions on medical services, and interventions in the freedom of movement.”