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Posts Tagged ‘capitalism’
November 18th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Germany’s Merkel Gets It. Why Doesn’t Obama?
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It’s sad when American leaders must look to “Old Europe” for economic wisdom, but that’s where we stand with this Obama White House.

Speaking this week to media, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that the worldwide recession demands tax cuts, not higher taxes and redistribution, to jump-start economic growth.  Impressively, she’s standing firm even in the face of fierce opposition, saying, “the government has opted for growth.  I indeed face very critical treatment, as does the whole government, regarding the course that we have chosen.”  A spokesman for Merkel’s partner Free Democrats added, “this is the right path.  This will create jobs and this is the condition for healthy public finances.”  Meanwhile, Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi offer more government, higher taxes and more regulation to somehow “stimulate” America out of recession.

Hmmm…  Perhaps this recent trend of economic sense out of Germany helps explain why Obama was so reluctant to visit Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall this month?

November 10th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
What Are Obama, Pelosi and Reid Doing to Encourage Job Creation?
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During a week in which Nancy Pelosi force-fed her job-killing healthcare bill to America, it was timely that the Kauffman Foundation released a report on how jobs are created in this country.

According to their study released last week, two-thirds of jobs created as recently as 2007 came from enterprises less than five years old.  Indeed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, almost all of America’s net job creation since 1980 came from new businesses.  This stands to reason in our dynamic economy, where giant firms tend to become complacent and wither, whereas new innovators with novel ideas rapidly expand and create new jobs.  Think of General Motors and Microsoft, for instance.   Before that, the horse-and-buggy industry lost employees to the auto makers.  This is the nature of our economic system.

With this in mind, what are Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid doing to create jobs?  We’re not referring to temporary work funded by dollars borrowed from future generations or wrenched from more productive uses via taxation – actual jobs?  Stated differently, what entrepreneur in his or her right mind would consider this a promising moment to take risks and hire new employees?  From healthcare “reform” to carbon cap-and-tax legislation to higher taxes to financial regulation, Obama, Pelosi and Reid see employers as mere scapegoats who should be saddled with even higher costs of employment.  They bail out dinosaurs like GM and Chrysler, but leave smaller entrepreneurs to suddenly subsidize ObamaCare and the ever-expanding federal government.

The unemployment rate just jumped to 10.2% despite Obama’s promise that it wouldn’t exceed 8% if we swallowed his “stimulus” medicine.  At what point does he wake up and smell the real-world coffee?  Will he ever?

October 27th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Ford Gains Market Share While Bailed-Out Counterparts Decline
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When Ford abstained from accepting federal bailout dollars, observers rightfully worried that it would suffer a competitive disadvantage compared to its new Obama-favored counterparts General Motors (GM) and Chrysler.

But so far, a funny thing has happened thanks to American consumers.  Ford has actually gained in its share of American market sales, whereas GM and Chrysler have declined.  According to CNW Marketing Research, Ford jumped from approximately 12% of domestic auto sales in the third quarter of 2008 to approximately 17% in the third quarter of 2009.  In contrast, GM fell from approximately 27% to 22%, and Chrysler fell from approximately 8% to 6% during that span.  The only other major automaker to gain in market share over the past year was Toyota, but its increase isn’t nearly as dramatic as Ford’s.

Several factors may have contributed to Ford’s improvement, but Americans have sent a clear signal in rewarding it for righting its course the old-fashioned way, while rebuking GM and Chrysler for jumping onto the Obama bailout bandwagon.

September 29th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Must Read
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Strangely, this piece comes from the Huffington Post but it’s authored by Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC, who seems to be more open-minded.

His point?  Democrats so often claim that the “market” is broken because health care is expensive and too many people lack health coverage.  Well, one reason that health care is too expensive is because the government helps to create health care monopolies in the states and even prevents consumers from shopping across state lines for cheaper/better insurance.

There is no true “market” for health care if you live in North Dakota where Blue Cross controls 90% of the market.  There is little choice in Maine where Wellpoint controls 71% of the market.  Capitalism works best when consumers have choices between companies.  Health care companies should beg and compete for our business, not the other way around.

September 10th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Capitalism Finds Fantasy Football
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According to CNN, capitalism, the original inventor of fantasy sports, steel, smiles, ice cream, and prosperity has reinvented itself in the shadowy realm of fantasy football.

For those who follow the pigskin, you’ll remember that the quarterback for the New England Patriots (Tom … something) tore several ligaments in his knee last year.  Fantasy owners who drafted him were left with a huge loss in point production, and had to settle with an inferior quarterback, likely one from New York or Philly.

In response to this suffering, some intrepid entrepreneurs decided to essentially offer insurance for the fantasy sports market.  Fantasy “players” can now buy insurance for players, in the event they are lost to injury.  As a result of such genius innovations in the market, fantasy sports are now an $800 million industry.  Regrettably, the number of relationships and marriages that fantasy sports has destroyed is incalculable at this moment, but I wouldn’t put it past the market to give everyone an estimate.

Of course, fantasy football was already a nice product of capitalism before people started making money off of it.  For millions of over-enthusiastic beer-drinking football junkies across the nation, fantasy sports provide plenty of psychic income.  Thankfully, the IRS has not yet begun to tax this potential revenue stream.

August 24th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Michael Moore on Capitalism
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Michael Moore has another movie coming out this year.  After bashing the 2nd Amendment and praising socialized medicine, Moore takes on what else … capitalism.

Judging by his recent trailer and his comments on YouTube, the movie looks like a tired rehash of past arguments for further redistribution of wealth and government intervention.

Moore will argue that the “market” is too powerful but the trailer includes clips from the bailout fiasco last year and other examples of corporate welfare.  Of course, this is not capitalism.  The last eight years have been an exercise in how the government distorts markets and rewards the politically powerful.

For example, corporate power last year allowed some companies, like AIG , to prosper and receive massive bailouts, while others were left to wither.  Capitalism doesn’t endorse multi-billion dollar transfers of capital from taxpayers to corporations, and I’m not sure why Moore thought the bailout was the perfect example of how the market is evil and corrupt.

On the contrary, the last 12 months have provided a brilliant example of how the government is corrupt.  The government distorted credit markets by keeping interest rates below the market rate and then encouraged reckless lending and borrowing.  Furthermore, the government compounded the problem when it rewarded large reckless lenders with bailouts from taxpayers.  Capitalism has suffered this past year, not government.  Government remains bigger and stronger than ever, poised to consume even larger portions of the market and take on new responsibilities.

Finally, in the comments section, Moore states that the rich “feed” off of the rest of us.  For someone who has made his fortune by practicing capitalism, it’s strange that he would describe himself as a vampire.  People, liberal and conservative, pay money to see his films and either agree or disagree with him, but few would deny that Moore has a talent for film-making; that is why he is rich.

I wish him the best of luck as he continues to pursue his profession, just as I wish the billions of other workers on the planet the best of luck pursuing their vocation.  For some reason, Moore thinks that there is some finite supply of money at the end of a rainbow that the rich and powerful have found and only occasionally share  with the rest.  But, Moore himself found no stash of money.  He created money and personal wealth through his own skill, just like any other talented worker.  And, consumers voluntarily saw his films because they saw some merit in his skill.

Let’s hope Mr. Moore includes some of the true virtues of the free market and capitalism when his film is finally released.

Here is the trailer: