Saffire

Saw these on Drudge just now: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1207151/Woman-gives-birth-pavement-refused-ambulance.html http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=1878506&sponsor Yeah, you get to eat free. But your next meal won't be for six months. :laugh3:

I love John Stossel. Nick, the reason people put up with it is because it's all they've ever known. They don't remember what a private healthcare system was like, so they don't miss it.

Ferris Bueller is sexy.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e4a67592-8b74-11de-9f50-00144feabdc0.html Americans want Japanese cars, and they're using their Cash-for-Clunkers money to buy them.

The professor obviously has the first signs of mad-cow disease, because if he were halfway smart he would have used a libertarian ethics argument against the cop rather than resorting to the kneejerk reflex of shrieking It's like pooping and digesting, some people do it without even thinking.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9A4T3TG0&show_article=1 Ohh, it's sooooo difficult being a cop in these modern times! Always being accused of racism, when you were only doing your job - arresting people on their own property for "disorderly conduct"! The cop is a misunderstood creature... he just wants to be left alone, free to garden, cook, and taser civilians who pose no serious threat to himself or those around him. I know his fellow officers will provide him with the comfort he needs during this difficult and trying time in his life! He's got the whole world out to get him! He stands undaunted, however, his face to the sun, the wind at his back! Hold the flag high! Never surrender, Mr. Crowley! Pardon me while I go to the bathroom, I've got something in my eyes. I think cutting up an onion earlier for the quiche...that's what did it. *runs away*

lol Nicholas Higgenbotham Mccann, you damned statist! Read up on some praexeology before you resort to animal spirits, please! There are no such things as ghosts, even in economics. And Josh, eliminating taxes in a civil society would likely result in the best outcome - instant an-cap society. Because people will figure out a way to profit from an end to government services.

Remember there's little incentive to save and pay down debt until the interest rates rise. Right now, we're still in the "Spending is Patriotic!" phase. But you're right, eventually the Fed-created money will settle somewhere, and I suspect it will fall into commodities and equities first. Then the guys who get rich in this way will spend their money in the general (consumer) economy, and that will drive up those prices, hurting the poor.

Well Nick, the US has the added distinction of having massive debt and no real assets - our exports are weak relative what they were coming out of the last depression, and relative these Asian countries. Unless we default on our debt, future generations will pay it back via a cheaper dollar, which translates to lower wages and more service-sector jobs. As long as we have economists like this: http://bubblemeter.blogspot.com/2008/08/robert-shiller-interview-subprime.html ...who are taken seriously, we'll never learn the lesson.

Fantastic movie. Maybe there will be a sequel!

The government is an endless stream of hilarity. Even the cops don't know if citizens are breaking the law or not!

Nick, didn't you post an article just like this about Korea a little while back? Apparently all these countries' governments are dropping money from helicopters to keep the numbers up.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jbjzPEY0Y3bvRD335rGu_Z3KXoQw Oh Josh! Rockin the Mises avatar! *gang sign*

I admit I've said "lawl" as well.

Nick, dammit, save up some money so we can meet and hang out in October at the Mises partay! I'm gonna go bar hopping with with some economics professors and you gotta be there!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul Before: Lulz.

Well yeah, you can get your cosmetic surgery done by your neighbor's kid with his dad's power drill. But don't expect to come out looking like Angelina Jolie.

Nick a license is permission from the government to practice in the US, and it's pointless. It's just a way for the American Medical Association to limit the number of practicing doctors (ie monopolize the industry for their union). http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba649 Here are some fun stats for the Canadians and UK and Aussies who enjoy pushing their socialist crap on people who prefer being somewhat free.

Well yeah there might be organizations that rate doctors and give them a "Smart Cat Seal of Approval" or whatever, but nobody would be outright barred from practicing medicine if they wanted to.

That's good, because ignorance of the law is no excuse! (Or so say the statists.) ;) How to lower the cost of healthcare? 1. End patents on drugs. Generics for everything. 2. End doctor licensure. Anyone can practice medicine. 3. End malpractice lawsuits. You accept the risk when you agree to a procedure. 4. End compulsory insurance. Insurance companies must advertise directly to customers. 5. End medical school licensure. Anyone can teach medicine. The medical field would explode with new ideas, organizations, businesses, etc. Viva Anarchy!

PROPERTY RIGHTS! *smack* *runs away*

Well there's nothing wrong with wanting to keep your own money, the product of your labor, efforts, and mind. If you value healthcare for the poor, then you will donate some of your money to a charity to help them get it. You don't need a government to force you to do it. Because as soon as force enters the considerations, it's no longer voluntary. You're just being mugged.

If I put a knife to your throat, and tell you to give me all your cash, because I want to go give it all to the orphans down the street (and take a cut for myself, for providing the "service"), is it compassion for you to give me the cash? Remember that you were going to take your date to dinner and a movie with that money, but not anymore.

I hardly see how paying your taxes is compassion. It's non-voluntary. EDIT: What I'm trying to get across to you, is that any sort of payment that is coerced (taxation) will result in a lower-quality product with higher costs. The government is no different from any other corporation - it is only a collection of individuals. Except the government is the only corporation that claims the "right" to steal from you, and the "right" to create monopolies. It is economically inefficient, and to claim it is "compassionate" is just repeating propaganda you've been taught in government-run schools.

OH okay, that's good. So theft is fine, as long as you're not the one being stolen from.