Author: Joe White

Capitalists, Capitalism, and the Siren’s Song of Stability:

The desire for stability and predictability has been the calling card of dirigisme regimes since the dawn of capitalism, whether they called themselves “socialist”, “fascist”, or just plain “interventionist.” It is but a thinly disguised power grab by those who own the means of production, and who will profit at our expense, rather than profiting by serving us better. “Stability” is a siren song that we must do our best to ignore, lest we enable them make an even bigger mess than they already have.

Sometimes Bobbing and Weaving Just Isn’t Enough:

McCain and Obama are tripping over one another to claim they have a PLAN. Everyone wants a plan to fix the financial markets. But the bottom line is that we do not need a government plan, we need a free market unhampered by government intervention. Instead, we are going to get government control, budget deficits and debt, and inflation in double-digits as the government attempts to pay for their inept policies that fueled the current and future crises.

EconLog, An Open Letter to Ben Bernanke, Arnold Kling: Library of Economics and Liberty:

We have excesses. Too many housing units. Too many “homeowners” who don’t have equity in their homes and never did. Too many banks and financial institutions. The excesses need to be worked out by the markets.

Washington Times – WILLIAMS: Stubborn ignorance
The ending quote is fantastic:

English philosopher Herbert Spencer said, “The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.”

My grandparents lost their beach cabin in Hurricane Carla in 1961. After that, my family used my great uncle’s cabin in Gilchrist. When we were going to the beach, this is where we went. Each summer we’d go down for a week, with my dad commuting each day while we played in the surf near the pilings that surrounded the Dishman’s long-lost pool. David and I always looked forward to Bingo night at the volunteer fire department. As the years went by, the walk between the edge of the slab and beginning of the beach got shorter, until the installation of the geotube a few years ago halted the sands advance just a couple of yards from the deck. Until last week.

a view from a plane offshore: