MLLG

California Screaming – Prince of Fools

George Noga

The republic can survive a Biden, but not an electorate that made him president.

California Screaming – Prince of Fools

By: George Noga – June 5, 2022

California Screaming: The Cato Institute recently published the results of its multi-year project, Poverty and Inequality in California. You may be surprised that California, despite Silicon Valley and Hollywood, has the highest poverty rate in the USA. Moreover, poverty and inequality are getting worse by the day. The study found the cause is “California laws, regulations and policies are regressive, trapping people in poverty. . . . These policies involve criminal justice, education, housing and welfare.” California has had the most progressive government of any state for decades. Instead of utopia, liberal ideas have wrought the worst poverty and inequality in America.

Freedom Index: Cato also just released its Index of Personal and Economic Freedom for 2021. The five highest ranking (most freedom) states are, in order, New Hampshire, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee and South Dakota. The lowest ranking (least freedom) are New York, Hawaii, California, New Jersey and Oregon. The states with the most freedom all are red or purple; the bottom dwellers all are deep blue. Americans are voting en masse with their feet for more liberty and less government.

Prince of Fools: Following (edited for length) is from a major European newspaper. “The danger to America is not Joe Biden, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him to the presidency. It will be far easier to undo the follies of a Biden presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to those who elected him. The problem is much deeper and more serious than Mr. Biden, who is but a symptom of what ails America. The republic can survive a prince of fools like Biden, but is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who elected him.”

If Biden is the prince of fools, Kamala Harris is the queen of fools. Although the Trump presidency, or at least its policies, turned out much better than expected, he never should have been nominated or elected. He won the nomination only because 15 professional politicians all misread the electorate. He was elected only because Hillary Clinton was radioactive. Biden won, despite obvious signs of cognitive decline, because suburban women were triggered by mean tweets. In 2024 it could very well be a Trump- Clinton rematch – see my post of 5/22/22 on our website: www.mllg.us. How much longer can our beloved republic survive an electorate like this?

Permanent State of Emergency: Governments at all levels have learned their powers are vastly increased during an emergency – even if they created the emergency. It is no wonder we are in a permanent state of emergency: pandemic emergency, voting rights emergency, climate emergency and now an energy emergency. Nothing encapsulates the fecklessness of the Biden Administration more than energy. Immediately upon taking office, Biden declared war on the US energy sector in every way possible.

Biden feigns shock energy production plummeted and prices skyrocketed. He declared an ersatz state of emergency to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, after first begging Venezuela (dirty oil) and Iran (fund terrorism) to produce more. Biden has reverted to the progressive playbook and is blaming greedy speculators and energy companies. Funny – these same groups were not greedy when prices were falling under Trump.

Achieving Perfect Equality: Since men first trod this earth, many have dreamt of a world with perfect equality; thanks to scientific advances, that now may be possible. The best minds on the planet could create a master algorithm incorporating all known markers of success. The algorithm would include DNA and would account for, inter alia, race, gender, sexual orientation, height, weight, IQ and life expectancy.

Key exogenous factors also would be included in the master algorithm: place of birth, social class, family income and education level, et seq. The result is a polygenic score assigned to everyone at birth. Those with positive scores would pay a polygenic tax while those with negative scores would receive a benefit – in direct proportion to how much the scores were positive or negative. If done correctly, this would make everyone equal. It is only a matter of time until progressives adopt this idea and run with it.

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Next: My lifetime of experience with government schools.

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MLLG

Liberty: Death by A Thousand Cuts

George Noga

State and local governments routinely assault our liberty in countless ways.

Liberty: Death by A Thousand Cuts

By: George Noga – May 29, 2022

MLLG usually focuses on issues of national scope; however, Americans are more directly affected by local and state government laws, taxes, regulations and actions. Throughout the USA, local governments assault our liberty in thousands of ways; this post describes some of the most egregious. Fortunately, the Institute for Justice (IJ), a public interest law group, ferociously defends liberty in many of the following cases.

Legal Marijuana: Pre-legalization, marijuana (1) enriched criminal cartels; (2) created powerful economic incentives for distributors; (3) spawned turf wars resulting in murder and mayhem; (4) corrupted police, judges and entire governments; and (5) made drug dealers into role models. The purpose of legalization was to end all these horrors as it did with alcohol. Instead, local governments, particularly in Colorado and California, imposed such high taxes and onerous regulations on legal growers and sellers that the illegal trade still is profitable. To top it off the craziness, the Biden Administration is proposing a 163-page bill imposing an added federal 25% tax and voluminous new federal regulations. Now we have the worst of both worlds.

Occupational licenses; barriers to entry: The impetus for licensing comes from industry groups with vested interests in preventing competition. California prohibits anyone without a high school diploma from attending vocational school unless they pass a government exam. Sale of home baked goods require commercial grade kitchens. A Texas town refused to issue a license to a one-man business without adding 28 parking spaces. To become a barber in 20 large cities requires over a year of training and compliance with costly regulations. Any barber who wants to open a shop must navigate a mind-numbing array of zoning, permits, taxes, inspections and licenses. All together, this costs over $3,000, requires 16 forms and over 55 steps before opening.

Asset forfeiture and policing for profit: Police in many states confiscate cash from citizens during routine traffic stops without charging them with a crime. They use this money for their own benefit, giving them a nefarious motive. In Philadelphia alone, there have been 30,000 such cases. In one Alabama town, police pull over residents for spurious reasons, handcuff the drivers, search the cars and have them towed and impounded. Owners are forced to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to recover their cars. As always, most victims are from disadvantaged communities. Shakedowns just like this take place every day in cities and towns across America.

More Examples of Death by a Thousand Cuts

There are many other instances where state and local governments stifle liberty. Due to space constraints, we can only summarize the most egregious ones herein.

Guardianship laws: In many states older people often are declared incapacitated with little or no due process. They lose the right to drive, vote, marry, hire an attorney, travel, consent to treatment and even choose with whom to talk or visit. Young people are free to make poor life choices without consequence; why not older people?

Food trucks: Many locales enact restrictions that make it impossible to operate food trucks, denying owners the right to earn a living.

Pandemic issues: States and cities imposed unconstitutional, arbitrary and capricious emergency edicts. It was okay for liquor stores to be open but not churches. Children lost one or two years of learning. Many lives were needlessly uprooted or harmed.

Property rights: Local governments disrespect property rights. They prohibit small homes by mandating minimum size, ban working from home, outlaw front yard vegetable gardens and ban businesses from placing signage in their own windows.

Fourth Amendment: Unreasonable and illegal searches, seizures and surveillance take place routinely in many jurisdictions. In Tennessee they enter private property to install cameras to search for hunting violations. In Florida, police harass families because a computer algorithm predicted a family member may commit a crime in the future.

School choice: Governments beholding to teacher unions restrict charter schools, teach CRT, gender dysphoria, the 1619 project and indoctrinate students in a state religion that directly conflicts with parental values. They oppose choice in every way possible.

We conclude with the story of Jaime, who has been a model citizen his entire adult life. He was hired for his dream job of an ocean rescue lifeguard, which required EMT certification, 200 hours of coursework and an exam. After meeting all of the requirements and passing the exam (on his first attempt), Jaime was denied a license because of a youthful non-violent drug conviction 20 years ago. His appeal required mounds of documents and time-consuming bureaucracy. Jaime’s story has a happy ending only because IJ took his case and ultimately prevailed. However, there are thousands and thousands of other cases like Jaime’s out there that cry out for justice.

The state and local government abuses of power described herein are but the tip of the iceberg. There is one, and only one, way to remedy this government lust for more power and that is – you guessed it – more liberty and less government.

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“California Screaming” leads off our next post which covers multiple topics.

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The Political Landscape for 2022 and 2024

George Noga

The chance of a Trump – Clinton rematch may be greater than you think .

The Political Landscape for 2022 and 2024

By: George Noga – May 22, 2022

It’s time for a political update. I modestly remind readers that my prior political posts have proven to be accurate – not only in picking winners and losers but in analyzing the electoral forces that decide elections. For example, I wrote that Trump would lose in 2020 if suburban women deserted him and that is precisely what happened.

The Outlook for November 2022

Every pundit and pollster is predicting a Republican tsunami this November and it does not require a genius political IQ to understand why. Biden’s job approval rating is abysmal, Kamala Harris is an embarrassment and Nancy Pelosi remains radioactive. The Republicans have a wide margin in the generic ballot. Redistricting following the 2020 census will help the GOP – but only marginally. There are a slew of Democrats not seeking reelection and that benefits Republicans. Polls show Hispanic voters with only a 29% job approval of Biden – which should scare the bejesus out of Democrats.

And then there are the issues. It is a political axiom that people vote their pocketbooks; remember: “It’s the economy stupid”. No issue is greater than inflation because it is impossible to spin. Every time voters buy gas, food or just about anything, they are rudely reminded about inflation. This issue alone will sink Democrats, but they are underwater on virtually every other issue including: national security (Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iran), immigration, crime, Covid, supply chain, education and energy.

The GOP will win the House in 2022; the Senate is uncertain

Given the extreme unpopularity of top Dems and their positions on issues, it would be easy to go along with the herd and predict a Republican sweep this November. I am more cautious. In midterm elections, the party in power usually loses around 40 House seats; most observers are predicting a Dem loss of 60 or more seats. I believe the GOP gain will be more like 20-30 seats, in large part because they already gained about 20 seats in the 2020 election – directly reducing their potential gain for this year.

In the Senate, the mathematics are daunting for the GOP; they are defending 22 seats while the Dems are defending only 12. Much depends on the quality of the candidates the GOP is able to run. With strong, well-funded candidates, the GOP is likely to gain control of the Senate, but it is by no means a certainty. However, in 2024 the calculus is bleak for Dems who must defend 23 Senate seats versus only 10 for Republicans.

The Outlook for 2024

I have difficulty seeing Biden run; he may not complete his current term. I have greater difficulty seeing Harris as the nominee; she would lead her party to disaster. The US will be such an economic wreck in 2024 that neither Biden nor Harris is viable. I see Hillary Clinton making another run and it would be sheer folly to count her out. The Dems (with one exception) do not have candidates who are not extremists. Their best chance to win is with Amy Klobuchar, who also happens to be a woman.

On the Republican side, it is all about Donald Trump, who was a great president if you judge him solely on accomplishments. He would have won in a shoo-in if it were not for the pandemic. Even with the pandemic, he would have won handily but for his persona and so-called mean tweets. Nonetheless, he is the only Republican nominee who could lose – quite possibly to none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Age also could be a factor; Clinton would be 81 and Trump 83 when their terms ended. After the Biden fiasco, the country may not be in the mood for another geriatric presidency.

Any Republican but Trump will be heavily favored in 2024.

Unlike the Dems, the GOP has a strong bench: inter alia, Cotton, DeSantis, Pence and Cruz. Any one of these (plus some others) would be heavily favored to win – easily defeating Hillary – who still has ultra high negatives. The only election Hillary can win is against Trump and for the same reason he lost in 2020 – suburban women.

With the sole caveat noted supra, the Republican nominee will be an overwhelming favorite in 2024 – mainly because the US will be an economic basket case with either continuing high inflation or a deep recession – or quite possibly both. Democrat failures in handling defense, foreign affairs, immigration, crime, energy and education all will come home to roost. The presidency will be the Republicans to lose; however, they are fully capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

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Next on May 29th – A Catalog of Government Abominations

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Continuing Coverage of the Spending Crisis . . . The Spending Crisis May Already Have Begun

George Noga

To control inflation, the interest rate must be higher than the inflation rate.

Continuing Coverage of the Spending Crisis . . .

The Spending Crisis May Already Have Begun

By: George Noga – May 15, 2022

For 15 years I have warned of a crisis of spending, debt and deficits, which I call the spending crisis because its root cause is spending. At first, I cautioned about a possible crisis and in recent years, a likely crisis. Once the debt ratio blew past 90%, it became an inevitable crisis. The only remaining questions are when will the crisis begin and how will it unfold. We know the crisis will not be transient and will result in a lost generation. It will end only when all excess debt is purged and taxes and spending are brought into balance, a lengthy and tortuous process that will transform America.

I often wrote that the crisis is likely to start suddenly and unexpectedly. I have used the example of a seemingly innocuous posting on Bloomberg going viral and, by the end of the day, the market for US government debt evaporates. That may still happen, but there is another – perhaps more likely – scenario. The crisis could begin stealthily and only in hindsight will we recognize it was the beginning of the crisis. There is, in fact, a very solid basis to believe that the spending crisis may already have started.

In chaos theory, complex systems like the US economy are inherently unpredictable. Small and seemingly insignificant events can lead to profound and non-linear impacts over time. In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a system results in large differences in later states, i.e. a small change in initial conditions cascades to a cataclysmic event. Thus, the present inflation could cascade into a life-altering crisis.

The true cause of the present inflation may not be monetary policy, but fiscal policy, i.e. spending, debt and deficits. When government debt exceeds what people expect can or will be repaid, they spend in the belief everything will be more expensive in the future. This drives up the price of all goods and services. If our present inflation is indeed being driven by fiscal policy – either entirely or in significant part – it can only be fixed via fiscal policy, i.e. higher taxes and/or draconian spending cuts. Further, that means that our present inflation is indeed signaling the start of the spending crisis

There are two, and only two, possibilities. The first is for the Fed to let inflation go unchecked, either intentionally or (more likely) by taking half-measures, i.e. to raise rates too little and/or too slowly. This will result in long term inflation which is the cruelest tax of all – and leads to social unrest and political extremism. This possibility will bring about the spending crisis. Of course, 100% inflation over say 10 years would cut the deficit in half. However, even halving the deficit would not end the crisis; the US still would be running a humongous fiscal deficit and would be back at square one.

The second possibility is for the Fed to jack up interest rates to counter inflation. To get inflation under control, interest rates must exceed the inflation rate. The last time the US had high inflation, the Federal Reserve had to raise rates to 20% to control 14% inflation. Imagine what would happen now if the Fed raised rates to say 15% to control our present inflation of 10%. That would cause a severe recession that adds many trillions to the debt. Moreover, it would not prevent the spending crisis.

Let’s recap. If the present inflation continues long term, social and political cohesion will disintegrate just as it has in other countries – the Weimar Republic comes to mind. If the Fed takes drastic action to halt inflation, that leads to a crisis as shown supra. Also, remember that if inflation is being caused by fiscal policy – it can only be fixed via fiscal policy. There is no way out of this situation. Either way, it is checkmate.

Following are the Five Main Takeaways

  1. If something cannot go on forever, it won’t.
  2. To tame inflation, the interest rate must exceed the inflation rate.
  3. The crisis ends only after excess debt is purged and the budget is in balance.
  4. If inflation is caused by fiscal policy, it can be ended only via fiscal policy.
  5. At its heart, it really is a moral crisis; rather than control our spending, we chose to borrow from future generations – and for all the wrong reasons.

There is a solid basis to believe the spending crisis has begun, but we will know for certain only in hindsight. No bells will toll to announce the start of the crisis.

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Next on May 22nd: The political outlook for 2022 and 2024.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Twitter and America’s Quest for Truth

George Noga

Journalism is dead; fake news proliferates; and fact-checkers are corrupt.

Twitter and America’s Quest for Truth

By: George Noga – May 8, 2022

THIS SPECIAL TWITTER POST REPLACES THE ONE SCHEDULED FOR TODAY ABOUT THE SPENDING CRISIS, WHICH NOW WILL BE PUBLISHED NEXT WEEK.

Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has progressives caterwauling. They already control or dominate the media, entertainment, corporations, the military, sports, fact-checkers, education, science, criminal justice, immigration, universities and even religion. Among social media they effectively dominate or control Facebook, Snap, Instagram, YouTube, Google, Yahoo, Reddit, Tik Tok, Messenger and WhatsApp.

Why are liberals so apoplectic over Musk’s ownership of Twitter when they control over 90% of social media platforms as well as all the institutions listed in the previous paragraph? The answer in one word is: truth! The left distrusts and fears three things (1) states; (2) the people and, above all else, (3) truth. They don’t trust states and seek to federalize everything. They are terrified of Americans in flyover land, like those attending school board meetings. But their greatest hysteria is reserved for truth.

Progressives’ worst fear is that Twitter will rupture their dike of lies, obfuscation and maskirovka and that truth, in all its glory, will destroy the dike and flood into America, including, inter alia, the truth about Hillary Clinton’s role in the Russia collusion hoax and Hunter Biden’s laptop expose of the extensive corruption of the Biden family.

More Americans believe Elvis is alive than trust the media

Big social media companies have morphed into quasi government entities deputized to control speech in ways the state cannot do directly, such as censorship, propaganda and disinformation. They have become arms of the state and enemies of the people. Elon Musk’s control of Twitter quashes their ability to control dissent and hence elections.

The left’s attacks on Twitter will be vicious, never ending and already have begun. Regulators in the European Union already are planning restraints on Twitter through the guise of hate speech. Various federal regulators like the Federal Trade Commission are sharpening their knives. There will be attempts to throttle Twitter by far-left states. Expect to see enormous pressure from the left on advertisers to abandon Twitter

Just as Musk moved Tesla headquarters to Dallas, he should move Twitter out of San Francisco and to a friendly clime (Oklahoma) as his first move. He needs to clean house of the top managers – who, in any event, are unlikely to move to Oklahoma.

We will have much more about Twitter in the weeks and months ahead. We will tackle the thorny issue of how to moderate content – such as for disinformation, hate speech, clearly false tweets, threats and porn. Or, should there be no moderation whatsoever? MLLG is seriously considering establishing a Twitter presence to permit us to comment on important issues in real time – stay tuned for more information.

Journalism in America has been dead for many years. Fake news, disinformation and outright lies proliferate. Fact checkers are corrupt and there is no place to find truth. Nonetheless, the dismal failure of CNN+ combined with Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter offers glimmers of hope. Would it be that the promise of Twitter, under Elon Musk, will be in direct proportion to the progressive angst and paranoia!

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Coming next Sunday: Has the spending crisis already started?

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May Day 2022 – Commie Compilation

George Noga

Humans have dreamt of a temporal paradise since the Garden of Eden.

May Day 2022 – Commie Compilation

By: George Noga – May 1, 2022

May Day commemorates the Haymarket riots, which to socialists symbolize the struggle for workers’ rights. It is the most important holiday in socialist countries such as Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Venezuela and former Soviet republics. In observance, we present a compilation of the failures of collectivism from many different angles. We do this because polls show many younger Americans prefer socialism over capitalism. Also, progressivism is a gateway drug for socialism.

Socialism fails in theory and practice: Throughout history socialism has failed everywhere it has been attempted; it never has succeeded for a group larger than a small clan, family or tribe. There is not one example where socialism has improved the human condition over a sustained period of time. Collectivism fails because it is fundamentally contrary to human nature and ignores and misaligns incentives.

Collectivism is a lie: Commies promise you liberty; you get the Berlin Wall and closed borders with watchtowers, razor wire and minefields. They promise prosperity; you get lines, rationing, shortages and shoddy goods. They promise hope; they give you nihilism. They promise truth; you get Pravda, censorship, propaganda, and banned internet. They promise life; they give you death – murdering over 100 million of their own people. They promise a workers paradise; you get a phantasmagoria of lies, terror, slaughter, misery, poverty, injustice, kleptocracy and social pathology.

Socialism is just like Scandinavia: Progressives assert socialism is just like Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. Sweden experimented with socialism in the 1970s and it was a colossal failure. They abandoned socialism and embraced free market capitalism. Today every Nordic nation is capitalist. They provide robust social benefits only because their capitalist economies generate great wealth. Sweden is not prosperous due to socialism; it is wealthy because it abandoned socialism. Moreover, if Sweden were a US state, it would be the poorest one – and by a wide margin.

Initial successes are illusory: Socialism can appear to work briefly as socialists plunder a nation’s wealth. They confiscate assets, loot industries, strip natural resources, run huge budget deficits, and borrow to the hilt. They tax the wealthy to oblivion, print worthless currency, hyperinflate, pillage banks and beg for foreign aid. They impose price, rent and currency exchange controls. For a time, these measures give the illusion of progress, but all socialists have done is steal a nation’s patrimony. After socialists are done pillaging, it always ends the same, i.e. starvation amidst plenty.

Jamestown and Plymouth: Both colonies initially were governed under socialist principles. All property was communal and there was no direct link between work and benefit. Both experienced mass starvation and death – even cannibalism. They starved to death en mass rather than work collectively. They literally chose death over socialism. Once private property rights were restored, the colonies prospered. The very same settlers who had starved under socialism, now thrived under capitalism.

Trabant versus Mercedes: The best car ever produced under socialism is the Trabant. It had a two-cylinder engine and 26 horsepower – similar to a riding lawnmower. The gas gauge was a dipstick and oil had to be mixed in with the gas in precisely the correct proportion. There was no fuel pump and the gas tank was placed above the engine for gravity flow. Payment in full was required up front and the car would be delivered in 12 years. The Trabant was made in East Germany; a few miles away in West Germany, consumers had their choice of VW, Audi, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.

Head-to-Head Comparisons: Many years ago there were five islands, all of them poor and bereft of natural resources. Two of them chose command economies and collectivism; the three others chose free market capitalism. A half century later, the socialist islands are impoverished hell holes and the ones that chose capitalism are rich. It’s as simple as Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan versus Cuba and Puerto Rico.

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Progressives continue to harbor quixotic dreams of utopia; perhaps they will get it right the next time. But for the entirety of human history, it is the god that failed.

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Next is a special posting about the beginning of the spending crisis.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us
MLLG

Annus Horribilis Revisited

George Noga

To tame inflation, the interest rate must be higher than the inflation rate.

Annus Horribilis Revisited

By: George Noga – April 3, 2022

My January 1, 2022 post warned this would be a year of great geopolitical, economic, political and financial danger. If you missed that post, go to my website: www.mllg.us. Rarely have predictions come true so quickly and completely. That post resonated with readers as I was bombarded with questions. This post is updated to include events subsequent to 1/1/22 and contains my analysis for the remainder of this year.

Geopolitical Horrors

I wrote that: (1) this would be the year Putin invaded Ukraine and Xi invaded Taiwan; (2) Russia and China would form an entente; and (3) other bad actors such as Iran and North Korea, using the same calculus as Putin and Xi, would foment great mischief.
These predictions have come true except for Xi invading Taiwan. It now is less likely China will invade Taiwan because of the surprisingly robust world reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Iran is racing toward a nuclear weapon, flaunting the feckless Biden Administration; they will use their oil money windfall to fund terrorism. The NoKos have resumed testing intercontinental missiles capable of reaching the US.

Economic Horrors

I wrote on January 1st that: (1) inflation would reach double digits; (2) the Federal Reserve will be forced to surge interest rates; (3) these actions will lead to a deep and prolonged recession; and (4) the debt and deficit will go thermonuclear.
This could very well be the beginning of the spending crisis; my
special posting scheduled for May 8th is devoted to that topic.
How have these predictions fared? Inflation already is at double digits. The Producer Price Index (PPI) is up over 9% and the CPI will exceed 10% once higher gas prices are factored into the index – likely this month. Moreover, the CPI would be up 15% if it was calculated the same as the last time we had double-digit inflation. Eventually the Fed will be forced to catapult interest rates. To tame inflation, the interest rate must be higher than the inflation rate; this means interest rates above 10%, but not this year. Moreover, this may be the start of the spending crisis, the topic of my May 8th post.

Political Horrors

The Biden political horror show continues lurching toward rock bottom. The only winners are Jimmy Carter and Spiro Agnew, who are replaced by Biden and Harris as poster children for ineptitude. Kamala Harris personifies what happens when top positions are filled based on identity. The national security team of Biden, Harris, Austin, Blinken and Sullivan is the weakest ever. Biden is under water on every issue: immigration, crime, inflation, Covid, Afghanistan, Iran, supply chain and energy.
Nothing exemplifies the lunacy of the Biden Administration moreso than energy. They have declared war on American (including Canadian) fossil fuels, which are clean and safe. Instead, they beg our enemies Iran, Venezuela and Russia to produce more. The world will use the same amount of fossil fuels regardless of its provenance. Instead of US energy independence – and even exports – we are enriching our enemies, hurting our allies and harming the environment by shifting energy production to high pollution places – and all in the name of the environmental religion and climate madness.

Financial and Investment Horrors

My January 1st post warned of serious investment risks; in December, I repositioned my portfolio to 70+% safe, short-duration assets and doubled my allocation to commodities and gold. So, how is that working out? Stocks are down nearly 10%; gold is up about 10% and commodities are surging – all in just 3 months. But the worst is yet to come; that will occur when interest rates go north of 10% to try to get ahead of inflation. I am keeping my powder dry awaiting a low risk reentry point.
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Next: We observe May Day with a special May 1st posting.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us
MLLG

Pandemic Unleashes Virulent Authoritarianism

George Noga

American democracy failed its Covid stress test: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Pandemic Unleashes Virulent Authoritarianism

By: George Noga – March 27, 2022

In the 1007 years since Magna Carta, people in the Anglosphere have fought many great battles to preserve their birthright of liberty. But in the brief span of two years, the Covid pandemic threatened our freedom in ways few could have imagined, from internment camps in Australia to a 100+ day blockade of Auckland in New Zealand to an ersatz state of emergency in Canada to draconian restrictions in the UK to suspension of constitutional rights, including assembly and worship, in the USA.

Very few people realize how rare, delicate and fragile liberty and freedom are. Since man first came down from the trees, there have been 115 billion humans; of that total, fewer than 1% have lived their lives in liberty. Even in the 21st century, only 10% enjoy freedom. In a crisis it is even more critical to protect liberty since that’s when it comes under the most stress. Regrettably, America mostly failed its Covid stress test. Following is the good, bad and ugly of the pandemic and the lessons we must learn.

The Good

  1. Operation Warp Speed was an astounding success. This is the only example in my lifetime where government responded to a crisis with such focus and speed.
  2. Federalism worked by allowing successes and failures. States that respect liberty performed much better than those under the yoke of progressive governance.
  3. Although late in coming, people throughout the Anglosphere began to resist.

The Bad

  1. Government response was too authoritarian. Liberals do not trust people, states or truth; they prefer one-size-fits-all federal solutions. People must be free to decide about masks, vaccines, worship, gatherings and their kids’ schools.
  2. The pandemic became virulently politicized to the point where Kamala Harris said she would not take a vaccine produced under Trump’s presidency.
  3. Several of our cherished constitutional rights were knowingly violated.
  4. We implemented the wrong strategy. We should have emphasized protection for the most vulnerable instead of locking down the entire country.
  5. Truth was a casualty; those in power flagrantly violated their own diktats.
  6. Mandates ran amok as power hungry politicians sought to create a nanny state.

The Ugly

  1. The ugliest by far was the contempt for children and parents demonstrated by teachers unions. They shamelessly held kids hostage to extort more money and benefits. At least, they revealed their true nature, thereby aiding the movement for universal school choice. There is a special place in Hades reserved for them.
  2. Another spot in Hades – south of the River Styx – is reserved for the governors of NY and MI, who caused thousands of unnecessary nursing home deaths.
  3. Censorship by big tech and the media strictly followed the government party line and stifled all other viewpoints – many of which proved to be correct.

The Lessons of the Pandemic

The pandemic exposed deep fissures in our American democracy and in democracies throughout the Anglosphere. We must learn from it so it can’t happen again. We must understand how fragile liberty is and how much power corrupts. Any emergency powers must be legal, the minimum required and have a short and fixed ending point. Rights enshrined in the Constitution must never be abridged, even momentarily. We must respect people, states and truth. There must be no censorship whatsoever and differing viewpoints must be allowed and open debate encouraged.

America and the other nations of the Anglosphere are proud heirs of Magna Carta. Our birthright of liberty goes back over 1,000 years and has survived countless existential threats – most far worse than Covid. Our heritage of liberty is worth protecting at all costs – even in the direst of emergencies – especially in the direst of emergencies!

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Coming Next: Special Annus Horribilis First Quarter 2022 Update

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Questions From Readers

George Noga

My facts have been challenged only twice in over 600 posts.

Questions From Readers

By: George Noga – March 20, 2022

I receive many questions and comments from readers for which I am grateful – even for the ones that are critical. I try to respond to all reader questions and you may email me at mllg@cfl.rr.com. Certain questions are asked frequently and may be of interest to all readers. In this post I respond to three of the questions I am asked most often.

Question: How do you stay informed? In addition to a lifetime of heavy duty reading, I read the Wall Street Journal thoroughly each day. I read the front page of each section, particularly the front section. I scan the What’s News column (front page far left) to see what other articles to read. I spend most of my time on the 3 Opinion pages. I watch the Journal Editorial Report on Fox News Saturdays at 3:00 PM. Contrary to what you may have heard, the WSJ’s news coverage leans to the left; however, the opinion pages are conservative and provide an excellent forum for reliable fact and opinion.

I also read Reason and Forbes magazines, Cato Institute publications and Imprimis, published by Hillsdale College. I subscribe to Praeger University videos and to daily emails from the Mises Institute and LewRockwell.com. I peruse these sources and read whatever is of interest. I read several books each year – exclusively non fiction; many of the books are selected based on reviews published on the WSJ opinion pages.

Question: How do you perform research? At any given time I have a list of around 30 topics I want to blog about and I have a file for each topic. As I go about my daily reading and see an idea or fact that fits one of these topics, I make a copy and put it in the file. My prior 600 postings also provide a wealth of data. When I begin drafting a post, I already have much of the data needed. I then independently check each fact, usually on the internet. There have been occasions when I have backed away from publishing a post when the facts were not 100% supportive. In all my years of blogging and with many thousands of readers, I have had facts challenged only twice.

Question: What are your political bona fides? I was hyperactive in politics in college; I held several of the highest offices in student government and would have had a very good shot at being elected Student Body President if I had remained in college for another year. While in grad school, I worked in a gubernatorial campaign that defied all odds to unseat an incumbent governor. During that campaign I worked closely with top national political operatives. I was in line to receive a subcabinet appointment in the Nixon Administration but Watergate caused the Senate to suspend confirmations.

I was offered gubernatorial appointments but declined most of them; I did serve on the Industrial Development Authority but declined reappointment to a second term. I wrote an op-ed column for a local newspaper and headed up a major arts organization. I served on the advisory board of the James Madison Institute (JMI), the leading state think tank. I was honored by JMI as a “JMI Angel” for my work on school choice in Florida. I cofounded and cochaired the Center-Right Coalition of Central Florida.

I started the school choice movement in Florida in 1994. The organization I started and ran for 10 years, (now called Step Up For Students) today provides scholarships to over 100,000 children from low income families at a cost of $700 million a year. I also served on the national board that began voucher programs in over 100 US cities. My post of 7/25/21 about the history of school choice in Florida is on our website.

If you are interested in learning more about More Liberty – Less Government, our mission statement or me, please visit our website at: www.mll.us. Click on the ribbon at the top of the page where it says “About MLLG & Author”. There also are hundreds of past postings – most of them indexed. I just updated the information on the website and even if you previously have been on the website, you may want to browse it again.

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Next on March 27th: the good, the bad and the ugly of the pandemic.

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Government Failure and Business Success

George Noga

This post explains why government always fails while business succeeds.

Government Failure and Business Success

By: George Noga – March 13, 2022

Have you ever wondered why government always fails, regardless of time and place, while business usually succeeds? There are many amazing business successes: Apple, Amazon, Disney, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Google and Facebook to name but a few. When we think of government, what comes to mind is public schools, the IRS, the USPS, immigration, the war on drugs, crime, pandemic mismanagement, huge deficits, TSA, Medicaid, mindless regulation, crumbling infrastructure, corruption, waste, fraud, abuse, climate madness and dysfunctional cities littered with human jetsam.

Why Business Succeeds

 

Business closely aligns its risks and rewards and its incentives and disincentives with human nature – which is unchanging. Business so closely aligns personal incentives with the goals of the business such that they are nearly indistinguishable. The need to make a profit creates a sense of urgency, focuses attention and summons great exertion because success confers wealth and status while failure has immediate and very unpleasant consequences. As a result, business attracts motivated, hard-working, talented, non risk–averse people with a strong bias for action over inertia.

Business is based on markets; highly specific knowledge constantly flows from the bottom up and confers valuable information about consumer preferences and prices. All transactions are voluntary, non-coercive and mutually beneficial, otherwise they would not take place; that explains why both parties to a market-based transaction always say “thank you“. In business, one person can improve the lives of a billion people as did Gates, Walton, Jobs, Disney, Zuckerberg and Bezos. Businesses routinely manage vast global enterprises with little waste, fraud, abuse or corruption.

 

Why Government Fails

 

Government is unalterably contrary to human nature. Not only are its incentives and disincentives not aligned, they are diametrically misaligned to encourage behavior contrary to the public interest. This problem is dissected and explained by the science of public sector economics, which explains, inter alia, why taxes are opaque, failed programs never end and why borrowing and spending is out of control. It also explains why all forms of collectivism never work outside of a small family, clan or tribe.

The risks and rewards of government do not attract talented, hard-working people; in fact, they appeal to the opposite cohort. Government is not based on markets and gets only the most generalized feedback every few years in elections. Government is top-down, highly coercive, ignores consumer preferences and artificially creates winners and losers; it is rife with waste, fraud, abuse and corruption. One person cannot make a difference; try to name one bureaucrat who transformed government for the better.

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The causes of government failure are systemic and structural; they are deeply rooted, organic and incapable of reform. There is no way to fix government; it is futile to try. Voting different political parties into power, increasing oversight by Congress, forming elite study commissions or hiring gaggles of inspectors general will have no impact. Even bringing in top business executives fails; Robert McNamara comes to mind.

Government cannot be improved; but there is one way – and only one way – its many pathologies can be reduced. That answer is to drastically shrink the overall size and scope of government – nothing else will work. Even then, government still will be a failure – but at least it will be a smaller failure. We do not need more government, better government or even wiser government; we need less government!

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In our next post on March 20th, we answer questions from readers.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us