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November 2008
In a brand new op/ed published today in American Spectator online, IPI’s Peter Ferrara discusses how capitalism was born in America after the Pilgrims of the Mayflower, suffering under their own socialist system, instituted successful reforms.
Ferrara writes: “As indicated, this experiment in private agriculture was hugely successful, with the colony's agricultural output soaring. But the settlers still increasingly complained that the colony's remaining communal practices and lack of complete private property were constraining and unfair… Thus was capitalism born in America, sentimental notions of socialism having been tried and failed, not only as a matter of economics, but also because it was seen as a regime of unjust restrictions on personal liberty. Read More...
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IPI’s Peter Ferrara joins a host of noted economic experts in a symposium featured on National Review Online discussing the new Obama administration and the economic crisis.
Ferrara writes:
“The Obama economic team is more moderate than I had feared. But instead of Hugo Chavez socialists, they are still hopeless liberals. They are going to try to solve the financial crisis with unprecedented Keynesian overspending and deficits, proven to fail, rather than Reaganite supply side economics, proven to work. They have a blind spot for global warming regulation and central economic planning for energy, which is enough to crush the economy by itself, and produce blackouts and gas rationing. In the long run this crowd will bring back ruinous inflation as well. Read More...
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Do Plants Have Dignity? The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says Switzerland thinks so, but the plants aren’t talking...
Genetically modifying plants to create healthier and more pest- and disease-resistant strains has dramatically improved the food supply. And it’s helped fight hunger in poor countries.
But Switzerland has a new law saying that before scientists can perform genetic-modification research on plants, they must consider whether such research might destroy a plant’s dignity.
A government ethics committee even produced a paper finding that:
- There can be no absolute ownership of plants.
- Arbitrarily harming a plant is morally impermissible.
- And that genetic modification is allowable, but research should not destroy a plant’s ability to reproduce.
Read More...
 Dignity |
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Many people are bemoaning the current financial crisis facing most states.
We at IPI, on the other hand, tend to view it as an opportunity … for states to get their fiscal house in order.
The Kaiser Foundation recently published a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities assessment of each states’ fiscal plight. As you cans see here, 37 states plus Washington DC, are facing a total 2009 budget gap of $72 billion.
Not that you’d notice from some of the states’ recent fiscal actions. It was just over a year ago that several of the states were demanding that the Bush administration allow them to increase eligibility for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
Read More...
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International Affairs Forum editor-in-chief and IPI senior fellow George Pieler are featured in a new op/ed in TCS Daily discussing why Asia and its markets may be the ‘chief beneficiary’ of today’s global economic turmoil.
Laurson and Pieler write: “For President-elect Obama, the danger of forgetting such basic truths is acute. He has signaled his belief in a winners-vs-losers concept of markets. A global recession creates losers globally, but there are those who profit in times of distress. In the mid-term, Asia may be the chief beneficiary of this turmoil, thanks to movements in the West that will exacerbate the crisis while trying to fight it.
Among the latter, are France's habitual, knee-jerk protectionist reactions to any crisis, the undue interference of German politicians in coercing banks into being 'rescued', and last but far from least Read More...
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Amid all the current concern over our economic downturn, it's important to remember that in the most recent decade the U.S. economy has gone through a productivity revolution. Despite all the news about rapid economic growth in places like China and India, there is still no country that can approach the productivity of the U.S. economy.
And according to Harvard economist Dale Jorgenson, this recent U.S. productivity increase is almost entirely due to the impact of information technology (IT) on business functions throughout the economy.
Indeed, IT has transformed almost every sector of the U.S. economy, with one glaring exception—government, and those sectors dominated by government, such as health care and education.
It's widely understood that government agencies are still using outdated technology as they attempt to do their missions. And government spending on IT has often simply been a waste of taxpayer dollars. Read More...
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| Peter Ferrara will appear on Fox News Channel’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto” to discuss why Obama’s tax credit won’t help the economy. To catch the discussion, tune in to the Fox News Channel at 4:30 pm EST. Read More...
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| Catch Peter Ferrara live on “The Greg Knapp Experience” this afternoon discussing his latest op/ed in today’s Wall Street Journal on why President-elect Barack Obama’s tax credits won’t stimulate the economy. To listen live, tune in online at 5:30 pm EST at http://www.gregknapp.us/. Read More...
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IPI director of entitlement and budget policy Peter Ferrara is featured today in American Spectator with a brand new op/ed entitled, “Take the Tax Debate to Obama.”
Ferrara writes:
“The election may be over, but the same is not true for the tax debate. The tax debate is just beginning, with Congress soon to be considering sweeping tax legislation proposed by President Obama. …The debate for Obama and the Democrats begins with a smear of the tax policies adopted by Reagan and the Republicans going back 30 years. A good example of this is found in Obama's discussion with Joe the Plumber. During that discussion, Obama said, "We've cut taxes a lot for folks like me who make a lot more, but we haven't given a break to folks who make less." That was not an offhand remark. That was a central theme of Obama and the Democrats all year. Read More...
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IPI director of entitlement and budget policy Peter Ferrara is featured today in The Wall Street Journal with Newt Gingrich in brand new op/ed discussing why President-elect Obama’s tax credits won’t stimulate the economy.
In “Let's Have a Real Middle-Class Tax Cut,” Ferrara and Gingrich write:
“President-elect Barack Obama is right: America needs a real and meaningful middle-class tax cut. Unfortunately, despite the rhetoric, that is not what his proposals offer. Mr. Obama's tax plan includes creating or expanding nine or more federal income tax credits mostly focused on low- and moderate-income earners, with an estimated cost of $1.3 trillion over 10 years. These tax credits are provided for certain social purposes, such as child care, health care, education, housing and retirement. Read More...
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Should politicians make health care decisions? Dr. Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation says it’s already happening . . . in Australia.
Dr. Bernhard Moeller moved from Germany to Australia two years ago to help the Australian government. He’s practicing in rural communities where few doctors want to go.
According to the Associated Press, everything was going well until Dr. Moeller applied for residency and the immigration department said . . . no.
See, Dr. Moeller has a 13-year-old son with Down syndrome. Although the boy’s well-adjusted, in school and likes to play sports, the government says his health care costs would pose a burden to taxpayers.
Australia, like Great Britain, has a government-run health care system—much like some politicians want for the U.S.
Read More...
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IPI resident scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews is featured today in the Washington Times with a brand new op/ed discussing President-elect Barack Obama’s plan to ensure universal health-insurance coverage.
In “A Recipe Already Doomed for Disaster,” Matthews writes:
“President-elect Barack Obama says his plan to ensure universal health-insurance coverage will lower family premiums by about $2,500 a year by the end of his first term - a roughly 20 percent reduction in the $12,000 cost of an average comprehensive family health-insurance policy.
While most health economists agree there is waste in the system - perhaps as much as 30 percent - the question is where is it and how to remove it? The Obama team suggests at least three areas for savings:
-- Computerizing medical records would save $77 billion. Read More...
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While the conventional wisdom among most Democrats and many pundits is that the Big Three auto manufacturers are too big to fail, we wonder if they are too big not to fail.
It’s time to say hello to Chapter 11 and goodbye to those suffocating contracts with labor, dealers and suppliers.
We need to stress here that the U.S. auto industry is not in trouble, just the unionized auto industry.The Big Three have huge legacy costs (including retiree pension and health care benefits). While foreign manufacturers on U.S. soil pay about the same in wages, the U.S. manufacturers have much higher benefits packages. And the companies have been slow to adopt quality and design enhancements.
The result has been declining U.S. sales for years—not just in the past few months, which might be forgivable. Read More...
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Dr. Merrill Matthews, resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation, is featured today in the Washington DC Examiner in a letter to the editor discussing the Wyeth v. Levine case recently heard in the nation’s top court.
Dr. Matthews writes:
“If the Supreme Court decides that federal law does not "preempt" state law in matters of drug safety, a flood of liability lawsuits could cause patients to lose access to critical medicines.
Just the threat of wasteful litigation can drive safe and effective products from the market. Take the case of the morning-sickness drug Bendectin. The National Enquirer reported 30 years ago - without evidence - that the drug caused birth defects. The story proved false, but lawsuits prompted by the unsubstantiated story forced the manufacturer to take the drug off pharmacy shelves. Read More...
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“The State Video Tax Fairness Act” was introduced in Congress with underlying goals which are laudable—ending discriminatory tax treatment, creating a competitive level playing field for all video providers, and increasing consumer benefit.
In fact, our friends who support the legislation are exactly right when they argue that consumers should not be taxed differently for video service merely based on how it is provided—whether by satellite, cable, fiber optic wire or wirelessly. Discriminatory tax treatment for the same product leads to market distortions and deprives consumers of the best service at the best price.
But to do so, the Act would strip states of their right to enact revenue policies according to the will of the states’ elected representatives. Federal preemption of the states’ right to enact their own tax policies strikes us as a gross violation of our Federalist system of government.
Read More...
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IPI senior fellow George Pieler and International Affairs Forum editor-in-chief Jens Laurson are featured today on the dangers of economic protectionism in Atlantic Community.
Pieler and Laurson write:
“The first dangerous results from governmental overreaction to the financial crisis are beginning to show. Bailout bills have counterproductive effects as political pressure is even brought on institutions that do not need the governmental help. Following protectionist approaches could lead to a harmful and tragic economic outcome. Last month we wrote about the dangers of the well intended and plausibly-argued necessity for government intervention into the banking sector. The salient danger we cited was "[o]verreaction and overregulation. Read More...
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Is global warming melting the Arctic glaciers? The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews wonders where the hot air’s coming from.
Two new environmental studies are likely to upset Al Gore, most of Hollywood and all of the Greenies.
Climate Research News recently featured studies from two scholarly journals. They claim that global warming is not the reason that glaciers in Greenland and the West Antarctic have been losing ice.
Rather, it’s changes in wind circulation patterns. The studies suggest a shift in the wind patterns has brought warmer air to some polar regions.
And now the Anchorage Daily News in Alaska says that last winter was one of the worst on record, which helped the Arctic glaciers start growing again.
So if hot air’s what’s causing the glaciers to melt, maybe we should all ask Al Gore to . . . well, just quit talking. Read More...
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IPI resident scholar and health care expert Dr. Merrill Matthews is featured in The Buffalo News this week with a letter-to-the-editor discussing what’s at stake if the Supreme Court decides federal law does not ‘pre-empt’ state law in matters of drug safety.
Matthews writes:
“If the Supreme Court decides that federal law does not 'pre-empt' state law in matters of drug safety, a flood of liability lawsuits could cause patients to lose access to critical medicines. ("What does FDA approval mean?," People's Pharmacy column in the Oct. 30 News.) Just the threat of wasteful litigation can drive safe and effective products from the market. Take the case of the morning-sickness drug Bendectin. The National Enquirer reported 30 years ago, without evidence, that the drug caused birth defects. The story proved false, but lawsuits prompted by the unsubstantiated story forced the manufacturer to take the drug off pharmacy shelves. Read More...
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IPI senior fellow George Pieler and International Affairs Forum editor-in-chief Jens F. Laurson discuss how Big Brother is bent on regulating noise throughout Europe in a new op/ed featured today in Forbes.com.
Pieler and Laurson write:
“The European Union is currently drafting a new map. It is surveying the continent for egregious noise--from street-level sounds to industrial bangs to echoes from neighbors. Big Brother, you might say, is listening. And while the E.U. is embarking on this project with excellent intentions, its drive to eradicate excess noise altogether has even dampened the music coming from Europe's concert halls. Read More...
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IPI director of entitlement and budget policy Peter Ferrara compares today’s American media to the party-controlled press of the Soviet Union in a new op/ed featured today in American Spectator online.
Ferrara writes:
“In the old Soviet Union, everything was controlled by the Party, the Communist Party. Even military units each had their own party commissar, to ensure no activities took place that were not in the interest of the Party.
This, of course, was true of the media as well. The only media allowed in the old Soviet Union were institutions controlled by and devoted to the Party, and to the government run by the Party. The Soviet media would consequently slavishly repeat the government party line.
Read More...
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On Oct. 21 the leftist government of Argentina announced its plans to nationalize the country’s private pension plans.
In 1994, the then-conservative government set up 10 private pension plans, which currently have about $30 billion in assets, and take in $4 billion to $5 billion annually.
That’s a lot of money, and socialist President Cristina Kirchner—it’s OK to use that term for HER, isn’t it? —needs a lot of money because tax revenues are dropping while government largesse is rising.
But, you say, what does that have to do with you and your 401(k)?
Well, no good money-grab goes unnoticed by a big-spending Congress that also needs new revenue streams. Recently, Rep. George Miller, Democratic chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, heard testimony from economist Teresa Ghilarducci of the New School for Social Research in New York.
Read More...
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IPI senior research fellow Bill Murchison is featured in the Dallas Morning News discussing what conservatives should do now the election is over to further the ideals of freedom, opportunity and responsibility.
Murchison writes:
“A conservative party – which is what the GOP must remain, if only to offset the occasionally terrifying liberalism of the Democrats – doesn't instinctively do 'change.' It's better at affirming. Affirming what, then? Freedom. Opportunity. Personal responsibility. Read More...
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Singer and gay activist Melissa Manchester predictably didn't like the outcome of California's Proposition 8, which reversed state policy on gay marriage through constitutional amendment.
But here's what's interesting--she says she's going to refuse to pay taxes to the State of California because she doesn't agree with the state's policies.
Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year.
What a novel idea--you don't have to pay taxes unless you agree with a state's policies! There may be some potential here . . . Read More...
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IPI director of entitlement Peter Ferrara and Jack Kemp are featured today in Human Events discussing how Barack Obama’s tax hike plans are already adversely affecting the U.S. economy.
Ferrara and Kemp write:
“Are Barack Obama’s proposed tax increases adversely affecting our financial markets? We say yes, unambiguously. The senator has done a masterful job detracting attention from his tax increases with his $500-per-worker tax credit supposedly for 95 percent of Americans.
Obama has set forth more than half a dozen refundable income tax credits targeted to low- and moderate-income workers for child care, education, housing, welfare, retirement, health care and other social purposes.
Read More...
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President-elect Barack Obama could do a great deal of good when it comes to emphasizing the important role that technological advances play in our economy.
One such example would be to ask his party leaders in Congress to do more than merely pay lip service to the importance of the research and experimentation tax credit and to pass an improved permanent credit. Last year the credit was allowed to lapse, and in October of this year it was retroactively applied, sapping much of its value to tax planners, hence reducing the encouragement to companies to invest in ever increased amounts of research in this country. The credit must be made permanent.
Similarly, an Obama administration could score another easy victory by calling on Congress to repeal the Spanish-American War tax, the 3 percent excise tax on telephone calls that has never quite died, even 110 years later. Read More...
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IPI resident scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews is featured today in the Denver Post with a letter to the editor regarding the case Wyeth vs. Levine, recently heard in the Supreme Court.
Dr. Matthews writes:
“If the Supreme Court decides that federal law does not pre-empt state law in matters of drug safety, a flood of liability lawsuits could cause patients to lose access to critical medicines. Just the threat of wasteful litigation can drive safe and effective products from the market. Take the case of the morning-sickness drug Bendectin. The National Enquirer reported 30 years ago — without evidence — that the drug caused birth defects. The story proved false, but lawsuits prompted by the unsubstantiated story forced the manufacturer to take the drug off pharmacy shelves. Read More...
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IPI resident scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews will appear Thursday morning at 7:40 am PST on CBC-British Columbia’s “Early Edition” radio program, hosted by Rick Cluff.
Dr. Matthews will discuss the results of the presidential election, as well as the national and international economic issues the Obama administration will be facing.
To listen live, visit Early Edition online. Read More...
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IPI director of entitlement and budget policy Peter Ferrara offers perspective on the heels of Election Night in a new op/ed featured today in American Spectator, entitled "Catch a Falling Flag."
Ferrara writes: "In 1980, I had a vision of an American flag on a pole on top of a hill, starting to fall over. I was looking for a hand to reach out and grab it before it fell to the ground. I am having that same vision now. The economy is weak and trending downward because of the bursting of the housing bubble. But the agenda of the ultraliberal new President and Congressional majorities is everything that could possibly be wrong for this new economic environment -- higher taxes, especially higher marginal tax rates, explosive increases in government spending, expensive new regulatory burdens for the economy, protectionism closing down free trade. Read More...
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For years the Institute for Policy Innovation has supported fundamental tax reform, such as the suggested “flat” income tax. There are, of course, other tax reform plans as well that accomplish the goals of a tax code that is low, flat, broad-based, simple, neutral, and rewards investment without trying to manipulate taxpayer behavior.
But we increasingly wonder whether it remains possible for the country to move to such a system, even with favorable political winds. The issue is the growing progressivity of our current income tax system, and the trend toward using the tax code for redistribution.
Notwithstanding all the liberals’ and Barack Obama’s claims to the contrary—that only the rich get the tax breaks—the bottom 40 percent of workers pay no—zero, nada, zilch—income tax. And that 40 percent is trending higher.
Read More...
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Barack Obama wants to raise taxes on higher-income workers because he thinks they’re getting off too easy.
But according to the Tax Policy Center, in 2008:
- The bottom 40 percent of workers—that’s four out of every 10 workers—will pay only 3 percent of all federal taxes.
- The next 40 percent—that’s the middle class—will pay a little more than 25 percent.
- And those in the top 20 percent of earners will pay nearly 70 percent of all federal taxes.
Thus the top 20 percent of income earners will pay about 22 times in federal taxes what the bottom 40 percent pays.
Folks, the only ones getting off easy here are the politicians making these silly claims. Read More...
Tax Brackets |
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IPI senior fellow George Pieler and International Affairs Forum editor-in-chief Jens F. Laurson appear today in the Heartland Institute’s InfoTech & Telecom News with a new article discussing the choice the FCC must now make—after approving the XM-Sirius merger—when it comes to HD radio
An excerpt: “In approving the merger of the two satellite-radio competitors XM and Sirius, the Federal Communications Commission decided the listening market was sufficiently diverse and cross-competitive that a monopoly couldn’t dominate by satellite-service alone. But FCC also had to consider the potential for one new technology—nationwide satellite broadcasts—crowding out another: HD radio, which can provide digital signals in potentially superior sound and with multicast streaming capability. Read More...
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Markets do not fail spontaneously except in the rarest and most extraordinary circumstances; it is bad government policy that makes markets fail. Our current economic distemper is no exception. It is a direct consequence of the worst monetary policy since the Great Depression and a myriad of morally hazardous policies (e.g., Government Sponsored Enterprises such as Fannie Mae and The Community Reinvestment Act) that first sent financial markets soaring on a gale of excessive credit expansion and dollar devaluation and than sucked them into a tailspin with a down draft of credit contraction and abrupt de-leveraging.
Read More...
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Author: Erin Humiston || Location: Lewisville, Texas, USA