Author: Jeff
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Do Teacher Unions Advance Education?
Wisconsin is undergoing quite a bit of strife as the Governor tries to curb the power of unions, including the teachers\’ union. Opponents predict disaster and falling education quality if the union\’s power is reduced. Blogger IowaHawk looks at the data and comes to the conclusion that students in non-unionized Texas scores better than students…
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I Am Right, If You Disagree with Me You Are Evil
I am a moral, conscientious person. I believe that in supporting X I am making the world a better place. You believe in Y. X and Y appear to be on the opposite side of the argument. Since you do not support X you must be evil. This approach has framed too many debates, it…
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K-12 School Should Prepare Children to Engage in Learning
When I went to college I barely engaged with the professors. I sat passively in class taking notes, rarely spoke up, and hoped not to be called on. I\’m not sure why. I wonder if it was because I wasn\’t taught to engage with the teacher during class, wasn\’t taught that it was OK to…
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Job creation by the government – slight of hand
When the government moves money around to ‘create jobs’ they achieve the opposite effect.
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Why SmithHayek?
This is my first post after a fresh install of my blog on my new site – SmithHayek.com. Why SmithHayek? It is named after Adam Smith and Friedrich A Hayek, two of the most famous and influential economists of all time. I admire the way they think, the way they examine the world around us…
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Trade With Your Children
If it makes life easier if our children help out with the chores, then trade with China enhances everyone\’s welfare! The two seem miles apart but are supported by the same logic.
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Liberal – Progressive – Conservative
The word Liberal doesn\’t mean what it used to, liberals are trying to escape a tainted word by adopting \’progressive\’, and \’conservatives\’ lack philosophical consistency.
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The Great Depression – Plenty of Blame to Share
[This is part of a series, which is introduced in the posting titled \”Unintended Consequences\” here.] [Edited September 13, 2011] There are plenty of options for pointing to government policies and behavior that brought about the Great Depression, deepened it, and helped it to last much longer. The Gold Standard and France against the World.…
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The Housing Crisis in the United States
[This is part of a series, which is introduced in the posting titled \”Unintended Consequences\” here.] There is a lot of blame to spread around for the housing crisis we are still experiencing and the accompanying financial crisis. The main stream stories mostly point at rapacious rich bankers. I don’t doubt that greed played a…
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Fiscal Irresponsibility
Well doesn\’t that just fill you with confidence about the plans the federal government has for dealing with the deficit. The first big headlines they make after the Republican resurgence is three things guaranteed to fix the deficit: cut income tax, cut social security tax, and extend unemployment insurance. Wonderful. At least they had two…