Creeping Lunacy - economics tag

Jevons Paradox

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:01:25 GMT

In 1865, the most prolific economic mind on the planet was occupied with coal. More specifically, William Jevons was trying to understand why the consumption of coal in England continued to increase despite ever more efficient steam engines. What became known as the Jevons Paradox explains why increases in efficiency result in higher total consumption. The news has yet to reach Washington.

Lies, Damn Lies, and the Names of Government Programs

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 02:39:40 GMT

On September 7, 2007, the Senate passed the conference report to the College Cost Reduction Act (H.R.2669). If the President signs this bill into law, the cost of a college education will most certainly rise. Like most acts of Congress, this piece of legislation does nothing in its title. It does prove that the members of the House and Senate are unfamiliar with the most basic principles of economics.

The War on Voters

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:02:00 GMT

This year has been a graduate course in the evils of big government. While the country suffers numerous perils, Washington proposes every lame brained idea imaginable in an effort to appear relevant. Of course these ideas are proposed by the highly paid lobbyists of various special interests. The end result is a government that claims the ability to solve every problem while being truly impotent. Voters gullible enough to believe in an infallible terrestrial institution are left frustrated by a lack of progress while those fortunate enough to be cynical realize these proposals are working as intended by the interests that created them. The question is, have the political leaders figured it out?