US Economic Freedom on the Decline — even before the bailout

The Cato Institute recently released its annual “Economic Freedom of the World” Index. The full study can be found here. Unfortunately, the news for the United States is not good. Since 2000, our score has dropped from 8.55 which was good for second in the world, to 7.86 which was good for only 10th in [...]

He Who Giveth, Taketh (and gives to his friends)

In his posting below, Jim rightfully bashes Congress. I want to trash our beloved Albuquerque City Council too. During last night’s meeting, Council approved $147 million in TIDD subsidies in order to redevelop Winrock Shopping Center. Abundant literature shows that TIDD and TIF are economic losers.
At the very same meeting, in a move that could [...]

Budweiser Bid Creates Anti-Trade Froth

The company that makes Miller Beer is owned by a South African company. The Coors Beer company is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is jointly owned by a Canadian company. Now, shareholders of Anheuser-Busch brewing company are considering whether or not to allow InBev to acquire a controlling interest in the company.
Unfortunately, [...]

Higher Minimum Wage Hurts Teens, Low Income Workers

Recently I blogged about the negative impact recent minimum wage increases are having on teenagers and others on the fringe of the job market. I expanded and elaborated a bit on the argument in a full-length article in The New Mexico Business Weekly.

Early Retirement = Unpatriotic?

The Albuquerque Journal chooses to run some pretty odd articles from time to time. I understand that articles dealing with local topics may not always be the most well-written, but at least they deal with topics relevant to Albuquerque or at least New Mexico residents. The Albuquerque Journal chooses to run some pretty odd [...]

Ohio or Texas (or New Mexico)?

With the Democratic candidates for President campaigning in Texas and Ohio ahead of Tuesday’s primaries, both states have become the focus of attention. As the Wall Street Journal points out, the states have pursued very different economic paths and achieved opposite results.
On one hand, Texas has no state income tax and is a right to [...]

Rio Grande Foundation Joins National, State Groups in Expressing Concerns Over Stimulus

A week or so ago on this blog I discussed the stimulus package moving through Congress and argued that it was unnecessary and based on bad economics. Unfortunately, the President and Congress don’t always listen to us, so we teamed up with the National Taxpayers Union — a Washington, DC-based grassroots taxpayer organization — to [...]

Can we afford a Richardson Presidency?

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has failed to gain the vaunted status of “front-runner” in either New Hampshire or Iowa that would generate the scrutiny that we’ve seen of say Mitt Romney’s religious beliefs or Barack Obama’s past drug use.
Nonetheless, in attempting to educate voters nationwide on Bill Richardson’s record — especially as it relates [...]

Governments Shouldn’t Micromanage Land Use

I opened today’s West Side section of the Albuquerque Journal to find two seemingly unrelated stories that actually point to one of the biggest problems in economic development here in New Mexico: the tight control government bureaucrats have over land use decisions. As I have stated in the past on this blog, politicians are increasingly [...]

Smokers Welcome?

Henry Morgan (subscription required) of Alamogordo is my hero. Why? Because he’s sticking it to the man by letting customers smoke in his restaurant. As any smoker and most non-smokers know, New Mexico is now “smoke free” just about anywhere indoors. So, while I personally may not like smoking and under normal circumstances might avoid [...]

Capitol Report New Mexico
New Mexico Watchdog


Support Liberty!

• Syndicate

   RSS

• Recent Posts

  • Spaceport liability changes are a no-brainer, unfortunately trial lawyers have no brains
  • The unmitigated gall of Winston Brooks
  • Halftime in America: the parody
  • Eric Griego v. Government Transparency
  • Sen. Dems, is that the best you’ve got?

• Recent Comments

  • Charles on Spaceport liability changes are a no-brainer, unfortunately trial lawyers have no brains
  • Paul Gessing on Eric Griego v. Government Transparency
  • Thomas Molitor on Eric Griego v. Government Transparency
  • Jeanette Baust on Eric Griego v. Government Transparency
  • Richard on Halftime in America: the parody

• Categories

  • Uncategorized

• Archives

  Select Month February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 July 2004 June 2004 April 2004 March 2004

• Share Errors of Enchantment

  Share

• Actions

  • Log in