Tag Archives: inequality

Urban Inequality – the Paris Syndrome, U.S. Style

After stepping off an Amtrak train in Washington DC, you drag your luggage down a ramp into a nice, modern, well-organized space with waiting areas, newsstands and mid-priced eateries, plus a few retailers such as H&M. Overhead signs instruct you … Continue reading

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The Winner of the 2015 Ig-Nobel Prize, for the Worst Book by a Nobel Prize Winner Is . . .

Ignoble   adjective 1. Not honorable in character or purpose Synonyms: dishonorable, unworthy, base, shameful, contemptible, despicable, vile, degenerate, shabby, sordid, mean, dastardly Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for attending our Annual Gala, where we present the Ig-Nobel Prize, our humble … Continue reading

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Keystone Kops Cuff the Middle Class; Will GOP Bail It Out?

Among Barack Obama’s many failures none is more stunning than his purported effort to reduce income inequality, which he calls “the defining issue of our time.” While the nefarious 1% prospers (and pays 35% of U.S. income taxes), the bottom … Continue reading

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Enviro-colonialism in New York

Liberals have unlimited capacity to compartmentalize issues and ignore their obvious interconnections. It would not be surprising to see The New York Times decry wage stagnation on Monday and income inequality on Tuesday; bemoan the low incomes of African Americans … Continue reading

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Shanghai: Mr. Wang’s Bad Timing

A staple of 19th century popular literature was the lurid expose of the glamour and grit of the modern metropolis, be it London, Paris or New York.   These books invariably highlighted the cruel contrast between airy boulevards lined with elegant … Continue reading

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New York State Needs a War on Poverty

A few months ago Arthur Levitt–Bloomberg groupie, former SEC Chairman, and quintessential Wall Street liberal—interviewed Grover Norquist, anti-tax activist and bête noire of Wall Street liberals. At the end of the interview Levitt asked “Grover, do you think it is … Continue reading

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Skip Piketty; Read Easterly

Here’s all you need to know about the most popular, least read, business book of the year. In his ponderous, repetitive, tedious, tortuous, tendentious, repetitive tome on the evils of inequality, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty, in the … Continue reading

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The Mill & Bill War: a Report from the Southern Front

Barack Obama promised to “transform” America by curbing income inequality, and toward that end he declared war on “millionaires and billionaires.”  To gauge his progress in this noble campaign, I departed the frigid climes of the Northeast for Palm Beach, … Continue reading

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“If you like your current plan and doctor, vote Republican” – 13 Reasons Why ObamaCare Will Be Repealed

That is not a bold prediction, just common sense.  To address a limited problem—40 million people lacked health insurance, often by their own choosing—the ACA screwed up the entire U.S. health insurance and healthcare systems, severely damaging the economy in … Continue reading

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Gross Domestic Puzzle . . . or . . . the Meaning of Maria’s Mobile

GDP is supposedly the value of the goods and services an economy “produces,” but there is a big conceptual caveat: GDP only covers goods and services that are bought and sold.  If I help my daughter with her algebra, it … Continue reading

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