Aiming For … Argentina

Capitalism, Debt, Economy, Federal Reserve Bank, Free Markets, Political Economy, Regulation

“Argentina did not become relatively poor because of having been involved in destructive conflicts. It became poor because it has had a series of both democratically elected leaders and non-elected dictators who never missed an opportunity to make the wrong economic decisions,” writes Richard W. Rahn of the Cato Institute.

“A century ago, if you had told typical citizens of Argentina (which at that time was enjoying the fourth-highest per capita income in the world) that it would decline to become just the 76th richest nation on a per capita basis in 2010, they probably would not have found it believable. They might have responded, ‘This could not happen; we are a nation rich in natural resources, with a great climate for agriculture. Our people are well educated and largely descended from European stock. We have property rights, the rule of law and an open free-market economy.’

[Ilana Aside: You’re a naughty boy, Mr. Rahn. Do you mean to infer that the fact of European extraction is an argument for economic prosperity?! What a bad boy! ]

“But the fact is, Argentina has been going downhill for eight decades, and it has the second-worst credit ranking in the entire world… the Argentine government increased its interventions in the private economy. Juan Peron took over in 1946 and ended up nationalizing the railroads, the merchant marine, public utilities, public transport and other parts of the private economy. For much of the past half-century, Argentina has engaged in a series of erratic monetary policies, often resulting in periods of very high inflation and economic stagnation. Because of their political power, the unions have been coddled, resulting in unsustainable wage-and-benefit programs. Excessive government spending has caused recurrent fiscal meltdowns, where both foreign and domestic debt-holders have lost many of their investments.

According to the Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report (published by the Fraser Institute in cooperation with the Cato Institute and others), Argentina ranks 105 out of 141 countries surveyed. Similarly, the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom (published by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal) ranks Argentina 135 out of the 179 countries surveyed. (The U.S. is No. 8 and falling.) ….”

Read the complete article at The Washington Times.

Updated: 'M' Is For Moratorium (& Moron)

IMMIGRATION, Labor, Uncategorized

Any policy maker not a moron or a traitor will know what to do with respect to immigration, at a time of record unemployment among Americans. Since our representatives are almost all morons and certainly no patriots, the reality is that “Legal Immigration has Increased (YES—INCREASED!) During The Recession”:

“Any sane policy would reduce immigration as American unemployment rises. But Washington is not doing it. In the post-Crash year of 2009, the U.S. issued 1,130,818 green cards—an increase, from 1,107,126 in 2008 and 1,052,415 in 2007. In contrast, during the Great Depression from 1930-1939, we issued only 699,375 during the entire decade.

The 2009 total is the fourth highest number of green cards issued since 1914—behind 1990, 1991, and 2006. (And it is worth noting the bulk of the green cards issued in 1990 and 1991 were not given to new legal immigrants but to illegal aliens granted amnesty in 1986—so in terms of new arrivals, 2009 was actually higher.)

But most immigrant workers only create economic growth in so far as they lower labor costs for employers, possibly causing them to further invest. This effect is always much smaller than the jobs and wages immigrants take from Americans, to say nothing of the government services spent on them. However, with our record unemployment, even these marginal economic benefits disappear.

And in 2009, as always, most of the legal immigrants are low-skilled. Immigrants of exceptional ability, with advanced degrees, or investors make up a measly 8% of all immigrants combined. No doubt this has much to do with the system’s ongoing bias toward Third World immigrants through its ‘family reunification’ mechanism. Only 9.3% of all new green cards went to Europeans. In contrast, 14.6% went to Mexicans alone.

The obvious solution: a moratorium on immigration. …”

[SNIP]

To dilate on the last point about exceptional-abilities visas, read my VDARE article, “Why Aren’t The H1-B Hogs Satisfied With The O-1 “Extraordinary Ability” Visa? Oh, Wait A Minute…”

Update (April 22): Vrye Denker’s point is well taken. Refugee status or some other compassion-based visa should apply to all ethnic white South Africans. Farmers are certainly needed here. Farm workers too. However, US immigration policies—the family unification aspect—privilege Third-World “minorities.”

Updated: ‘M’ Is For Moratorium (& Moron)

Economy, IMMIGRATION, Labor, Uncategorized

Any policy maker not a moron or a traitor will know what to do with respect to immigration, at a time of record unemployment among Americans. Since our representatives are almost all morons and certainly no patriots, the reality is that “Legal Immigration has Increased (YES—INCREASED!) During The Recession”:

“Any sane policy would reduce immigration as American unemployment rises. But Washington is not doing it. In the post-Crash year of 2009, the U.S. issued 1,130,818 green cards—an increase, from 1,107,126 in 2008 and 1,052,415 in 2007. In contrast, during the Great Depression from 1930-1939, we issued only 699,375 during the entire decade.

The 2009 total is the fourth highest number of green cards issued since 1914—behind 1990, 1991, and 2006. (And it is worth noting the bulk of the green cards issued in 1990 and 1991 were not given to new legal immigrants but to illegal aliens granted amnesty in 1986—so in terms of new arrivals, 2009 was actually higher.)

But most immigrant workers only create economic growth in so far as they lower labor costs for employers, possibly causing them to further invest. This effect is always much smaller than the jobs and wages immigrants take from Americans, to say nothing of the government services spent on them. However, with our record unemployment, even these marginal economic benefits disappear.

And in 2009, as always, most of the legal immigrants are low-skilled. Immigrants of exceptional ability, with advanced degrees, or investors make up a measly 8% of all immigrants combined. No doubt this has much to do with the system’s ongoing bias toward Third World immigrants through its ‘family reunification’ mechanism. Only 9.3% of all new green cards went to Europeans. In contrast, 14.6% went to Mexicans alone.

The obvious solution: a moratorium on immigration. …”

[SNIP]

To dilate on the last point about exceptional-abilities visas, read my VDARE article, “Why Aren’t The H1-B Hogs Satisfied With The O-1 “Extraordinary Ability” Visa? Oh, Wait A Minute…”

Update (April 22): Vrye Denker’s point is well taken. Refugee status or some other compassion-based visa should apply to all ethnic white South Africans. Farmers are certainly needed here. Farm workers too. However, US immigration policies—the family unification aspect—privilege Third-World “minorities.”

Update II: You Can Check-Out Any Time You Like, But You Can Never Leave!’

Economy, Europe, Fascism, Government, libertarianism, Natural Law, Private Property, Taxation

Swiss bankers can no longer perform a function which in Switzerland is legal and commendable: helping private property owners shield their assets against legalized theft. The Swiss are not allowed to uphold victimless laws that contradict their ultimate sovereign: Uncle Sam.

YourMoneyInfo.com: “The Swiss laws do not consider tax evasion as a criminal offense. [They recognize that a man’s property is his and his alone?! Is this possible?!] The Swiss banks do not release the identity of the account unless the foreign government proves that the account holder has committed a crime. [Or unless pressured by big bully US, the protector of freedom the world over.]

The US has managed to dispense with the venerated traditions in the financial sector of an ostensibly sovereign state. I repeat myself, but next time you hear Messrs Hannity, Steyn and others of their ilk wax about the US being the last bastion of freedom, fire off a corrective email. Point out that our government lawyers have been prosecuting UBS AG, a Zurich and Basel-based financial establishment, and its American clients, for tax evasion. (You’ll probably be told that we should have declared war, or bombed Basel…)

When they are not bailing out failed financial institutions, our statists are bankrupting viable ones.

Recommended reading: “The War on Tax Havens”

And “Hotel California“:

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
‘Relax,’ said the night man,
‘We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!’

Update I: A “Robin Hood tax” they are calling it, and, no doubt, BHO will be on board: Under the guise of “sparing the taxpayers another massive public bailout of the financial sector,” the International Monetary Fund has “called for a financial stability contribution (FSC), which should be paid by all financial institutions, not just banks, and used to bail out weak and failing firms.”

Now note how these statists who are corralling us all into a big pen cleverly build their new scheme on a faulty premise: the idea that bailouts are a financial fait accompli. Since when? And who dictatorially decides to commandeer taxpayers monies to bail out financial institutions that ought to be allowed to fail? They do!

Update II (April 22): A correction to our reader hereunder: Neal Boortz is a “liberventionists”; “a statist, not a libertarian.” Anything he supports is usually an indication to the contrary