English actor Peter Sellers was born on September 8, 1925 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. He said, “Conversation like television set on honeymoon...unnecessary.” {1} [That would make for some very quiet days and nights.]... Mr. Sellers died in 1980 in London, England.
U.S. President (8th) Martin Van Buren was born on December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook (village), New York. He said, “The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for general prosperity.” {1} [Amen. Amen!]... Mr. Van Buren died in 1862 in Kinderhook (village), New York.
U.S. actress Constance Campbell Bennett was born on October 22, 1904 in New York City, New York. She said, “I'm a lot more sartorial than thespian. They come to see me and go out humming the costumes.” {1} [Or was that “hemming” the costumes?] Ms. Bennett died in 1965 in Fort Dix, New Jersey.
Polish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer was born on November 24, 1902 in Leoncin, Congress Poland, Russian Empire. He said, “If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.” {2} [Well, let’s get prophesying.]... Mr. Singer died in 1991 in Miami, Florida.
Associate Justice of U.S. Supreme Court (1956-1990) William J. Brennan, Jr. was born on April 25, 1906 in Newark, New Jersey. He said, “We hold that the Constitution does not forbid the states minor intrusions into an individual's body under stringently limited conditions.” {2} [Give an inch, take a mile.]... Mr. Brennan died in 1997 Washington, D.C.
{1} Source: http://thinkexist.com
{2} Source: www.brainyquote.com
Showing posts with label Jr.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jr.. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Enron Was Not Part of the Free Market
I read some interesting statements about Enron today. Perhaps you will enjoy them, too.
Reviewing the book "The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money" by Timothy P. Carney, Thomas E. Woods, Jr. wrote in "Ripping Off the Taxpayers":
Carney’s coverage of the Enron scandal is the proverbial chapter that’s worth the price of the book. Opponents of the market economy had a field day when Enron’s financial shenanigans came to light. A liberal San Francisco Chronicle columnist, claiming that “the Enron scandal makes it clear that the unfettered free market does not work,” summed up what so many were saying in 2001 and 2002. He added that “Enron makes that whole Ayn Rand ‘Fountainhead’ thing look a little silly, too. Who is John Galt? Ken Lay.” (John Galt appears in Atlas Shrugged, not The Fountainhead, but never mind.)
The Cato Institute’s Jerry Taylor was closer to the truth when he described Enron on balance as “an enemy, not an ally of free markets. Enron was more interested in rigging the marketplace with rules and regulations to advantage itself at the expense of competitors and consumers than in making money the old-fashioned way — by earning it honestly from their customers through voluntary trade.” Building on this observation, Carney shows that Enron, far from being a creature of the free market, was a strong supporter of a variety of government regulations, and reached the heights it did largely thanks to government favors. Even some of its strange accounting practices had been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (thereby giving the public a false sense of security regarding Enron’s actual health).
Thus, Ken Lay, the wicked capitalist, made high-profile appeals in favor of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, describing it as “a tremendous opportunity to stimulate realistic climate solutions.” He wrote in an e-mailed message that Kyoto would “do more to promote Enron’s business than almost any other regulatory initiative outside of restructuring the energy and natural gas industries in Europe and the United States.” Since Enron was primarily an energy broker, it could easily become the major trader of CO2 credits that Congress would very likely have created in order to help American industry come into compliance. On top of that, since Enron owned natural gas pipelines and dealt mainly in natural gas — far cleaner than coal or oil in terms of CO2 emissions — the Kyoto restrictions would give it a competitive edge.
Enron, Carney shows, was on the receiving end of countless waves of government subsidies. It also manipulated the bizarre regulatory thicket that was the California energy market in grotesquely anti-social ways that enriched Enron at the expense, quite literally, of everyone else. The whole story has to be read to be believed. But it’s one that could not have occurred in a free market. {1}
Wow!
{1} Source: http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0702h.asp
Reviewing the book "The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money" by Timothy P. Carney, Thomas E. Woods, Jr. wrote in "Ripping Off the Taxpayers":
Carney’s coverage of the Enron scandal is the proverbial chapter that’s worth the price of the book. Opponents of the market economy had a field day when Enron’s financial shenanigans came to light. A liberal San Francisco Chronicle columnist, claiming that “the Enron scandal makes it clear that the unfettered free market does not work,” summed up what so many were saying in 2001 and 2002. He added that “Enron makes that whole Ayn Rand ‘Fountainhead’ thing look a little silly, too. Who is John Galt? Ken Lay.” (John Galt appears in Atlas Shrugged, not The Fountainhead, but never mind.)
The Cato Institute’s Jerry Taylor was closer to the truth when he described Enron on balance as “an enemy, not an ally of free markets. Enron was more interested in rigging the marketplace with rules and regulations to advantage itself at the expense of competitors and consumers than in making money the old-fashioned way — by earning it honestly from their customers through voluntary trade.” Building on this observation, Carney shows that Enron, far from being a creature of the free market, was a strong supporter of a variety of government regulations, and reached the heights it did largely thanks to government favors. Even some of its strange accounting practices had been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (thereby giving the public a false sense of security regarding Enron’s actual health).
Thus, Ken Lay, the wicked capitalist, made high-profile appeals in favor of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, describing it as “a tremendous opportunity to stimulate realistic climate solutions.” He wrote in an e-mailed message that Kyoto would “do more to promote Enron’s business than almost any other regulatory initiative outside of restructuring the energy and natural gas industries in Europe and the United States.” Since Enron was primarily an energy broker, it could easily become the major trader of CO2 credits that Congress would very likely have created in order to help American industry come into compliance. On top of that, since Enron owned natural gas pipelines and dealt mainly in natural gas — far cleaner than coal or oil in terms of CO2 emissions — the Kyoto restrictions would give it a competitive edge.
Enron, Carney shows, was on the receiving end of countless waves of government subsidies. It also manipulated the bizarre regulatory thicket that was the California energy market in grotesquely anti-social ways that enriched Enron at the expense, quite literally, of everyone else. The whole story has to be read to be believed. But it’s one that could not have occurred in a free market. {1}
Wow!
{1} Source: http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0702h.asp
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