The Lighthouse®
One year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the U.S. government has spent $6 trillion to provide relief. But at a mere $37 billion, the pandemic-dissipating Operation Warp Speed vaccines account for only 0.6% of total spending. So where did the other 99.4% of the money go? Not an idle question, that. $6 trillion is eight times what FDR spent on the entire New Deal. Accountability, anybody?
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By Lee E. Ohanian (California on Your Mind)
The California Department of Education just voted to adopt the fourth version of an ethnic studies curriculum after four years, three previous versions—and more than 100,000 objections. Why so many? Simple. Animating the earlier curricula was a version of Critical Race Theory so noxious that even the Los Angeles Times and Governor Gavin Newsom objected. But the slightly watered-down final curriculum will still do nothing to help Black, Hispanic, and other children do their sums and read and write the English language.
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By R. David Ranson (Executive Summary)
The 2020 experience suggests that monetary and fiscal actions by the government to stimulate an economic recovery don’t lead to the recovery of anything—particularly when the government, by shutting it down, seriously damaged the economy in the first place. The government just needs to back off and reopen the economy, and the country will recover. And the more complete the reopening, the more impressive the recovery. The choice is clear.
READ MORE »
By Alexander William Salter, Daniel J. Smith and Peter J. Boettke (The Wall Street Journal)
The Federal Reserve has lost sight of a fundamental truth: monetary policy is about money. Instead, the central bank is pushing for major changes in policy areas that have nothing to do with money or financial markets—like climate alarmism. It’s time for Congress to rein in the Fed. Hard.
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By Ivan Eland (The National Interest)
World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, and the War on Terror—U.S. presidents used each of these crises to expand the power of the Executive Branch. So much so, in fact, that we indeed have not just an imperial presidency, but a rogue presidency, one untethered from just about every constitutional constraint. Congress should reclaim its emergency and war-making powers and restore the presidency to the limited role the Framers assigned it.
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By Alvaro Vargas Llosa (Issues and Insights)
President Biden is taking “aggressive action” to ensure that the United States achieves a “carbon pollution-free power sector” by 2035 and a “net-zero economy” just 15 years later. Good luck with that. “Green energy” needs massive government subsidies just to operate, and, already drowning in trillions of dollars of debt, Americans can’t afford more. But even if we could, we’d probably end up like Germany, which gets nearly 40% of its electricity from renewables but does little better at reducing its emissions than the United States, where wind and solar account for less than 9% of generated power. How about we follow the science?
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Volume 23, Issue 11: March 31, 2021
By Craig Eyermann (The Beacon)
One year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the U.S. government has spent $6 trillion to provide relief. But at a mere $37 billion, the pandemic-dissipating Operation Warp Speed vaccines account for only 0.6% of total spending. So where did the other 99.4% of the money go? Not an idle question, that. $6 trillion is eight times what FDR spent on the entire New Deal. Accountability, anybody?
READ MORE »
Crisis and Leviathan
Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government (25th Anniversary Edition)
Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government (25th Anniversary Edition)
By Robert Higgs
By Lee E. Ohanian (California on Your Mind)
The California Department of Education just voted to adopt the fourth version of an ethnic studies curriculum after four years, three previous versions—and more than 100,000 objections. Why so many? Simple. Animating the earlier curricula was a version of Critical Race Theory so noxious that even the Los Angeles Times and Governor Gavin Newsom objected. But the slightly watered-down final curriculum will still do nothing to help Black, Hispanic, and other children do their sums and read and write the English language.
READ MORE »
By R. David Ranson (Executive Summary)
The 2020 experience suggests that monetary and fiscal actions by the government to stimulate an economic recovery don’t lead to the recovery of anything—particularly when the government, by shutting it down, seriously damaged the economy in the first place. The government just needs to back off and reopen the economy, and the country will recover. And the more complete the reopening, the more impressive the recovery. The choice is clear.
READ MORE »
By Alexander William Salter, Daniel J. Smith and Peter J. Boettke (The Wall Street Journal)
The Federal Reserve has lost sight of a fundamental truth: monetary policy is about money. Instead, the central bank is pushing for major changes in policy areas that have nothing to do with money or financial markets—like climate alarmism. It’s time for Congress to rein in the Fed. Hard.
READ MORE »
By Ivan Eland (The National Interest)
World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, and the War on Terror—U.S. presidents used each of these crises to expand the power of the Executive Branch. So much so, in fact, that we indeed have not just an imperial presidency, but a rogue presidency, one untethered from just about every constitutional constraint. Congress should reclaim its emergency and war-making powers and restore the presidency to the limited role the Framers assigned it.
READ MORE »
By Alvaro Vargas Llosa (Issues and Insights)
President Biden is taking “aggressive action” to ensure that the United States achieves a “carbon pollution-free power sector” by 2035 and a “net-zero economy” just 15 years later. Good luck with that. “Green energy” needs massive government subsidies just to operate, and, already drowning in trillions of dollars of debt, Americans can’t afford more. But even if we could, we’d probably end up like Germany, which gets nearly 40% of its electricity from renewables but does little better at reducing its emissions than the United States, where wind and solar account for less than 9% of generated power. How about we follow the science?
READ MORE »
Hot Talk, Cold Science (2021)
Global Warming’s Unfinished Debate (Revised and Expanded Third Edition)
Global Warming’s Unfinished Debate (Revised and Expanded Third Edition)
By S. Fred Singer, David R. Legates, Anthony R. Lupo
The Beacon: New Blog Posts
- AstraZeneca Vaccine Controversy Provides Another Example of Overly Cautious Government Reactionsm, by Raymond J. March
- Nomadland’s Humanity Drives Cinematic Brilliance, by Samuel R. Staley
- Are We Witnessing the Beginning of the Covid-19 Ratchet Effect?, by Raymond J. March
- The Debt—Who Cares?, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
Catalyst: New Articles
- Here’s a Standard for Amazon: Free Speech for All, by Luka Ladan
- Technology, Not Government, Beat the Pandemic, by Grant Whitmer
- What Is the Future of High-Speed Freight Rail?, by Scott Beyer
- News Deserts Lead to Loss of Engagement, by Pooja Bachani Di Giovanna
- Doctors Predict ‘International Epidemic’ of Child Suicide, by Brad Polumbo
- Americans Misinformed About COVID Hospitalization, by Jon Miltimore
