tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88895822011-12-13T22:54:56.381-05:00SaneLiberalsA blog by a socially liberal, fiscally conservative libertarian interested in law, politics and economics.LiberalSanityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11951933083065764398noreply@blogger.comBlogger61100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8889582.post-64875636943993609692007-04-08T14:17:00.000-05:002007-04-08T14:38:09.480-05:00FDA induced market failure?A recent op-ed in the New York Times describes how cumbersome regulations, huge barriers to entry and entrenched business interests preventing a cheap, effective source of cancer medications from getting to market.FDA approvals cost a lot of money, and the paperwork and logistics involved in human trials are enormous ($1 billion, according to the writer). This keeps companies away from developingLiberalSanityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11951933083065764398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8889582.post-31928580054590370752007-03-01T11:23:00.000-05:002007-03-01T12:05:54.036-05:00Market FailuresI want to develop an argument around the marginal utility of money being an under developed field of study. Marginal utility for goods and services is well known. Simply put, if you're bingeing on Ben & Jerry's ice cream, the pleasure you derive from the first few scoops is markedly greater than scoop #20.Purchasing power parity (PPP) is used to measure differences in the real value of the USD inLiberalSanityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11951933083065764398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8889582.post-55925475021721862612007-02-18T01:47:00.000-05:002007-02-18T01:55:22.644-05:00Obscurantist BullshitAfter shining the limelight on Dawkins and Sam Harris, Salon is now bending over backwards to present a second opinion. An excerpt from Sara Hawkins' new book "Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion" seems to have caught a lot of letter traffic this weekend.The most ridiculous sentence:"The entire process of human reproduction... sounded just as weird as the claim that God was in a piece of bread LiberalSanityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11951933083065764398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8889582.post-1170200955610232962007-01-30T18:42:00.000-05:002007-02-18T01:56:32.598-05:00Dig a hole, Fill it inThat's the equivalent of "plant seedlings on eroding hillsides, for example, or remove graffiti from public spaces"advocated by our friends at the New York times.If there is a solitary talent in the free market, it would be the efficient allocation of scarce resources towards the most productive use. Merely contracting out the task of filling holes to private employers doesn't make it more LiberalSanityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11951933083065764398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8889582.post-1170130975715884402007-01-29T23:16:00.000-05:002007-02-18T01:57:27.793-05:00Accelerate Sainthood for FriedmanThe economist magazine - that last bastion of British understatement, is gushing forth with its Friedman day posts and a long tail of comments following it. Now that a reader has thrown down the gauntlet:"Without wanting to commit blasphemy, I have to note that the opinions are a bit one sided for a post filed under the "debate" category. It would have been nice to also ask some people, who have LiberalSanityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11951933083065764398noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8889582.post-1098823389242765192004-10-26T15:33:00.000-05:002004-10-26T15:43:09.243-05:00Liberal SanityLooks like we might just squeak through this year. Certainly hope so given that this country or maybe the world cannot take four more years of this.
It really shouldn't be this close, given all that has happened after 9/11. The corporate scandals, massive layoffs, pork-barrell spending and -- Oh! Did I mention a massive military operation 'financed' by a tax cut?
What can be done to inject LiberalSanityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11951933083065764398noreply@blogger.com0