Do We Really Want THIS?
6 March 2007
The Editor, The New York Post
Dear Editor:
Conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center truly are deplorable ("Sick Army Hosps," March 6). This is an institution - a "flagship"! - at the heart of Uncle Sam’s system of socialized medical care for military personnel.
So remind me why many politicians and pundits clamor for socialized medical care for ALL Americans.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Do We Really Want THIS?
6 March 2007
The Editor, The New York Post
Dear Editor:
Conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center truly are deplorable ("Sick Army Hosps," March 6). This is an institution - a "flagship"! - at the heart of Uncle Sam’s system of socialized medical care for military personnel.
So remind me why many politicians and pundits clamor for socialized medical care for ALL Americans.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Do
6 March 2007
The Editor, The New York Post
Dear Editor:
Conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center truly are deplorable ("Sick Army Hosps," March 6). This is an institution - a "flagship"! - at the heart of Uncle Sam’s system of socialized medical care for military personnel.
So remind me why many politicians and pundits clamor for socialized medical care for ALL Americans.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Genuine Economic Sovereignty
2 March 2007
Editor, Dow Jones MarketWatch
To the Editor:
In light of Tuesday’s Wall Street sell-off, Sen. Hillary Clinton worries that we Americans are, as she said in a Senate speech, "ceding our economic sovereignty" to foreign countries ("Clinton seeks to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign capital," March 1).
I'm delighted that Sen. Clinton is concerned about one economic entity being too dependent upon the whims of another, distant entity. So I propose that she restore my personal sovereignty by reducing my dependence upon Washington. Relieve me from having to help to repay debts incurred by Uncle Sam. Let me buy whatever pain relievers, kitchen appliances, foods, toilets, and other consumer products I choose without having to get permission from Washington. Let me buy goods and services from whomever I want without obstruction from politicians - none of whom I know, none of whom knows me, and, I'm certain, none of whom really gives a damn about me and my family.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
... and, More Likely, Harmful
1 March 2007
Editor, The Wall Street Journal
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
To the Editor:
You report that "The SEC is examining whether the NYSE's shrinking of the floor affected the NYSE's ability to handle a surge in trading volume such as occurred during Tuesday's market slide.... The regulators are concerned that capacity issues may have exacerbated the Big Board's woes this week" ("NYSE's Trading Overload Draws Attention of the SEC," March 1).
Perhaps the NYSE did err. (Or perhaps not: the experience of a single, unusual day is scant evidence for this proposition.) But surely the NYSE itself - a private enterprise manned by and for savvy business people seeking maximum returns on their investments - has powerful incentives to find and to correct its errors. Any "examining" done by government bureaucrats will be, at best, redundant.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Bullying?
28 February 2007
Editor, The Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
Lance Compa argues that the Employee Free Choice Act will "shield" workers from "corporate bullying" (Feb. 27). The implication is that the steady and continuing 50-year decline in labor-union membership in America is caused by unfair corporate tactics that prevent workers who want to join unions from voting to do so.
This argument would have more merit if union membership weren't declining also in many other industrialized countries - such as Germany, Great Britain, and Ireland* - where no one seriously accuses corporations of bullying union organizers and workers.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
* See research published in the Journal of Labor Research, Vol. 28, Winter 2007.
