Free Republic

I wish to present a proposition for reasoned debate. I think conservatives should be able to agree on it, but I fear many here do not in their bones accept it. I think it is a key to our ideological conflicts and the political and economic diseases of our time. Proposition - the income from capital is entirely legitimate. It flows to its recipients because they entirely deserve it for the valuable service they have provided. Any attempt to outlaw it, redistribute it, destroy it, or legislate it out of existence or all recognition, is unjust on its face. It...

See this link for detailed tables in PDF format - Z.1 balance sheet data for 2nd Quarter 2009

My patience has been tried of late by lots of running or heedless thought at the journalist level from otherwise sensible conservatives, on the state of the US economy. Confusion appears to be rampant, if not deliberately sewn. To clear it up, I think empirical information is the best cure, along with the elementary distinctions among wealth, income, and money --- since I see so many confusing money with wealth, and debt with negative net worth, to pick two outstanding common errors. To see that money and wealth are two different things, let's be decidedly empirical instead of relying on...

I told you so. Happy? Think you saved anybody lots of money? Think you reduced the role of government? On saving money, US markets dropped $1.2 trillion today, and worldwide it was more like $3.5 trillion. On the role of government, the Fed announced $630 billion in new central bank credits today, half of it to central banks abroad. And oh, the FDIC guaranteed to Citigroup all losses beyond the first 13% on Wachovia's mortgage book, which is around $300 billion. And it won't be remotely enough, and will probably need to be doubled tomorrow. When are you going to...

The press is full of breathless reports of the calamities of American indebtedness. The financial press speaks of "develeraging" and expects it practically end the American way of life. Everyone and his brother reiterates endlessly that we cannot possible afford anything, since we are so deep in debt we clearly own nothing and might as well give up and declare national bankruptcy. But these statements are always curiously devoid of actual figures as to what Americans own and owe. Not because they are unknowable or unknown. The statistics are collected religiously by the Federal Reserve and published each year as...

Here is my modest proposal to address the immediate crisis in the financial markets. I have already addressed elsewhere the longer term reforms needed, such as a clearing exchange for over the counter derivatives and swaps, simpler asset backed security structures, bans on deposit institutions lending to deadbeats, better monetary policy next time, etc. But there is also an immediate issue in the capital markets that needs to be solved immediately and on an impressive scale. This post is both a defense of the principle and a method to use. The proposal is that the Federal Reserve begin conducting open...

“Right Night: NRO Takes Manchester” will feature our version of the three wise men: the tremendous trio of Jonah Goldberg, Rob Long, and Mark Steyn. The night will be cosponsored by the good folks at the new Center for the Renewal of New England Politics and Culture at the Granite State’s own Thomas More College. See You Tomorrow in Manchester [Kathryn Jean Lopez] If you signed up for the Long-Steyn-Goldberg show, you'll be getting an e-mail tonight. Basically starts at 4:30, runs to a bit after midnight at the Manchester Radisson. Some special guests on site are rumored to include...

ECB's liquidity move produces mixed reaction An aggressive move by the European Central Bank to pump liquidity into the banking system produced mixed reactions in financial markets yesterday. The ECB supplied €348.6bn to banks in its two-week operation at 4.21 per cent after it scrapped the normal upper limit on the amount it would lend. Two-week euro Libor was set at 4.40 per cent, down 54 basis points from Monday's fix. The one-month rate fell 33bp and the three-month contract fell nearly 10bp - the biggest drop in six years. Yet Gabriel Stein at Lombard Street Research warned that if...

We noted this past March that a lawsuit filed by former employees of Dutch bank ABN Amro publicly disclosed a common practice among European banks: instituting procedures to evade US restrictions on funding terrorist organizations and the states that love them. We didn't much like to hear that. Neither, apparently, did the US government. "People close to several European banks say that US regulators and criminal investigators have broadened the scope of a probe that began with the Dutch bank. "They are now examining whether a handful of banks similarly violated laws by processing US dollar payments through US counterparts...

Rice lobbies for Iran sanctions Rice is trying to rally support against Iran's nuclear ambitions The US secretary of state has urged China, Russia and India to back US threats of imposing sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. Condoleezza Rice said Iran needed to get a "unified message" from the international community after reopening the Isfahan uranium conversion plant. "We've all said that a next step to be expected would be referral to the [UN] Security Council," Ms Rice said. Both China and Russia could use their veto power against a resolution. In a reference to a recent report...

Top ten ways to reduce a liberal to an impotent, sputtering rage - 10. Exist. (It is unjust; you use up scarce resources). 9. Breath. (You exhale C02 which causes global warming). 8. Say or think that anything is true. (Truth is absolutist, only relativism is allowed). 7. Say or think that anything is moral. (Morality is oppression; and it reflects badly on them). 6. Think for yourself. (The Party knows what you should think). 5. Laugh at anything they do. (It is so insensitive; they are humorless). 4. Make money. (The root of all evil; the only moral thing...

Joseph Ratzinger, Christ’s Donkey Born in Bavaria on Holy Saturday of 1927, Joseph Ratzinger’s life has been entirely within and for the Church, which, he is convinced, is the way of greatest service to the world. This and much else become evident in his remarkable account just published by Ignatius, Milestones: Memoirs 1927–1977 (300 pp., $14.95 paper), which takes the reader from his childhood to his appointment as Archbishop of Munich. The years in Rome as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will, one hopes, be the subject of another memoir. But there is a great...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's parliament on Friday approved extending the mission of its 3,600 troops in Iraq for another year. The National Assembly approved the plan in a 161-63 vote with 54 abstentions just before the troops' previous mandate in Iraq expired at midnight. South Korea completed deploying its forces to the Kurdish town of Irbil last month, becoming the third-largest contributor of troops to the coalition after the United States and Britain. The South Korean contingent is not involved in combat operations and consists mostly of engineers and medics who repair roads and offer free medical...

Russian forces storm siege theatre The hostages were freed after a shoot-out Russian security forces have brought a sudden and dramatic end to the three-day siege in a Moscow theatre, where hundreds of people were being held hostage by Chechen rebels. We succeeded in preventing mass deaths The head of the Russian security service, Nikolai Patrushev, said 34 Chechen rebels were killed in the raid and a number of others were arrested. He said none had escaped. But 67 hostages were also killed during the rescue operation, Russian Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Vasilyev has acknowledged. He said more than 750...

Here is a rundown on Pakistan's current military forces, compiled from various sources on the web. Strategic, air force, and air defense 42 combat ready IRBMs, nuclear capable. Estimates vary from enough material for 10 to 50 atomic bombs. Other delivery systems under development, but these or air delivery are the currently practical options. 32 F-16s 184 Mirage 3&5 215 MiG-21 (Chinese J-7) 96 MiG-19 (Chinese J-6 and A-5 strike versions) AIM-9P, AIM-9L, and Matra Magic 550 all angle heat seekers BL-5, BL-7, BL-9 (Chinese) heat seekers No radar homing AAM capability. Top missle range about 8 miles. FR Exocet,...

Warning - this post contains blunt descriptions of the realities of a particularly brutal and ugly war. There are parts of it that are not for delicate sensibilities or for the faint of heart. I put this at the start of the piece instead of at the end, as is customary for poster's comments, so that those who want to spare themselves such things know to steer clear before they read it. I post it anyway because I think the lessons of this history are very important to understanding many currents in contemporary politics. Including terrorism as a political method,...

Following the signing of the Oslo accords in September 1993, the U.S. government provided $375 million between 1993 and 1998 through USAID to implement a program of development in the West Bank and Gaza. In 1999, the regular USAID operating year budget was maintained at $75 million and in 2000 its level increased to $85 million. In 2000, the U.S. Congress appropriated an additional $400 million to USAID West Bank and Gaza to facilitate the implementation of the Wye River Accords. In 2001, USAID West Bank/Gaza’s operating year budget remained at approximately $85 million. USAID funding for the West Bank...

The Message of Fazlur Rahman M Yahya Birt 27/06/96 INTRODUCTION For all those Muslim Researchers out there, I would like to offer Fazlur Rahman as a paradigm of the modern committed Muslim intellectual. Often we hear the tired litany of historical triumphalism, ‘we gave the scientific and philosophical impetus to the European Enlightenment.’ This is no doubt true. But to say this when Muslims have fallen into the deepest intellectual stagnation, which no amount of self-defeating rhetoric can hide, we must face the uncomfortable truth: within modern accumulations of knowledge lie some of the tools for our intellectual re- ignition ...

"The Political Officers who accompanied the force, with white tabs on their collars, parleyed all the time with the chiefs, the priests and other local notables. These political officers were very unpopular with the army officers. They were regarded as marplots. It was alleged that they always patched things up and put many a slur upon the prestige of the Empire without ever letting anyone know about it. They were accused of the grievious crime of 'shilly-shallying', which being interpreted means doing everything you possibly can before you shoot. "We had with us a very brilliant political officer, a Major ...

This is not yet the text of the article, but a preface. I have collected a number of recent stories and information sources about what is going on in North Korea. I was prompted to do so by a recent, May 5th, story on the UPI wire by Charles Lee, which is the last article text below. It mentioned one Dr. Norbert Vollersten, a German aid worker; I looked up his previous stories. Other sources provide background and substantiate much of what the Dr. says, and in some cases take it much further. Links to many articles on NK - ...