Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Recently, when writing a check, it occurred to me that requiring the amount to be given separately in both words and number was a simple and ingenious solution to the problem of reducing error. It is possible, if your handwriting is as sloppy as mine, to write a letter or number that can be misread as a different letter or number. If redundancy consisted of writing the amount of the check twice as numbers or twice as words the same error could appear in both versions. It is a great deal less likely to make two errors, one in letters and one in numbers, that happen to produce the same mistaken result.” (12/22/24)
“Have you unhitched your wagon from the dying mule of government? If not, why not? It’s not helping you, in spite of the claims of its public relations team, but is holding you back. You could be better without it getting in your way and siphoning off the labor of your hands to benefit itself. More liberty, more wealth, more health, more self-respect. For many people, talk of the end of political government is crazy. Their ancestors thought any talk of ending slavery — excuse me, other forms of slavery — was also crazy. They have a hard time seeing how the world will function without this great evil continuing to devour individual liberty.” (12/22/24)
“There oughta be a law. If you know me at all, you know I don’t say that very often. But I really think this one could be important. In faux legalese, here’s my proposal: ‘No government employee, elected or appointed government official, or candidate for election or appointment to government office, shall make, utter, or issue any public statement relating to those positions between midnight on December 18 of the current year and midnight on January 1 of the next year.’ No speeches. No press conferences. No press releases. No social media posts on ‘official’ accounts. … none of this ‘my fellow Americans’ stuff. When you’re not annoying or enraging your fellow Americans, you’re just boring us. So shut your yappers for a couple of weeks and leave us alone.” (12/22/24)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Katrina Gulliver
“Urban zoning is an issue on which the left and the right often find common ground: they don’t like it. The left often because they want the freedom to build multifamily and affordable housing in areas designated for single-family residences, and the right because of the undue red tape and restrictions on what can be built anywhere. Often held up as a hero in this game is the city of Houston, Texas, famous for not having zoning. However, as Sara Bronin explains in her new book Key to the City, that’s not the full picture. Outsiders picture a regulation-free developer’s paradise: ‘But in the unzoned city, private rules fill the regulatory vacuum left by zoning’s absence.'” (12/20/24)
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions — and so is the path to a potential surveillance state. After losing its high-profile case in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week, TikTok is now one step closer to being outright banned in this country. If the Chinese-owned app fails to find a political ally in the incoming Trump administration by Jan. 19 (or new domestic ownership), mind-numbing scroll sessions and moronic viral stunts will soon be unavailable for its 170 million American users. While many may view the Biden administration’s actions as overreach, a ban on TikTok would be an act many American parents are desperate to see: the restriction of social media for their children. The harmful effects of predatory algorithms on young people are now as obvious as the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.” (12/21/24)
“Right now, bitcoin’s price is cruising comfortably over the $97,000 mark, and we’ve got just ten days until we wave goodbye to the year. Here’s a rundown of four big economic happenings that might steer bitcoin’s course in the future.” (12/21/24)
“Technically, the FedGov ‘shut down’ for about an hour on Saturday morning. That’s because the Senate did not pass the ‘continuing resolution’ spending bill until well after midnight, the magic ‘deadline’ for the latest budget (spending) deal. Did your heart go pitty-patter during that 60 or 70 minutes? Did the stock market crash? Did the bank call in all your federally-insured loans or seize all your federally-insured deposits? Did China, Cuba, Venezuela, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Mexico and Canada launch a massive invasion of the States?” (12/21/24)
“On December 19 thousands of Amazon workers organizing with the Teamsters launched a cascade of unfair practice strikes from coast to coast at the logistics giant. At the picket line in Queens, New York, police arrested and released Anthony Rosario, a Teamsters organizer, and Jogernsyn Cardenas, one of the striking workers, and then threatened mass arrests before breaking the line in two to allow vans through. Six other facilities in California, Illinois and Georgia are also on strike and the JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island, N.Y. will soon follow suit. The Teamsters are striking Amazon because the company refuses to recognize the unions at its delivery stations and fulfillment center and bargain with its workers. The union has argued that under the new joint-employer standard the delivery drivers are also legally employees of Amazon, which Amazon disputes.” (12/19/24)
