Walter E. Williams from Creators Syndicate

Greed, Need and Money for 01/02/2008

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Demagoguery about greedy rich people or greedy corporate executives being paid 100 or 200 times their workers' salaries is a key weapon in the politics of envy. Let's talk about greed, starting off with Merriam-Webster's definition: "a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed."

That definition is a bit worrisome because how does one know what ...

Updated: Wed Jan 02, 2008

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Black Colleges for 01/09/2008

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

The Lincoln Institute, a Washington-based black think tank, published an article titled "What Does the Future Hold for Historically Black Colleges?" in its September/October 2007 edition. It recalled the experiences of Bill Maxwell, a St. Petersburg Times columnist and editorial board member, when in 2004 he took a huge pay cut to teach journalism at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Al ...

Updated: Wed Jan 09, 2008

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Tyranny Update for 01/16/2008

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Last December, President Bush signed an energy bill that will ban the sale of Edison's incandescent bulb, starting with the 100-watt bulb in 2012 and ending with the 40-watt bulb by 2014. You say, "Hey, Williams, what's wrong with saving energy, reducing our carbon footprint and stopping global warming?" Before you get too enthused over governmental energy-saving efforts, you might po ...

Updated: Wed Jan 16, 2008

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Subprime Bailout for 01/23/2008

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

A subprime lender is one who makes loans to borrowers who do not qualify for loans from mainstream lenders. It's a market that has evolved to permit borrowers with poor credit history and an unstable financial situation the opportunity to get home mortgages. The catch is they pay a higher and typically an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). Encouraged by the housing bubble, easy credit, along with ...

Updated: Wed Jan 23, 2008

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Stimulus Package Nonsense for 01/30/2008

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Some Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls are preaching economic doom and gloom, disappearing middle class, and failing health care industry. What's their solution? The short answer is give them more control over our lives. Baltimore's political satirist, the late H.L. Mencken, explained this strategy, saying, "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, ...

Updated: Wed Jan 30, 2008

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Silly Talk for 02/06/2008

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

It's not easy being me. I'm disturbed by statements that many Americans accept or don't question that are ludicrous, if not crazy. The terms "change," "agents of change" and "change agents" are being bandied by presidential hopefuls, their supporters and media commentators. I'd like to ask Americans listening to these people whether they are for or against change. ...

Updated: Wed Feb 06, 2008

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They're Coming After You for 02/13/2008

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

My February 2002 column, "They're Coming After You," warned that Americans who enthusiastically supported the anti-tobacco zealots' attack on smokers were, like decent Germans did during the 1920s and '30s, building the Trojan Horse that would one day enable a tyrant to take over. The whole issue of tobacco smoke nuisance is really a private property issue where the owner should decid ...

Updated: Wed Feb 13, 2008

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Costs vs. Benefits for 02/20/2008

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

If we look to benefits only, we'll do darn near anything because there's always a benefit. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that there were 43,443 highway fatalities in 2005. If we had a maximum speed law of 15 mph, the death toll wouldn't be nearly as high, probably not even as high as 500. You say, "Williams, that's a crazy idea!" You're right, but let's n ...

Updated: Wed Feb 20, 2008

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Africa: A Tragic Continent for 02/27/2008

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

President Bush's trip to Africa and promise of increased foreign aid will do little or nothing to solve the ongoing tragedy in most places on the south-of-Sahara African continent. Kenya is on the brink of a civil war. Over 1,000 people have been killed and another 300,000 made homeless. Rebels have invaded Chad. In the Darfur region of the Sudan, millions of people have been displaced in a gen ...

Updated: Wed Feb 27, 2008

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Liberty versus Socialism for 03/05/2008

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

A fortnight ago, I wrote about Mississippi Legislature House Bill 282 that would have imposed fines or revoked licenses of food establishments that served obese people. Fortunately, the measure died in committee. State Rep. Ted Mayhall, one of the bill's sponsors, justified it by saying that he wanted to bring attention to the fact that "Obesity makes people more susceptible to diabetes, w ...

Updated: Wed Mar 05, 2008

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Big Corn and Ethanol Hoax for 03/12/2008

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

One of the many mandates of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 calls for oil companies to increase the amount of ethanol mixed with gasoline. President Bush said, during his 2006 State of the Union address, "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world." Let's look at some of the "wonders" of ethanol as a replacement for gasoline.

Et ...

Updated: Wed Mar 12, 2008

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Peace-loving Muslims for 03/19/2008

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

All of us should give some serious thought to some of the ideas contained in an article circulating the blogsphere titled "Why a Peaceful Majority is Irrelevant." So often our political leaders, "experts" and talking heads tell us that Islam is a peaceful religion and most Muslims are not out to destroy the West. We're told it's only that 1 percent, out of 1.2 billion Muslim ...

Updated: Wed Mar 19, 2008

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Is Obama Ready For America? for 03/26/2008

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Some pundits ask whether America is ready for Obama. The much more important question is whether Obama is ready for America and even more important is whether black people can afford Obama. Let's look at it in the context of a historical tidbit.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson, signing a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, broke the color barrier in major league baseball. He encountered open ra ...

Updated: Wed Mar 26, 2008

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The Poverty Hype for 04/02/2008

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The psychology of victimhood and the politics of envy are powerful political tools and we see them being exploited this political season. Politicians telling Americans how bad off we are reminds me of one of Aesop's Fables where a dog was carrying a piece of meat across a bridge. Looking down into the river, he saw his shadow, which appeared to him as another dog carrying a larger piece of meat ...

Updated: Wed Apr 02, 2008

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Political Loathsomeness for 04/09/2008

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Do any of the prospective nominees of either party deserve respect from the American people? The answer partially depends on your knowledge, values and respect for the U.S Constitution.

When either Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or John McCain take office, they are going to place their hand on the Bible and take the oath, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execut ...

Updated: Wed Apr 09, 2008

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Foreign Trade Angst for 04/16/2008

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, pandering to anti-trade activists, suggest that should they become president, they will restrict trade agreements. Before you buy into their promised paradise, there are a few trade questions you might consider.

Suppose you were choosing a country to live in. Which country would you prefer: a country that has the world champing at ...

Updated: Wed Apr 16, 2008

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Politics and Black Americans for 04/23/2008

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dr. Thomas Sowell's recent column, "Republicans and Blacks," (April 10, 2008) pointed out the foolhardiness of Republican strategy to secure more black votes. He pointed out that it is a losing strategy to reach blacks through the civil rights organizations and black politicians. It's like a quarterback trying to throw a pass to a receiver surrounded by a bunch of defenders. The secon ...

Updated: Wed Apr 23, 2008

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Cigarette Smuggling for 04/30/2008

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

While it's politically popular to impose confiscatory taxes on America's 40 million tobacco smokers, there are a number of consequences one might consider, but let's start out with a quiz. If a carton of cigarettes sells for $160 in New York City, and $35 in North Carolina, what do you predict will happen? If you answered tons of cigarettes will be going up I-95 from North Carolina to New York ...

Updated: Wed Apr 30, 2008

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Environmentalists' Wild Predictions for 05/07/2008

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Now that another Earth Day has come and gone, let's look at some environmentalist predictions that they would prefer we forget.

At the first Earth Day celebration, in 1969, environmentalist Nigel Calder warned, "The threat of a new ice age must now stand alongside nuclear war as a likely source of wholesale death and misery for mankind." C.C. Wallen of the World Meteorological ...

Updated: Wed May 07, 2008

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Congressional Problem Creation for 05/14/2008

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Most of the great problems we face are caused by politicians creating solutions to problems they created in the first place. Politicians and a large percentage of the public lose sight of the unavoidable fact that for every created benefit, there's also a created cost or, as Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman put it, "There's no free lunch." While the person who receives the benefit might ...

Updated: Wed May 14, 2008

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