Tag: Law

1441: Thomas Sowell – The Major Flaw in Politics

One of the big differences between economics and politics is that politicians are not forced to pay attention to future consequences that lie beyond the next election. An elected official whose policies keep the public happy up through election day stands a good chance of being voted another term in office, even if those policies will have ruinous consequences in later years. There is no “present value” to make political decision-makers today take future consequences into account, when those consequences will come after election day. —Thomas Sowell

One of the big differences between economics and politics is that politicians are not forced to pay attention to future consequences that lie beyond the next election. An elected official whose policies keep the public happy up through election day stands a good chance of being voted another term in office, even if those policies will have ruinous consequences in later years. There is no “present value” to make political decision-makers today take future consequences into account, when those consequences will come after election day. —Thomas Sowell

1439: Derek Wills – The Prohibition of Narcotics

The prohibition and control of narcotics have only led to even more detrimental consequences than before the state's involvement. —Derek Wills

The prohibition and control of narcotics have only led to even more detrimental consequences than before the state’s involvement. —Derek Wills

1413: Frederic Bastiat – The Law Defends Plunder

Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons, and gendarmes at the service of the plunderers, and treats the victim — when he defends himself — as a criminal. —Frederic Bastiat

Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons, and gendarmes at the service of the plunderers, and treats the victim — when he defends himself — as a criminal. —Frederic Bastiat

Tags Corruption, Crime, Frederic Bastiat, Government, Greed, Judge, Justice, Law, Looting, Police, Prison, Thought, Tyranny
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1412: Spike Cohen – Like Fish in a Barrel

Government will mandate that your children be left vulnerable like fish in a barrel in their school; hold you down outside while they are murdered, and then blame you for owning a rifle. —Spike Cohen

Government will mandate that your children be left vulnerable like fish in a barrel in their school; hold you down outside while they are murdered, and then blame you for owning a rifle. —Spike Cohen

Tags American libertarians, Child, Children, Education, Government, Gun control, Law, Police, Politician, Politics, Propaganda, School, Spike Cohen, Violence
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1403: Julie Borowski – Repeal Victimless Crime Laws

I think all those laws against victimless crimes where people are only hurting themselves should be repealed and dealt with in a manner that would actually help people, as opposed to throwing them in jail and taking them away from their families. —Julie Borowski

I think all those laws against victimless crimes where people are only hurting themselves should be repealed and dealt with in a manner that would actually help people, as opposed to throwing them in jail and taking them away from their families. —Julie Borowski

1401: Maj Toure – All Gun Control is Racist

Gun control in America was initially created to stop melanated beings from having firearms. Whether they make it look like you have to pay a fee, or you have to do this, or you have to do that—all gun control is racist. —Maj Toure, Founder, Black Guns Matter

Gun control in America was initially created to stop melanated beings from having firearms. Whether they make it look like you have to pay a fee, or you have to do this, or you have to do that—all gun control is racist. —Maj Toure, Founder, Black Guns Matter

1376: Thomas Sowell – Rent Control Laws

In Australia, not a single apartment building was built in Melbourne for years after World War II because of rent control laws. In a number of Massachusetts communities, no rental housing was built for a quarter of a century, until the state banned local rent control laws, after which building resumed. The lower rate of return on investments in new buildings causes fewer of them to be built. —Thomas Sowell

In Australia, not a single apartment building was built in Melbourne for years after World War II because of rent control laws. In a number of Massachusetts communities, no rental housing was built for a quarter of a century, until the state banned local rent control laws, after which building resumed. The lower rate of return on investments in new buildings causes fewer of them to be built. —Thomas Sowell

1374: Walter Block – Youth Unemployment & Minimum Wage

In 1948, white teenage unemployment in the U.S. was 10.2%, while black teenage unemployment was only 9.4%. This was when the effective minimum wage rate was much lower. Today, in a much less discriminatory epoch, but where teenagers are “protected” by a more stringent minimum wage law, white youth unemployment is 13.9%, while black youth unemployment is an astounding and shameful 33.5%. —Walter Block, The Case for Discrimination, 2010

In 1948, white teenage unemployment in the U.S. was 10.2%, while black teenage unemployment was only 9.4%. This was when the effective minimum wage rate was much lower. Today, in a much less discriminatory epoch, but where teenagers are “protected” by a more stringent minimum wage law, white youth unemployment is 13.9%, while black youth unemployment is an astounding and shameful 33.5%. —Walter Block, The Case for Discrimination, 2010

1368: William Warded – Excessive Regulations in Drug Development

Drug development, Drugs, FDA, Government, Health, History, Innovation, Law, Regulations

If even one new drug of the stature of penicillin or digitalis has been unjustifiably banished to a company's backshelf because of excessively stringent regulatory requirements, that event will have harmed more people than all the toxicity that has occurred in the history of modern drug development combined. —William Warded

If even one new drug of the stature of penicillin or digitalis has been unjustifiably banished to a company’s backshelf because of excessively stringent regulatory requirements, that event will have harmed more people than all the toxicity that has occurred in the history of modern drug development combined. —William Warded

1367: Antony Davies – Laws That Harm the Disabled

In 1990, the U.S. government enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act. This law attempted to protect the disabled in the labor market by prohibiting discriminatory behavior on the basis of disability. A law specifically designed to ensure that the disabled got a fair shake in the labor market instead resulted in decreased employment rates for the disabled.

Why? There are a couple of reasons. First, the law made it expensive for businesses to hire the disabled. Regulators have deemed, among other things, that employers will need to modify an employee’s physical environment, offer the employee additional training, give him extra time to complete tasks, and even hire interpreters. All these things increase the cost of doing business.

Second, the law made it difficult to terminate disabled workers, even when warranted. But how is a business to prove that it terminated a disabled worker because of something other than the worker’s disability? The answer that many businesses seem to have arrived at, although few will admit it, is not to hire the disabled in the first place.

It turns out to be easier for an employer to prove that it did not hire a disabled worker for a reason unrelated to the worker’s disability than to prove that it fired the worker for such a reason. Consequently, the Americans with Disabilities Act actually led to a decrease in employment rates for the disabled.

—Antony Davies, James R. Harrigan