Elefantes Blancos del Gobierno

It never ceases to amaze me that, despite all of the contrary evidence, people tend to think that government is wiser than they about how to spend their money, and that it acts in the best interests of the people rather than the government.

Exhibit A: Cuidad Real International Airport



Now, if you don't know where this is, you have a lot in common with the people of Spain (it;s about 100 miles form Madrid). You see, it's the brainchild of all those brilliant people who work in government. It's a €1 billion airport project, which the Spanish government recently sold to a Chinese consortium for -- ready? -- 10,000 Euros. And it's in pristine condition because it's never been used.

There are, of course, a few people who are quite happy about this. Like the friends of Spanish politicians who run the construction companies that were paid to create this white elephant. But the people of Spain? They're just next in line to slide into the same morass that the Greek government created for its people. For the same reasons.

Detroit Refugees

Imagine you lived in a city with the highest income and property taxes in your state. Imagine taxes on business doubled in the last year. Imagine 40% of all revenue your city collected went to pay off people who no longer worked for the city. Imagine that the police didn't respond to emergency calls for almost an hour and 40% of the street lights didn't work. Imagine half of the students at your public schools never graduated high school. Imagine

What would you do? Wouldn't you move out if you could? Wouldn't you follow the 250,000 people who have left the city in the last decade?