Capitalism's Effects in One Chart

Maybe we could send Bernie Sanders and his supporters to China to explain how much better off they were before they emulated the capitalistic, free trade policies of the West.

Regulations Cost Workers $13,000 Per Year in Lost Income

A new study out of George Mason University shows that Federal regulations create a substantial drag on economi growth estimated at 0.8% of GDP per year. This might not sound like a lot, but:

• If regulation had been held constant at levels observed in 1980, the US economy would have been about 25 percent larger than it actually was as of 2012.
• This means that in 2012, the economy was $4 trillion smaller than it would have been in the absence of regulatory growth since 1980.
• This amounts to a loss of approximately $13,000 per capita, a significant amount of money for most American workers.

I wonder if the workers currently complaining about stagnant wages would like to have gotten a $13,000 raise? They could have.

Do Billionaires Inherit Their Wealth?

If you listen to Bernie Sanders you'd think the billionaires he despises all inherited or stole their wealth from you. As usual, Bernie Sanders is wrong.

Climate Skeptics Have Good Reason To Be

The chart below shows data from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) reconstructing average  world temperature over the last 500 thousand years. I think we can say with fair certainty that the previous warming cycles were not due to human activity. I think we can also say that it's a little much to accuse "climate skeptics" of having no basis at all for their skepticism.




Speaking of inconvenient facts, how many times have you heard climate hysterics cite tornado and hurricane activity as "evidence" of global warming