Economic Updates: Bailouts, Rent-Seeking, and Politicians

More on Pelosi's nonsense.
Speaker Nancy Malthus - WSJ.com: "One of the more curious items in the $825 billion House 'stimulus' is $87 billion to help states with Medicaid, specifically including an expansion of family-planning services. The implication is that more people mean less economic growth."

Dr. Sowell on the bailout.
Thomas Sowell : What Are They Buying?: "Using long, drawn-out processes to put money into circulation to meet an emergency is like mailing a letter to the fire department to tell them that your house is on fire."

Compare & Contrast.
Prostitutes, pimps & pols - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "But its title is not quite accurate. Real whores, after all, personally supply the services their customers seek. Prostitutes do not steal; their customers pay them voluntarily. And their customers pay only with money belonging to these customers."

Rent-Seeking explained.
Dear WSJ: Rent-seeking Diverts Resources: "Problem of government handouts is more than money, it pulls producers away from their products making them inefficient."

Leaky stimulus bucket.
George Melloan: Watch Out for Stimulus 'Leaks' - WSJ.com: "The central question, however, is not whether 'stimulus' programs are ineffective. It is whether they are counterproductive. A case can be made that the bucket not only leaks but that the leaks tend to drown out chances for economic recovery."

Dr. Ron Paul gets it.
Congressman Ron Paul - Stimulus for Who? - Texas Straight Talk: "We are again being promised that its passage will help employment, help homeowners, help the environment, etc. These promises are worthless. This time around especially, Congress should know better than to pass anything of this magnitude without first reading the fine print. There a many red flags that I have found in this bill."

Moral Hazard and state bailouts.
States of Distress - WSJ.com: "The state spending binge of the last five years has been almost unprecedented in American history. Since 1998 state and local budgets have nearly doubled to $2 trillion, according to the Census Bureau. State and local expenditures rose 34% from 2003-2007 compared to inflation of 19% and population growth of 5%. They also loaded up on debt, which doubled to $2.23 trillion in 2008 from $1.14 trillion a decade earlier. This doesn't include nearly $1.5 trillion in unfunded health and pension liabilities."