When Congressional Republicans released their 2012 budget proposal, Democrats were quick to attack House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisconsin) deficit reducing proposal to shift Medicare from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution system. This hyperbolic video from the liberal Agenda Project was typical of the smear campaign against this effort to reduce [...]
Economics Archives
State Unemployment Rate Drops Slightly but Still at Double Digits
The state unemployment rate dropped in November from 10.4 percent to 10 percent according to the Division of Employment Security. That is still above the national unemployment rate. The rate stood at 9.8 percent at this time last year. There was a small gain of 3,800 in the number jobs. That is still a far [...]
Crony Capitalism: Local Style
Courtesy of the Cape Fear Patriot blog comes this report of Wilmington City Council engaging in a classic case of crony capitalism. Do you have a piece of property outside of the city limits and the county is refusing to meet your zoning demands? No worries. The Wilmington City Council is apparently for sale, happy [...]
Perdue’s Cronies Put Project on Hold
In new news pertaining to the proposed wind farm in Elizabeth City, the Charlotte Business Journal reports that the developer has decided not to begin construction on the boondoggle project. Iberdrola Renewables has decided not to start construction on a proposed $600 million N.C. wind project this year. The company says it has been unable [...]
N&O Parrots Obama’s Economic Fallacies
In response to a recent editorial in the N&O, I submitted the following letter: The N&O editors claim that President Obama “plainly is correct” in his warning that a higher payroll tax would depress the economy because “consumer spending is key to the recovery.” But the President and N&O editors are plainly wrong. The fact [...]
