Stimulus, invisible hand, Kansas wind.
Stimulus Delusions (T. Norman Van Cott at the Foundation for Economic Education) More argument that the economic stimulus is harmful to the future of our economy. “Does it matter whether the dollars come from taxes, government borrowing, or the government’s printing press?” No, of course it doesn’t.
Stinson Morrison forms stimulus practice (Wichita Business Journal) A law firm with a Wichita office (Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP) establishes a “Stimulus Strike Force.” No, it’s not an effort to save the taxpayers from having to pay for a harmful, pork-laden spending program that will permanently expand the size of government and is unlikely to solve the problem it’s meant to fix. Instead, this group will “help businesses analyze, understand and access federal stimulus funds and programs. Specifically, team will focus on legislative and executive branch lobbying, government procurement and compliance advice related to the stimulus.”
Adam Smith and the invisible hand (Helen Joyce in Plus Magazine) This is a very nice explanation of Adam Smith’s invisible hand concept, with explanations of how the Prisoner’s Dilemma applies to subsidy-seeking. Also, Arrow’s Theorem — “there is no consistent way to aggregate the preferences of individuals to give a single preference which can be regarded as the preference of society” — is explained.
Topeka media outlets cutting employee pay (Lawrence Journal-World) More bad news for newspapers, and in this case, radio too. Hopefully journalism will find a way to survive.
Kansas wind industry booming (Lawrence Journal-World) “Kansas has tripled its wind generating capacity in the last 15 months, and wind power supporters are hoping that is just the beginning.” One of the comments left to the story reads “Hey hows business going? Its booming!!! Sounds great. Yeah but I don’t make any money and it cost taxpayers a fortune.”