Fed Stimuli = Electric Shock Therapy

As the title is supposed to suggest, Federal stimulus programs that consist of spending are about as effective as that now-universally discredited method of psychotherapy, and about as insane.

Here's a bit of real world data to keep in mind when you hear Krugmanites tout Federal spending as an economic stimulus:

Big spending is another economy-killer. A recent OECD study noted that for every percentage point increase in spending among the nations studied, per capita GDP fell by 0.3% and investment by as much as 0.4%. So more government "stimulus" cures nothing.

Why the Economy is Limping

Cypress Semiconductor CEO T. J. Rodgers points out the basic reason the economy is going nowhere, and it has nothing to do with cap and trade.

Cap-and-trade is increasingly seen as the final crushing burden on a business community that wants to hire, wants to expand, wants to expand the economy, yet is frustrated by an administration more concerned with the earth's climate than the business climate, an administration that, as Rodgers says, has "us worried because we do not know what the government is going to do."

Emphasis, most definitely, added.

Google Touts Free Enterprise?

Google finally shows some mild respect for free enterprise when it complains about a lawsuit that substitutes litigation for competition. (MS co-founder Paul Allen is suing practically everybody in Silicon Valley for patent infringements.)

"This lawsuit against some of America's most innovative companies reflects an unfortunate trend of people trying to compete in the courtroom instead of the marketplace," the Mountain View search giant said in a statement. "Innovation — not litigation — is the way to bring to market the kinds of products and services that benefit millions of people around the world."

True, but more than a little ironic coming from the social democrats at Google who don't seem to remember those words when it comes to things like Net so-called Neutrality, i.e. violation of property rights by government regulation and price controls.

IPCC Climate Science Chief Gets Good Advice, Finally

IPCC Climate Data Fudger-In-Chief Rajendra Pachauri gets a mild spanking from some real scientists, the sort who haven't yet completely lost their scientific integrity.

"Qualitative probabilities should be used to describe the probability of well-defined outcomes only when there is sufficient evidence," said the review group, which was supported by the academies of science from the United States, Netherlands, Britain and other countries.

Good advice (although I'm not altogether sure what a "qualitative" probability would look like). Think he'll take it? Nah, me neither.

PJM Article: The Fragility of Statist Societies

Another of my articles has been published at Pajamas Media: The Fragility of Statist Societies.

Here's an excerpt:

"The ultimate justification for a free society rests on moral principles. Individuals have inherent rights — to life, liberty, and property — that governments are always wrong to violate, no matter the (temporary) benefits to others. But even on their own terms, the pragmatists who argue that coercion works are mistaken."

Your comments are invited, here and there.

Bernanke Promises Action, Run For the Hills

A UK Guardian headline reads: "Ben Bernanke promises to step in as US economy veers back towards recession"

That's enough to give any rational person the willies. Never fear. Ben himself assures us:

The committee will certainly use its tools as needed to maintain price stability – avoiding excessive inflation or further disinflation – and to promote the continuation of the economic recovery.

Well, I feel a whole lot better now, don't you?

I wrote recently that Progressives are immune to evidence and logic. Their indifference to the history of Keynesian-inspired economic policy proves the point once again. That, or Bernanke and his ilk are simple sociopaths; I have a hard time deciding.

Most likely they are, like the leaders of the French Revolution were, in the grip of an ideé fixeé, and nothing will shake them lose from it. At least, I hope that's the explanation. The other is a little too frightening to contemplate.

New Techniques Reveal Greek Statues' Original Appearance

Amazing.

A technique called ‘raking light' has been used to analyze art for a long time.

A lamp is positioned carefully enough that the path of the light is almost parallel to the surface of the object. When used on paintings, this makes brushstrokes, grit, and dust obvious. On statues, the effect is more subtle. Brush-strokes are impossible to see, but because different paints wear off at different rates, the stone is raised in some places – protected from erosion by its cap of paint – and lowered in others. Elaborate patterns become visible.

Ultraviolet is also used to discern patterns. ...

Our image of Ancient Greece is inescapably colored, pardon the pun, by having grown up with the austere appearance of its white marble buildings and statues. The technique reveals just how colorful their culture truly was.

Read the rest.