Almost Classical

One of the tendencies among progressives, and among statist conservatives, is to give government far more credit for invention and creativity than it deserves. They point to projects funded or supported by government as evidence of the value of larger, centralized projects, but they forget you cannot prove a negative. Because government is so intertwined in modern innovation and basic research, it is nearly impossible to prove what would be happening without government. People have forgotten that that big projects, like the Transcontinental Railroad, were actually boondoggles that catered to political cronyism, not genuine innovation. (There were better managed, more profitable railways that were crushed by the federalization led by the robber barons.) The market, left to its own, might fill gaps. We simply will never know. My thoughts on this are prompted by too many people claiming we need more and more and more federal spending, supported by higher taxes on the "rich...

The Statue of Liberty front shot, on Liberty Island. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) It's hard, really hard to make it big in America. Well, yes, success takes work, especially if you are trying to start a business, but some in the media and within academia seem to want to convince their audiences that unless you are born wealthy and white, there's almost no hope at all of living the American Dream. The United States does have widening inequality. There are complex explanations for this, including the fact that our wealthy are wealthier (on average and at median) than the wealthy elsewhere. Income inequality, which isn't the same as wealth inequality , is also increasing for many complex reasons. But, there are actual signs that more people can and do start businesses. You wouldn't know that, though, based on how some present research data to the public. The following article from Quartz ( The Atlantic ) is so flawed, statistically and philosophically, it demonst...

I am a "serial entrepreneur" by nature. As early as junior high, I was trying to sell my services as a computer tech and programmer. I also knew I wanted to sell my creative writing. Business fascinated me — I tracked the stock market, the precious metals, and the general commodities when I was in the fifth grade. Not everyone is an entrepreneur; I understand that. Unfortunately, many people don't seem to understand what motivates entrepreneurs and how we help economies and society overall. On an older blog post, the following comment was recently posted: So instead of viewing him [the entrepreneur] as a 'job creator', he's just another consumer. He may consume other peoples' labor (time/skill/effort) in creating a corporation to earn him profits, but he's not a job creator. The market demand creates jobs. Not entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs just chase demand and buy labor in order to earn even more revenue and make profit.  Entrepreneurs do not creat...