Think Tank West

By Jim Harper Google executives who had nothing to do with the creation, uploading, review, or display of a video have been criminally convicted in Italy for its brief appearance on a Google site. The video, which showed Italian children taunting an autistic schoolmate, was promptly taken down after Italian authorities notified Google. The company assisted [...]

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By Mark A. Calabria Today, in what seems like an endless string of 3-2 votes, the SEC moved to restrict the ability of investors to short stocks, claiming that such restrictions would restore stability and protect our financial system.  The truth couldn’t be more different.  Short sellers have long been the first, and often only, voice raising questions [...]

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By Justin Logan On last Sunday’s Defense News TV, I suggested that although we are officially supposed to have zero troops in Iraq by the end of next year, there was a real prospect that we might have a harder time getting out than most analysts are suggesting.  This suggestion was roundly pooh-poohed, and I’m [...]

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By Jim Harper The state of Nevada is one of few that is tripping over itself to comply with the REAL ID Act, the U.S. national ID law. It’s worth taking a look at the sample license displayed in this news report, especially the gold star used on the license to indicate that it is [...]

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By Daniel J. Mitchell Like the sequel to a horror film, the politicians in Washington are talking about just passed another stimulus proposal. Only this time, they’re calling it a “jobs bill” in hopes that a different name will yield a better result. But if past performance is any indicator of future results, this is [...]

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By Tad DeHaven According to the latest Small Business Economic Trends survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, 31 percent of respondents said the single most important problem facing small businesses is “poor sales.” “Taxes” and “Government Regulations and Red Tape” came in second and third place at 22 percent and 13 percent [...]

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By Gerald P. O’Driscoll Charles Plosser, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, gave an important speech last week.  He mounted a strong defense of what is known as Fed independence.  ”Central bank independence means the central bank can make monetary policy decisions without fear of direct political interference.” Toward the end of the [...]

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By Chris Edwards I testified to the Senate Finance Committee today regarding taxes and small business. My testimony is posted here. President Obama plans to raise the top two individual income tax rates. That will not be good for business or the economy. A little more than half of all business income in the United [...]

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By Neal McCluskey Yesterday, Andrew Coulson and I wrote a bit on President Obama’s little talk with the nation’s governors about potential changes to federal education policy. The root of the President’s proposal — and we’ve probably only seen fragments of what will eventually come out – is a requirement that states adopt common “college- and career-readiness standards” to qualify for large chunks [...]

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By Daniel Griswold I’ve become a fan over the years of the annual Economic Report of the President, released around this time each year by the Council of Economic Advisers. The more than 100 tables in the back of the book provide an invaluable picture of the economy over many decades, covering all the major [...]

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