What would JFK do? Linda McMahon, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, recently touched off a ruckus by using a 1963 speech by John F. Kennedy in a campaign ad. In the clip, JFK argues that lowering tax…
Will smaller government hold water?
Many in our country are calling for smaller government and lower taxes. ‘Tea party’ activists call for abolition of programs that are not clearly within the functions specified by the U.S. Constitution. But several recent news items, all water-related, raise…
Consumers will pay for bank, airline monopolies
Increasing monopoly power can get you coming and going, especially at the airport. The decreased competition in air travel resulting from successive mergers among airlines has already increased air fares. Now a pending take-over of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group by…
New apple raises land-grant fairness questions anew
The dispute over the commercialization of SweeTango, a new apple developed at the University of Minnesota, is not just a brouhaha in a bushel basket. It has important implications for the way we pay for and perform research and disseminate…