Capitalism Review

Violence In The Streets and The Death of George Floyd

Jun 2, 2020 | Politics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayWPqQIxfYsAn enlightening discussion between professors Ben Bayer, Greg Salmieri, and Onkar Ghate of the Ayn Rand Institute on the violence in the streets across America and the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota by a policeman.

“Let’s Light This Candle”

May 31, 2020 | Culture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIZsnKGV8TE

NASA Sends Astronauts Into Space on Systems Owned, Built, Tested and Operated by Private Companies

From SpaceX:

On Saturday, May 30 at 3:22 p.m. EDT, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched Crew Dragon’s second demonstration (Demo-2) mission from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This test flight with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board the Dragon spacecraft returned human spaceflight to the United States. Crew Dragon will autonomously dock to the International Space Station at about 10:30 a.m. EDT on Sunday, May 31.[...]

Demo-2 is the final major test for SpaceX’s human spaceflight system to be certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX is returning human spaceflight to the United States with one of the safest, most advanced systems ever built, and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is a turning point for America’s future in space exploration that lays the groundwork for future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

From NASA:

For the first time in history, NASA astronauts have launched from American soil in a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley lifted off at 3:22 p.m. EDT Saturday on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.“Today a new era in human spaceflight begins as we once again launched American astronauts on American rockets from American soil on their way to the International Space Station, our national lab orbiting Earth,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “I thank and congratulate Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley, and the SpaceX and NASA teams for this significant achievement for the United States. The launch of this commercial space system designed for humans is a phenomenal demonstration of American excellence and is an important step on our path to expand human exploration to the Moon and Mars.”Known as NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2, the mission is an end-to-end test flight to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, including launch, in-orbit, docking and landing operations. This is SpaceX’s second spaceflight test of its Crew Dragon and its first test with astronauts aboard, which will pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program."This is a dream come true for me and everyone at SpaceX,” said Elon Musk, chief engineer at SpaceX. “It is the culmination of an incredible amount of work by the SpaceX team, by NASA and by a number of other partners in the process of making this happen. You can look at this as the results of a hundred thousand people roughly when you add up all the suppliers and everyone working incredibly hard to make this day happen.”The program demonstrates NASA’s commitment to investing in commercial companies through public-private partnerships and builds on the success of American companies, including SpaceX, already delivering cargo to the space station.“It’s difficult to put into words how proud I am of the people who got us here today,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager. “When I think about all of the challenges overcome – from design and testing, to paper reviews, to working from home during a pandemic and balancing family demands with this critical mission – I am simply amazed at what the NASA and SpaceX teams have accomplished together. This is just the beginning; I will be watching with great anticipation as Bob and Doug get ready to dock to the space station tomorrow, and through every phase of this historic mission.”SpaceX controlled the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Control Center Firing Room 4, the former space shuttle control room, which SpaceX has leased as its primary launch control center. As Crew Dragon ascended into space, SpaceX commanded the spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. NASA teams are monitoring space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to dock to the space station at 10:29 a.m. Sunday, May 31. NASA Television and the agency’s website are providing ongoing live coverage of the Crew Dragon’s trip to the orbiting laboratory. Behnken and Hurley will work with SpaceX mission control to verify the spacecraft is performing as intended by testing the environmental control system, the displays and control system, and by maneuvering the thrusters, among other things. The first docking maneuver began Saturday, May 30, at 4:09 p.m., and the spacecraft will begin its close approach to the station at about 8:27 a.m. Sunday, May 31. Crew Dragon is designed to dock autonomously, but the crews onboard the spacecraft and the space station will diligently monitor the performance of the spacecraft as it approaches and docks to the forward port of the station’s Harmony module.After successfully docking, the crew will be welcomed aboard the International Space Station, where they will become members of the Expedition 63 crew, which currently includes NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. NASA will continue live coverage through hatch opening and the crew welcoming ceremony. The crew will perform tests on Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew.Three astronauts aboard the International Space Station will participate in a live NASA Television crew news conference from orbit on Monday, June 1, beginning at 11:15 a.m. on NASA TV and the agency’s website.Demo-2 AstronautsBehnken is the joint operations commander for the mission, responsible for activities such as rendezvous, docking and undocking, as well as Demo-2 activities while the spacecraft is docked to the space station. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2000 and has completed two space shuttle flights. Behnken flew STS-123 in March 2008 and STS-130 in February 2010, performing three spacewalks during each mission. Born in St. Anne, Missouri, he has bachelor’s degrees in physics and mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and earned a master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Before joining NASA, he was a flight test engineer with the U.S. Air Force.Hurley is the spacecraft commander for Demo-2, responsible for activities such as launch, landing and recovery. He was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and has completed two spaceflights. Hurley served as pilot and lead robotics operator for both STS‐127 in July 2009 and STS‐135, the final space shuttle mission, in July 2011. The New York native was born in Endicott but considers Apalachin his hometown. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Tulane University in New Orleans and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. Before joining NASA, he was a fighter pilot and test pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps.Mission ObjectivesThe Demo-2 mission is the final major test before NASA’s Commercial Crew Program certifies Crew Dragon for operational, long-duration missions to the space station. As SpaceX’s final flight test, it will validate all aspects of its crew transportation system, including the Crew Dragon spacecraft, spacesuits, Falcon 9 launch vehicle, launch pad 39A and operations capabilities.While en route to the station, Behnken and Hurley will take control of Crew Dragon for two manual flight tests, demonstrating their ability to control the spacecraft should an issue with the spacecraft’s automated flight arise. On Saturday, May 30, while the spacecraft is coasting, the crew will test its roll, pitch and yaw. When Crew Dragon is about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) below the station and moving around to the docking axis, the crew will conduct manual in-orbit demonstrations of the control system in the event it were needed. After pausing, rendezvous will resume and mission managers will make a final decision about whether to proceed to docking as Crew Dragon approaches 20 meters (66 feet).For operational missions, Crew Dragon will be able to launch as many as four crew members at a time and carry more than 220 pounds of cargo, allowing for an increased number crew members aboard the space station and increasing the time dedicated to research in the unique microgravity environment, as well as returning more science back to Earth.The Crew Dragon being used for this flight test can stay in orbit about 110 days, and the specific mission duration will be determined once on station based on the readiness of the next commercial crew launch. The operational Crew Dragon spacecraft will be capable of staying in orbit for at least 210 days as a NASA requirement.At the conclusion of the mission, Behnken and Hurley will board Crew Dragon, which will then autonomously undock, depart the space station, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. Upon splashdown off Florida’s Atlantic coast, the crew will be picked up by the SpaceX recovery ship and returned to the dock at Cape Canaveral.NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with SpaceX and Boeing to design, build, test and operate safe, reliable and cost-effective human transportation systems to low-Earth orbit. Both companies are focused on test missions, including abort system demonstrations and crew flight tests, ahead of regularly flying crew missions to the space station. Both companies’ crewed flights will be the first times in history NASA has sent astronauts to space on systems owned, built, tested and operated by private companies.

Salsman: Fiscal-Monetary ‘Stimulus’ is Depressive

May 30, 2020 | Business, Politics

Writes Richard Salsman in The Hill: on why Fiscal-monetary 'stimulus' is depressive (26 May 2020):

What is the case for “stimulus”? Many economists believe public spending and money issuance create wealth or purchasing power. Not so. Our only means of obtaining real goods and services is from wealth creation — production. Under barter no one comes to market expecting to buy stuff without also offering stuff. A monetary economy does not alter this key principle.[...]To see why “stimulus” truly depresses, consult the basics. The creation of public money and public debt is not the creation of wealth; it is not food, clothing, shelter, energy or the like. Even privately generated money and debt, which reflect the needs of trade and lengthy production chains, represent, facilitate and circulate wealth but are not themselves wealth. Meanwhile, the savings borrowed by governments are unavailable to productive enterprises, and when a government creates fiat money beyond what money holders demand, the money loses purchasing power, which boosts the cost of living. These are not roads to prosperity.

Legal Challenges to the Lockdowns

May 30, 2020 | Politics

From Pacific Legal Foundation:

Napa, California; May 27, 2020: Faced with an imminent legal challenge from a local retail art gallery, Napa County officials said late yesterday that retail art galleries may open for business as part of California’s Stage 2 reopening plan.Quent and Linda Cordair sought to reopen their gallery, Quent Cordair Fine Art, using social distancing, masks, and limiting the number of customers. But Napa County ordered them to remain closed and threatened the Cordairs and their landlord with fines if they reopened ahead of California’s reopening plan. The state’s reopening plan classifies retail businesses Stage 2, while art galleries are Stage 3.The Cordairs sent a letter to Napa County, urging them to treat the gallery like other retail business and to allow them to reopen with other Stage 2 retail stores, but the county never responded.After attorneys from Pacific Legal Foundation informed the county of an impending lawsuit from the Cordairs, county officials responded that retail art galleries would be considered Stage 2 retail businesses and that they may resume operations.“We are delighted that Quent and Linda Cordair may now open their business,” said Anastasia Boden, senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “It was deeply unfair that the state considered art galleries Stage 3 when the Cordairs’ shop is no different than the dozens of retail stores permitted to open now. While the government can regulate to protect public health, laws cannot be arbitrary.”As a result of the county’s announcement, the Cordairs are no longer moving forward with their planned lawsuit.“We are happy that we can sell our art to willing customers, with recommended safety protocols in place,” said Linda Cordair. “But we shouldn’t have to go through all this trouble to get permission. We should be able to pursue our passion, earn a living, and serve our customers without having to threaten legal action.”

Elan Journo interviews Anastasia Boden, Pacific Legal Foundation's senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, and Steve Simpson a legal scholar with the Ayn Rand Institute:

Andrew Coulson: Innovation in Education

May 26, 2020 | Culture

Andrew Coulson, author of the highly recommended Market Education: The Unknown History has a three video series on innovation in education.From the program description:

"With the great inventions of the Industrial Revolution in the 17th century, productivity rose dramatically -- and the innovations behind it spread like wildfire. But not so in education. In those early years, education was controlled by parents, but Horace Mann championed efforts to put education into the hands of state-appointed experts and state-trained teachers. And so, universal public education in America was born.The documentary flashes forward to East Los Angeles, and a modern story of what happened when Jaime Escalante, a gifted math teacher at Garfield High, and the educational excellence he created in the classroom became the basis of the Hollywood movie, Stand and Deliver. Finally, Coulson travels to Seoul, South Korea, where college-bound students eagerly enroll in after school tutoring programs called “Hagwons.” Students and administrators tell us how well it works, and one professor declares he makes more than a million dollars in salary every year.In “The Price of Excellence,” the first episode of School, Inc., the late Andrew Coulson, senior fellow of education policy at Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, explores the industry of education, its history, the politics that sometimes impede the growth of good schools – and good teachers -- and the rise of entrepreneurial educators."

***

From the program description:

"Education policy analyst Andrew Coulson travels to Michigan’s prestigious Cranbrook High School, one of the top ten private high schools in America, in “Push or Pull,” the second episode of School, Inc. Cranbrook -- and other excellent private schools in America --typically don’t “scale-up” to replicate their excellence on a larger scale and serve more students. So, is there someplace else where scaling up excellence is happening? The answer is “yes” and it is in America’s charter schools.But when charter schools compete with public schools, there is often trouble ahead. From those involved we hear how the Sabis School, tremendously successful in Springfield, Massachusetts, was prevented from operating in nearby Brockton, because a school superintendent decided such excellence was simply not in the best interest of his public school.For six years the American Indian Charter School, part of a small network of California charter schools, ranked among the top middle schools in California. But in the spring of 2013 the Oakland Public School District voted to shut down all three American Indian Schools, because the charter school had chosen to use its own special education services, and not those controlled by the state; that resulted in a loss of revenue to the public school system.Not every story has a negative outcome. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the city’s vibrant charter schools came to the rescue, and provided the facilities and services which other schools needed to get back on their feet. Finally, Coulson travels to South America, for a comparison of how the success of Chile’s wine industry sets the scene for the growth of the country’s successful private school networks.Chile’s private schools consistently outperform schools in all other Latin American countries, but trouble is always on the horizon. Still the private school networks of Chile provide a note of optimism in Andrew Coulson’s journey to discover the secrets of School, Inc."

***

"Ten years after Chile reformed its education system, Sweden followed suit, and so Sweden is Andrew Coulson’s first stop in episode three of School, Inc. All private schools in Sweden are now fully tax supported, and parents can choose between these so-called “free” schools and the local public schools.The global journey continues, visiting highly successful private schools in Sweden, London and India, where the resistance to education as a business has lessened. Coulson is joined by the administrators of these schools to examine the secrets of their success, learning that some of India’s highly successful private schools serve eager poor students and parents at little more than a dollar a week. School, Inc. comes full circle to conclude in the English countryside where the Industrial Revolution began. Then as now, Coulson suggests, education was perhaps the only field in which successful entrepreneurship was not celebrated"

Coulson concludes:

“What if we allowed all education entrepreneurs to put their own money on the line in an effort to better serve us, gaining or losing just as entrepreneurs do in other fields? And what if we made sure that everyone had access to that wide-open marketplace? Would we then see excellence scale-up in education?"

Such an effort is in fact occurring with Higher Ground Education, an entrepreneurial effort, that has scaled to the largest private Montessori school Inc. in the country.Recommend Reading: Market Education: The Unknown History by Andrew Coulson

Steven Kates: Why Your Grandfather’s Economics Was Better Than Yours

May 25, 2020 | Business, Politics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIgkbdT5V6wSteven Kates presents the Ludwig von Mises Memorial Lecture at the 2010 Austrian Scholars Conference.

Online Learning Program on History of Technology and Invention

May 20, 2020 | Culture

From Jason Crawford at Roots of Progress:

I’m thrilled to announce a new online learning program in progress studies for high school students: Progress Studies for Young Scholars.Progress Studies for Young Scholars launches in June as a summer program, with daily online learning activities for 6 weeks. We’ll be covering the history of technology and invention: the challenges of life and work and how we solved them, leading to the amazing increase in living standards over the last few centuries. Topics will include the advances in materials; automation of manufacturing and agriculture; the progression of energy from steam to oil to electricity; how railroads, cars and airplanes shrank the world; the conquest of infectious disease through sanitation, vaccines, and antibiotics; and the rise of computers and the Internet. The course will also prompt students to consider the future of progress, and what part they want to play in it.The program will be guided self-study, with daily reading, podcasts or video. Students can go through the material entirely on their own for free, or pay to join a study group with an instructor for daily discussion and Q&A. Pricing to be announced soon, but scholarships will be available!In conjunction, we’re launching a speaker series of talks and interviews with experts in the history of progress, and those at the frontier pushing it forward. Speakers will include Tyler Cowen, Patrick Collison, Max Roser, Joel Mokyr, Deirdre McCloskey, Anton Howes, and many more.This is a joint project between The Roots of Progress and Higher Ground Education, the largest operator of Montessori and Montessori-inspired schools in the US. I’ve known the leadership team at Higher Ground for many years and have deep respect for them—especially the way they treat learning as a process of self-creation on the part of the student.Sign up to get announcements about the program, including the speaker series: progressstudies.schoolAnd please spread the word, especially to intellectually curious teenagers and their parents!

Pick The Man, Pin The Crime: The Saga of Michael Flynn

May 14, 2020 | Politics

In an address given eighty years ago by the then-Attorney General of the United States, Robert H. Jackson made these prophetic words:

If the prosecutor is obliged to choose his cases, it follows that he can choose his defendants. Therein is the most dangerous power of the prosecutor: that he will pick people that he thinks he should get, rather than pick cases that need to be prosecuted. With the law books filled with a great assortment of crimes, a prosecutor stands a fair chance of finding at least a technical violation of some act on the part of almost anyone. In such a case, it is not a question of discovering the commission of a crime and then looking for the man who has committed it, it is a question of picking the man and then searching the law books, or putting investigators to work, to pin some offense on him. It is this realm in which the prosecutor picks some person whom he dislikes or desires to embarrass, or selects some group of unpopular persons and then looks for an offense, that the greatest danger of abuse of prosecuting power lies. It is here that law enforcement becomes personal, and the real crime becomes that of being unpopular with the predominant or governing group, being attached to the wrong political views, or being personally obnoxious to or in the way of the prosecutor himself." [Robert H. Jackson, "The Federal Prosecutor" April 1, 1940.]

Given documents released as a result of the independent review ordered by Attorney General William Barr, that this is what happened to Michael Flynn.According to Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, Flynn was railroaded in what liberal law professor, "galling and grotesque" and an "utter travesty of justice."According to Turley:

Previously undisclosed documents in the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn offer us a chilling blueprint on how top FBI officials not only sought to entrap the former White House aide but sought to do so on such blatantly unconstitutional and manufactured grounds.[...]
The new documents also explore how the Justice Department could get Flynn to admit breaking the Logan Act [(18 U.S.C. §953)], a law that dates back to from 1799 which makes it a crime for a citizen to intervene in disputes between the United States and foreign governments. It has never been used to convict a citizen and is widely viewed as flagrantly unconstitutional. [Jonathan Turley "Michael Flynn case should be dismissed to preserve justice", The Hill, 30 April 2020.]

Or, in Robert H. Jackson's prophetic words: "With the law books filled with a great assortment of crimes, a prosecutor stands a fair chance of finding at least a technical violation of some act on the part of almost anyone."Not only has the 1799 Logan Act, never been used to convict anyone, but it has been repeatedly violated:

In modern times, many prominent individuals—like Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover, Sean Penn, Dennis Rodman, Ted Kennedy, and John Kerry–have violated the act, some repeatedly. Even if the act could be applied to many private individuals, it makes no sense to apply it to an appointee of an incoming administration whose duties include speaking with representatives of foreign governments. In fact, the motion to dismiss admits that “the Logan Act would be difficult to prosecute.” [John G. Malcolm Zack Smith Hans von Spakovsky, "Michael Flynn Seems to Finally Be Getting the Justice He Deserves", The National Interest, 8 May 2020]

Even worse, it appears McCabe, Strzok, Comey, and various "FBI officials also lied and acted in arguably criminal or unethical ways, but all escaped without charges" according to Turley:

McCabe had a supervisory role in the Flynn prosecution. He was then later found by the Justice Department inspector general to have repeatedly lied to investigators. While his case was referred for criminal charges, McCabe was fired but never charged. Strzok was also fired for his misconduct in the investigation. Comey intentionally leaked FBI material, including potentially classified information but was never charged. Another FBI agent responsible for the secret warrants used for the Russia investigation had falsified evidence to maintain the investigation. He is still not indicted. The disconnect of these cases with the treatment of Flynn is galling and grotesque.[...]Mueller had ignored the view of the investigators and coerced Flynn to plead to a crime he did not commit to gain damaging testimony against Trump and his associates that Flynn did not have.

Let us recall Jackson's words again "It is here that law enforcement becomes personal, and the real crime becomes that of being unpopular with the predominant or governing group, being attached to the wrong political views, or being personally obnoxious to or in the way of the prosecutor himself."I expect the twists and turns in the Flynn case will eventually make its way into a blockbuster movie -- I can see Rob Lowe easily playing Michael Flynn, but in the meantime for a breakdown of the Flynn saga, read "Michael Flynn Seems to Finally Be Getting the Justice He Deserves" and "Michael Flynn case should be dismissed to preserve justice."

Salsman: Impeach America’s Autocratic Governors For Abuse of Power

May 13, 2020 | Politics

Writes Richard Salsman in The Capitalism Standard on "Pandemic = DEM Panic" (21 April 2020):

New Jersey autocratic Governor Phil Murphy was asked recently by Tucker Carlson what possible alternative authority warranted his policies, which brazenly violate the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. While grinning and chuckling, Murphy said “I wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this. That’s above my pay grade.” In fact, the Bill of Rights includes a mere ten amendments, and ten lies above Murphy’s IQ. Every governor – indeed, every elected official in America – takes office with a solemn oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of United States,” as amended, and both the supremacy clause and 14^th Amendment of that charter prohibit any provision of any state constitution or policy to contradict, defy, or flout the Constitution in any way, at any time, under any circumstances.America’s autocratic governors ought to be summarily recalled, impeached, and if necessary jailed for abusing power. Some Americans in some states are beginning to assemble and protest autocratic policies, but it may be far too little, too late.

Mossoff: Congress Plans to Steal the Coronavirus Vaccine

May 12, 2020 | Politics

According to Adam Mossoff, Chair, Forum for Intellectual Property and Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, "Lawmakers in Washington want to confiscate the patents on coronavirus treatments and vaccines — before biotech companies even finish developing them...Their proposal bars research firms from patenting their life-saving inventions and it mandates 'reasonable' prices." ["Congress Plans to Steal the Coronavirus Vaccine, 7 May 2020]

After explaining why such a policy is unlawful, Professor Mossoff, goes on to explain the vital role of patents in medical research:

Legality aside, threatening biotech companies to seize their patents is a surefire way to kill the ability of this vital industry to develop these lifesaving drugs and vaccines.Patents have long served an indispensable role in spurring medical treatments. Economists at Tufts University estimate that each new drug approved by the FDA results from on average 10-15 years of research and $2.6 billion in investments. For each FDA-approved drug, there are thousands of failures in the drug research pipeline. These massive research and development efforts are supported by over $129 billion in funding by private companies (as of 2019), more than triple the amount of $43 billion in public funding provided by the federal government that same year.

Note that this $43 billion in 'public funding' is confiscated from taxpayers -- confiscated from the profits of medical companies by unequal ("progressive") double-taxation of corporate profits (the company is taxed on its profits, and then the shareholders are taxed again when they receive earnings from these profits either through taxing of capital gains and/or dividends.)

In sum, it’s expensive, time-consuming, and risky to invent new drugs. Patents provide vital legal security to secure the fruits of these inventive labors, allowing companies to recoup past R&D efforts and fund even more. Future drug treatments for the coronavirus are no exception.

This is the market at work, as those who are successful at making new drugs are rewarded for their efforts, and receive more funds to build upon that success. This is how the market under capitalism 'allocates' capital.

If the federal government twists its own laws and arbitrarily threatens to expropriate these patents, then private research funding will grow scarce. Pharmaceutical companies invest thousands of hours and billions of dollars to save lives and increase everyone’s quality of life, but they cannot continue to do this if they face arbitrary expropriation of the fruits of their labors. More patients will suffer and die as a result of this deadly pandemic and future pandemics.This future awaits us if leaders in Washington twist and abuse Bayh-Dole’s march-in provision.

Takeways from Yaron Brook Interview with Dr. Amesh Adalja on The CoronaVirus

May 10, 2020 | Politics

Dr. Amesh Adalja is a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. His work is focused on emerging infectious disease, pandemic preparedness, and biosecurity.Recommended Reading: COVID19: A Path Forward by Amesh AdaljaSome key takeaways:

Asynchronous outbreaks around the world - worldwide cases are coming again (South Korea) -- the virus is not going anywhere;
We are going to be dealing with COVID-19 for the next two years until a vaccine is developed;
South Korea COVID-19 Response was "textbook": acted quickly and took the right actions';
Keep the number of cases so not to overwhelm hospital capacity -- in Japan had to reimplement lockdown when cases spiked up again;
The jury is still out on Sweden: most deaths in nursing homes; still some restrictions on large crowds; Swedes tend to social distance "naturally" (Brook); not appropriate for U.S. hotspots like New York;
Taiwan "great success story" pounced on this and was very aggressive on testing; injustices against Taiwan; prohibited from WHO (and U.N.) because Taiwan government respects individual rights of citizens;
Virus mutations: "most mutations have no functional significance"; what matters is how virulent it is (speed of spread);
Death rates dependent on host (co-factors like obesity and diabetes); can run rampant in nursing homes (must lockdown and be "fortified") which is high risk;
Not apocalyptic, but still dangerous: New virus with no protection against it (more deadly and challenging then flu -- which we have antivirals for); what makes it deadly is that it can affect everybody; so even if a small amount (0.6);
Cannot extrapolate one area (high population density like New York City) to another (rural area);
Politicization has made it hard to get an objective opinion; CDC: "constrained" by the political environment; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID): "made major breakthroughs", "pioneer with HIV", "icon in the field";
How durable is immunity? People in South Korea were not reinfected -- the test does not test for viable virus, but tests for materials (debris) from virus;
"Flattening the Curve" is not about saving lives, but spreading cases out over time so as to not overwhelm hospital capacity; as you peel back social distancing the number of cases will go up;
Hydroxychloroquine is not the answer, but the effectiveness depends on controlled grouped trials; the final solution is a vaccine;
Island nations (Iceland, New Zeland) are good at infectious diseases as they have a natural barrier;
Number of cases is less important then hospitalization rates;
California -- lockdown ("blunt instrument") of the entire state is not necessary at this time; should be done a county level;
1968 Hong Kong Flu [influenza A subtype H3N2] compared to COVID-19: This will be worse, but not as bad as 1918 [1918–19 pandemic, which caused between 25 million and 50 million deaths].
A lot of gray areas: a lot of things we do not know the answer to and are "learning things on the fly"; lots of false alternatives being created between opening up completely and shutdowns;
What individuals should do: high-risk individuals should avoid COIV-19 at all costs; avoid contact with high-risk individuals so as to not infect them with the virus; different for every person's risk tolerance; make sure people you visit consent to making contact with you.

Amy Peikoff Interview with David Rubin

May 9, 2020 | Politics

Amy Peikoff, of Don't Let It Go, interview with NYT Best-Selling Author Dave Rubin, about his book, "Don't Burn This Book: Thinking for Yourself in an Age of Unreason".Amy is busy writing a book, Legalizing Privacy: Why and How, which discusses the value of privacy for the virtuous life and the proper means of protecting it, and is founder of the Center for the Legalization of Privacy.

Mossoff: Google v. Oracle and the Constitutional Foundations of Intellectual Property Law

May 8, 2020 | Politics

In a webinar panel for The Committee for Justice, Adam Mossoff, Chair, Forum for Intellectual Property and Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, along with Seth L. Cooper, Randolph May, and Curt Levey, discusses the impact of the upcoming SCOTUS ruling in Google v. Oracle.

Since World Intellectual Property Day is on April 26, it is a timely occasion for recognizing the vital role of copyright protections in encouraging innovation in the Digital Age. The strong protection of intellectual property in the Constitution and the Copyright Act has helped to make the U.S. the world's most prosperous society, and intellectual property protection of new technologies is particularly vital.Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is set to weigh in on the copyrightability of software in what will be the biggest copyright case in several decades. The Court’s ruling in Google v. Oracle is expected to set the standard for how thoroughly computer code is protected by copyright. In this virtual panel, legal experts weigh in on the case and share their views on the constitutional foundations of intellectual property rights and current issues in copyright law.

The Failure of The COVID-19 Experts

May 8, 2020 | Politics

Victor David Hanson makes some important observations in "The War between Experience and Credentials" (5 May 2020, National Review):

One of the most depressing aspects of the coronavirus epidemic has been the failure of the credentialed class — the alphabetic transnational and federal health organizations, the university modelers, the professional associations, and their media enablers. Their collective lapse was largely due to hubris and the assumption that titles and credentials meant they had no need to accept input and criticism from those far more engaged in the physical world — they saw no need to say, “At this time, I confess we are as confused as you are.”In sum, the ER doctors, the nurses, and the public in general all eagerly welcomed the research of the experts. But the reverse — in which experts would listen to those with firsthand experience — was not true.The asymmetrical result is that we all have paid a terrible price in misjudging the perfidy of China; the rot within the World Health Organization; the origins, transmission, infectiousness, and lethality of the virus; and the most effective, cost-to-benefit response to the epidemic in terms of saving lives lost to the infection versus the likely even more lives lost through the response.

Truly a must-read.

Cuomo: The Recipient of Charity that Keeps on Taking

May 8, 2020 | Politics

From "Andrew Cuomo: Healthcare workers who volunteered to help New York with pandemic must pay state income taxes", 6 May 2020, Washington Examiner:

Healthcare workers who traveled to New York to help patients during the coronavirus pandemic may not have realized they were also going to be assisting the state dig itself out of a financial hole. [...] "Ken Isaacs, the vice president of Samaritan's Purse, a nonprofit organization that set up a temporary hospital in Central Park to help with the pandemic, told PIX 11 he was shocked to learn that workers who volunteered to come to the state would have to pay the state's income tax."

Thus, a nurse from Texas (which has no state income taxes), who volunteers to work in New York, will have to file paperwork, and pay taxes for money she is paid in Texas.

The End of College Show Trials

May 8, 2020 | Education

There is some great news in U.S. Academia.In 2011, Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan released a “Dear Colleague” letter, that "compelled schools to conduct sexual-misconduct inquiries as if they were show trials — stripping students of the ability to face their accuser, or to call witnesses, or to see the evidence against them" according to David Harsanyi.This is no longer the case in 2020.

According to The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education "[a]dvocates for free speech and due process on campus won one of their biggest-ever victories today with the finalization of long-awaited new Department of Education Title IX regulations."

Among the changes from the previous Obama Administration Department of Education regulations are:

An express presumption of innocence; [!!!]
Live hearings with cross-examination conducted by an advisor of choice, who may be an attorney;
Sufficient time and information — including access to evidence — to prepare for interviews and a hearing;
Impartial investigators and decision-makers;
A requirement that all relevant evidence receive an objective evaluation.
The regulations also affirm institutions’ ability to use the “clear and convincing” standard of evidence, which the government previously forced schools to abandon in 2011 for the lower “preponderance” standard in sexual misconduct cases.
Finally, the regulations define “sexual harassment” as it was defined by the Supreme Court of the United States in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (1999). This definition provides a clear path for institutions to respond to allegations of misconduct while also protecting students’ expressive rights.

According to Harsanyi:

The Obama guidelines allowed accusers to appeal “not guilty” verdicts but did not guarantee the same right for the accused. Rather, it permitted penalties to be handed out before investigations were even conducted. And those who conducted the investigation, often a single untrained employee, were empowered to be both judge and jury. Adjudicators will now be trained, and the training material they use will be published on the school’s website to offer transparency.The new rules, and there are 2,033 pages of them, also expand the protections for victims by asking schools to investigate allegations of stalking, domestic violence, and dating violence.The rules also roll back broadsides against free speech instituted by the Obama administration, which forced schools to investigate sexual-themed speech that offended students. As with most things on campus these days, the process was hijacked by brittle and perpetually offended progressive students. ["Betsy DeVos Restores Due Process, Dems Freak Out"]

***

In a hypocritical twist, Democratic nominee for President Joe "Biden says he'll reverse DeVos rule bolstering protections for those accused of campus sexual assault" (The Hill):

“It’s wrong,” Biden said. “And, it will be put to a quick end in January 2021, because as president, I’ll be right where I always have been throughout my career — on the side of survivors, who deserve to have their voices heard, their claims taken seriously and investigated, and their rights upheld...”

City Journal contributor, KC Johnson summarizes the hypocrisy of the Biden situation (now including allegations of sexual misconduct from Tara Reade):

Biden’s approach to campus sexual misconduct effectively reverses Blackstone’s central premise of common law: to undo the injustices of the past, this new tenet holds, it is better that 10 innocents suffer than one clearly guilty student escape. If this approach requires a presumption of guilt that sweeps up the innocent and the almost-certainly innocent as well as the guilty, that’s a price that society (and, of course, the innocent) must pay.Biden’s current situation recalls that of former senator Al Franken, who bitterly criticized DeVos’s Title IX policies, only to flail about in defending himself against allegations (mostly less serious than what Biden faces) of sexual misconduct. Ideologically boxed in, Franken could not defend himself by challenging his accusers’ veracity, lest he appear to reject the party’s consensus about believing all complainants.In an ideal world, Joe Biden would use his new experience as an accused party to champion fairer treatment across the board. More likely, he’ll fall back on a double standard, demanding that he receive the benefit of the doubt denied to others—especially students with far less power than he possesses.

Alex Epstein on Michael Moore’s Planet of the Humans

May 6, 2020 | Politics

Alex Epstein has two videos analyzing Michael Moore's documentary, Planet of the Humans: "The Five Things Planet of the Humans Gets (Mostly) Right."

Green energy is a high-impact industrial process
Green energy has many undesirable environmental impacts
Green energy is hugely dependent on fossil fuels
"100% renewable" is energy accounting fraud
Leading green energy advocates are a terrifying combination of ignorant and dishonest

"The Five Things Planet of the Human Gets Totally Wrong."

It evades how bad the “natural” planet was for human life.
It evades how good today’s humanized planet is for human life.
It evades our ability to create new value and grow indefinitely.
It evades our ability to produce more value with fewer side effects (e.g., nuclear).
It evaluates the state of the planet by an anti-human standard (unchanged nature), not a pro-human standard (human flourishing).

Howes: Innovation is the Exception, Not The Rule

May 3, 2020 | Culture

Historian Anton Howes provides an excellent example in his post Where Be Dragons of John Kay's Flying Shuttle:

A theme I keep coming back to is that a lot of inventions could have been invented centuries, if not millennia, before they actually were. My favourite example is John Kay’s flying shuttle, one of the most famous inventions of the British Industrial Revolution. It radically increased the productivity of weaving in the 1730s, but involved simply attaching a little extra wood and string. It involved no new materials, was applied to the weaving of wool — England’s age-old industry — and required no special skill or science. Weaving had been “performed for upwards of five thousand years, by millions of skilled workmen, without any improvement being made to expedite the operation, until the year 1733” [1], was how Bennet Woodcroft — one of the nineteenth century’s most important historians of technology — put it. [....] Weavers had been around for millennia, as had shuttles: one is even mentioned in the Old Testament (“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And are spent without hope”).

Let Bennet Woodcroft's words sink in for a minute.For five thousand plus years, millions of skilled people have been weaving and no one -- that we know of (and if they did they did not pass it on) [2] -- had thought of this simple, inexpensive, easily constructed improvement.In another article, Is Innovation in Human Nature? Howes again illustrates the simplicity of the Flying Shuttle:

Kay’s innovation was to use two wooden boxes on either side to catch the shuttle. And he attached a string, with a little handle called a picker, so that the shuttle could be jerked across the loom, at great speed. Here’s a video of it in action.All Kay added was some wood and some string. And he applied it to weaving wool, which had been England’s main industry since the middle ages. He had no special skill, he required no special understanding of science for it, and he faced no special incentive to do it. As for institutions, the flying shuttle was technically illegal because it saved labour, the patent was immediately pirated by competitors to little avail, and Kay was forced to move to France, hounded out of the country by angry weavers who threatened his property and even his life. Kay faced no special incentives — he even innovated despite some formidable social and legal barriers.

(Hank Rearden anyone?)Howes calls such innovations "low-hanging fruit, ripe for the plucking for centuries."So what is the fundamental cause of innovation? According to Howes, it requires an improving mentality:

So why did it take so long? Rather than there being any constraints, soft or otherwise, I think it’s simply because innovation in general is so extremely rare. It’s a matter of absence, rather than of barriers. The reason we have had so many low-hanging fruit throughout history is just because very few people ever bother to think of how to do things differently.

Let me end with Howes quote of agricultural innovator Arthur Young who said that:

...the natural state is not innovation, but “that dronish, sleepy, and stupid indifference, that lazy negligence, which enchains men in the exact paths of their forefathers, without enquiry, without thought”.

Notes [1] Bennet Woodcroft, "Brief Biographies of Inventors of Machines For The Manufacture of Textile Fabrics" (1863) Chapter 1, page 2. [2] Whether it is a causal factor in a particular innovation or not, a society that has a culture that better enables the passing on of such innovations is superior to one that does not.

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