China Begins Forced Sterilization of Citizens

Story from the Telegraph. Like KipEsquire, I wonder what Tom Friedman's reaction is and if he would continue viewing them as being run by enlightened elites. Excerpts from the story:

Family planning authorities in Puning, a city in the southern province of Guangdong, have detained more than 1,300 people in the drive, the Nanfang Countryside Daily said in an investigative report.

Those detained included parents who refused to undergo the surgical procedure and their "relatives", the report said.

[...]

Huang Ruifeng, a 64-year-old father of three, said he was contacted by a local official ordering him or his wife to have the surgical procedure, the Nanfang newspaper said.

Mr Huang refused, claiming he was too busy. Later his father was taken away.

Authorities said they were using "extraordinary measures" to encourage couples to undergo sterilisation, such as refusing to provide the children proper registration documents.

The move effectively denies the children access to public services such as health insurance and free schooling.

From The People's Republic

Hat Tip to KipEsquire:

Staff at local government offices in Hubei province were given the order in a move intended to set an example for the rest of the nation, according to state media.

And if they fail to smoke their way through 230,000 packs of locally-produced cigarettes, the officials could face fines.

Brands such as Huanghelou have been earmarked as part of the official quota.

"The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax," local official Chen Nianzu was quoted as saying in the Global Times.

That last sentance subtracted 19 months off my life, it was that painful.

More on Charity

If you found my earlier post on charity interesting, check out this paper by Scott Beaulier and Josh Hall. They put forward a classical liberal challenge against the view that the free market will under provide charitable giving. In a nutshell, the argument the push against is the idea that if you make a donation to reduce poverty, others can free ride and not donate themselves, thus everyone has an incentive to refrain from donating. Beaulier and Hall point out that:

1. This argument is in no way consistent with the evidence. The authors point out that charities actually behave as if there are positive network externalities, where the donations of one individual encourage donations from others. Indeed, it is often the case that you see programs where a third party has agreed to match every $1 of private donations with $x of their own. Why would such a strategy work if there is perfect crowding?
   
   
2. The donations of others reflect a change in the "price" of welfare programs, and as such they are pecuniary externalities, not technological externalities generating a market failure.

Enjoy the paper from your armchair.

Cuban 7th Inning Stretch

Hat Tip to Jorge Costales at 2thinkgood:

Take me out of the ball game,
to roam freely, I’m not allowed.
Not to get peanuts or cracker jack,
fidel will be angry if I don’t go back.

Let me walk, walk, walk in the city,
if I defect it’s no shame.
For it’s one, two, three steps, I’m gone,
from the old ball game.

The Moral and Just Socialist Society

None of that voluntary market transaction evil greed in Venezuela. Troops ordered to turn on their own people? It's just the growing pains of a new order. CNN:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered troops to immediately take over rice-processing plants in his country, accusing some businesses of ignoring prices set by the government.

"What are some of the sectors of the agricultural industry doing? They buy rice from producers, and they don't want to produce regulated rice," Chavez said in a televised address Saturday.

"Well, I've ordered the intervention, starting right now, of all those sectors of the agricultural industry."

Recall that I have previously stated that I support Chavez in these interventions, while acknowledging that it may mean that I am evil.

With that in mind...keep it up Hugo!

Why So Many Apointees Have Trouble Paying Their Taxes

Taxation is voluntary, according to Harry Reid, because of all the deductions and the fact that employers do not do all of the withholdings for you. If the perspective is that taxation is voluntary, then perhaps we can make sense of why so many of Obama's appointees seem to have not paid their taxes.