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A Stitch in Haste

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine … But Haste Makes Waste

A collection of real-world libertarian, individualist and laissez-faire rants on law, economics, politics, culture and other current events
by an average, everyday lawyer & investment banker and part-time pop scholar.


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Entries Tagged as 'Kip's Law'

Apparently Now It's the "Unbroken Window Fallacy"

March 3rd, 2009 · Comments Off

The Vice President visits a window factory.

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Tags: Capitalism · Kip's Law · Rent-Seeking · Taxation & Fiscal Policy

Are All Asymmetrical Contracts "Unjust"?

February 7th, 2009 · 3 Comments

The Times' "Ethicist" channels George Costanza.

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Tags: Capitalism · Freedom of Contract · Kip's Law · Law

But They'll Make Great Cars…

December 27th, 2008 · 2 Comments

Thomas Friedman:
Landing at Kennedy Airport from Hong Kong was, as I've argued before, like going from the Jetsons to the Flintstones. The ugly, low-ceilinged arrival hall was cramped, and using a luggage cart cost $3. (Couldn't we at least supply foreign visitors with a free luggage cart, like other major airports in the world?) As [...]

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Tags: Capitalism · Kip's Law · Taxation & Fiscal Policy

Kip's Law Sighting: Retired Flight Attendant

December 26th, 2008 · 2 Comments

Holiday air travel + weather delays = yearning for the "good ol' days" —
I know the days are gone when attendants could be written up if we did not put the linen napkins with the T.W.A. logo embossed on them in the lower righthand corner of the first-class diners' trays. As are the days [...]

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Tags: Economics & Finance · Kip's Law · Updates

Kip's Law Sighting: Adam Cohen on Layoffs

December 8th, 2008 · Comments Off

New York Times columnist Adam Cohen:
Mass layoffs produce big winners and losers. Most workers who remain are financially unscathed, even though their employer is struggling. Wages are actually expected to increase 3.5 percent in 2009. Those laid off are left with no salary and, because the job market is so brutal, risk losing their homes [...]

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Tags: Capitalism · Kip's Law

Linkfest: Go Nudge Yourself

November 19th, 2008 · Comments Off

To review: There was a flash in the blogospheric pan a few months ago over a controversial book called Nudge, the authors of which (a law professor and an economics professor, both of some renown) insisted that "libertarian paternalism" is not an axiomatic oxymoron. I, along with almost every other libertarian commentator, was skeptical.
Through sheer [...]

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Tags: Freedom of Contract · Kip's Law · Libertarianism · Updates

Kip's Law Sighting: Are We at "Socialism" Yet?

October 22nd, 2008 · Comments Off

Barney Frank calls for making Wall Street bonuses illegal:
"There should be a moratorium on bonuses," Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, told reporters yesterday in Washington. "They have a negative incentive effect because they are the ones that say if you take a risk and it pays off you get a big bonus," and if it causes [...]

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Tags: Capitalism · Freedom of Contract · Kip's Law · Politics

Kip's Law Sighting: Anti-Market Airport Bureaucrat

September 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Despite the rain and wind from the remnants of Tropical Storm Hannah, my flight from Puerto Rico arrived a good 10-15 minutes early Saturday evening.
Apparently I'm one of the lucky ones:
A third of U.S. flights travel through New York airspace, and flight cancellations and delays at area airports account for three-quarters of significant delays at [...]

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Tags: Economics & Finance · Kip's Law

Kip's Law Sighting: Now Even "Self-Respect" is a Public Good?

September 4th, 2008 · Comments Off

I was only semi-seriously skimming a blogpost about the purported "costs" of privatization when I stumbled upon this tidbit:
The privatization process also laid waste to jobs that, while low paid, provided good benefits, civil service protection, union representation, and self-respect. Those lost jobs represent costs, personal and public, tangible and intangible.
This gobbledygook mirrors the one [...]

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Tags: Activist Legislators & Nanny Statists · Capitalism · Kip's Law · Taxation & Fiscal Policy

Kip's Law Sighting: The Pizzaioli of Naples

August 28th, 2008 · 2 Comments

When you hear the term "price gouging," you normally think of things like milk, batteries, flashlights, shovels, gasoline…
…and pizza?
"Pizzaioli" or pizza chefs in Naples, birthplace of the Margherita, handed out free pizzas on Wednesday in protest at high prices charged by rivals who, they say, use the spike in commodity prices to rip off consumers.

The [...]

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Tags: Capitalism · Kip's Law