The Shirky principle
“Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.”
In Oregon and Portland think homeless tent encampments on our public lands, and why the more we give to government and non-profits (institutions), the bigger the homeless problem seems to get.
Why aren't We like that wise old bird?
Calvin Coolidge was known as "Silent Cal" but the poem just below puts his silence in a good light
Calvin Coolidge is the 30th President of the United States, having been president from 1923 to 1928, succeeding Warren G Hardy who fell ill and died, August 1923, from a heart condition and pneumonia while President - Coolidge (Silent Cal) being Harding's Vice President.
Common sense is so yesterday that this quote brings a smile
(posted by Elvis Clark on April 18, 2024)
Warren Buffet's sidekick, charlie Munger's bureaucracy quote
"Modern life creates successful bureaucracy and successful bureaucracy breeds failure and stupidity." Charlie Munger. Charlie died at 99 years of age on November 28, 2023. He will be missed.
For some reason this quote makes me think of the City of Milwaukie government, which seeks to add new goals and associated staffing to tackle things not really part of its basic functions. So, for instance, Milwaukie residents get poor quality neighborhood roads while the relatively small City government bureaucracy is distracted and asks for funding and staff to chase after the proverbial windmills of "Climate Change."
(posted by Elvis Clark on January 4, 2024)
A jesus quote (Bible John 8:32) & british philosopher quote
Jesus quote:
Bertrand Russell, who is said to be listed in Stanford's encyclopedia
(posted by Elvis Clark on December 8, 2023)
"Nobody gets out of here alive"
Such is the title of a Jim Morrison posthumous biography.
Musk Quibs: "Go Woke. Go Broke."
Now I know why I am continually irritated by our politicians
George Will points out an old joke about Economics and Politics
George Will, conservative author, relates the old joke in a recent interview of him. The old joke is:
The First Law of Economics is, "Scarcity is real."
The First Law of Politics is, "Ignore the First Law of Economics."
Boy this old joke could be the antidote I need for my continual frustration with our so-called "Progressive" Politicians who have been making the laws in our City of Milwaukie and the state of Oregon at large for a decade and more now. These politicians don't seem to recognize how very costly the regulations and taxes they enact, which in my opinion causes Oregon to be one of the least individually prosperous states among the 50 U.S states (based on Bureau of Economic Analysis data confirms my opinion).
But this old joke saying about Politicians and Economists being at odds is the smelling sauce for me to understand the plight of being a fiscally responsible economist in a state like Oregon. Now I can just shrug my shoulders when one of our politicians offers up another costly program or project - as it is useless for the most part trying to convince our politicians in the truth of the first law of economics - that scarcity is real.
(posted by Elvis Clark on February 9, 2023)
"A Conservative is a liberal who has been mugged"
Conservative Irving Kristol authored this quote: "A Conservative is a liberal who has been mugged"
Kristol wrote for the Wall Street Journal in the 1970s through the 1990s.
(posted by Elvis Clark on February 9, 2023)
