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Interview with former Minister of Employment in Sweden, Sven Otto Littorin

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I make the argument against Sweden as a socialist paradise quite often. It usually goes like this:

4 Arguments against Sweden as an example of socialist success

1) Sweden’s wealth can be attributed to the fact that it has been peaceful longer than any other country in Europe, including Switzerland. It used to have a radically free economy. Completely free trade. It even had competing currencies until 1903.

2) Sweden’s welfare state ballooned in the 50s and 60s. Since then, Sweden’s economy has slowed considerably. In one albeit controversial study published in the Swedish Economics Association’s journal Ekonomisk Debatt in 2009, Ratio Institute economists Bjuggren and Johansson found that there has been NO JOB CREATION AT ALL in the private sector from 1950 to 2005.

3) Sweden is still has some economic freedom. Their corporate tax rate is considerably lower than the US’s. They rate extremely well on Heritage’s scale (18th).

4) Even if you think these argument are BS (which they aren’t), you have to ask yourself why the Swedish people elect politicians who call themselves conservative and cut taxes. In 2010, they re-elected politicians who cut taxes on everybody, including the super rich.

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Side note: My libertarian friends in Sweden are outraged that the reforms in Sweden which pass for free-market reforms are thinly veiled corporatism and other corruption.

The Drones Are Watching and Waiting

open quote For the moment, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has blocked the use of unmanned aircraft for surveillance purposes, due to concern about clogging the skies with flying robots that crash more often than piloted aircraft.

The folks at the FAA are being pressured to lighten up and permit the use of drones by government agencies. The result of that pressure is HR 658, which authorizes appropriations for the FAA through fiscal 2014, and buried in it are the provisions to begin a “drone-apalooza” with 30,000 unmanned aircraft.

According to Jay Stanley of the ACLU, “This bill would push the nation willy-nilly toward an era of aerial surveillance, without any steps to protect the traditional privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and expected.”

Among other things, HR 658 will require the FAA to streamline its process within 90 days for government agencies to operate drones. The bill requires the FAA to allow government public safety agencies to operate drones weighing 4.4 pounds or less, as long as certain other conditions are met. The agency will be required to establish a pilot program within six months to create half a dozen test zones for integrating drones “into the national airspace system.”close quote (Read more)

Struggling Caribbean Islands Selling Citizenship

open quote Hadi Mezawi has never set foot on the Caribbean island of Dominica, has never seen its rainforests or black-sand beaches. But he’s one of its newest citizens.

Without leaving his home in the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian man recently received a brand new Dominican passport after sending a roughly $100,000 contribution to the tropical nation half a world away.

“At the start I was a little worried that it might be a fraud, but the process turned out to be quite smooth and simple. Now, I am a Dominican,” said Mezawi, who like many Palestinians had not been recognized as a citizen of any country. That passport will help with travel for his job with a Brazilian food processing company, he said by telephone from Dubai.

. . . .

It’s such a booming business that a Dubai-based company is building a 4-square-mile (10-square-kilometer) community in St. Kitts where investors can buy property and citizenship at the same time. In its first phase, some 375 shareholders will get citizenship by investing $400,000 each in the project, which is expected to include a 200-room hotel and a mega-yacht marina. Others will get passports for buying one of 50 condominium units.close quote (Read more)

Microsoft, Apple summonsed in Australia to explain high prices

open quoteTechnology giants Microsoft and Apple have been summonsed to appear before a federal parliamentary committee to explain why Australians are forced to pay more for some of their products compared with other countries.

The committee has also issued a summons to Adobe, with all three companies to appear before a public hearing on March 22.

If they fail to turn up they could be held in contempt of Parliament, which carries a range of possible penalties including fines or jail time.

The companies have provided written submissions to the committee but have declined several requests for them to appear in person.

The investigation was set up after a long campaign by Labor backbencher Ed Husic, who has accused some information technology companies of “ripping off” Australian consumers.close quote (Read more)

Jeffrey Tucker: “Imagine a time when the government knew nothing about the money in your bank.”

open quoteImagine a time when the government knew nothing about the money in your bank. It cared nothing about how much you made, where you made it, and what you did with it. You could take your earnings in gold, silver, paper, or anything else, and never filed a sheet with the government. How you earned a living was none of the business of the political class. For that matter, your bank account could be under a false name and absolutely no one cared. This was the world of a mere 100 years ago in the United States. That’s why it was called the “land for the free.”close quote

Stranded motorists find shelter at Walmart

open quoteIn Middle Island, Walmart remained unofficially open long past midnight as it welcomed people who couldn’t get home.

“We’re here to mind the store, but we can’t let people freeze out there,” said manager Jerry Greek, who had closed the store at 6 p.m., four hours earlier than normal.

As the major roadways were shut down, motorists were stranded for hours on secondary roadsclose quote (Read more)