J.P. Morgan and Yahoo: Market Successes

Investment giant J.P. Morgan made a bad trade that cost its owners $2 billion. The responsible parties are losing their jobs. Yahoo’s CEO evidently misled people about his qualifications. As a result, he lost his job.

If you want to know why these are market successes, consider: Medicare and Medicaid lose at least 35 times as much per year to fraud and other improper payments, and Medicare wasteseven more on medical care that does nothing to make patients healthier or happier. This happens year after year after year.

Now ask yourself: when was the last time someone got fired over those losses? And yet the politicians’ first reaction to the J.P. Morgan trade was greater oversight by the political system, which tolerates much greater losses than the market system that is currently disciplining J.P. Morgan.

Here’s hoping the Yahoo incident inspires some politician to crack down on people who embellish their resumes.

Will Smith: Socialists Just Don’t Understand

My French is rusty, but I’m pretty sure the Fresh Prince just flipped out at the idea of a 75-percent marginal tax rate like that advocated by France’s new socialist president.