Interesting blog bits

1. Anna Jacobson Schwartz (November 11, 1915–June 21, 2012)
   

   • Milton Friedman (pdf)
   • George Selgin
   • Robert Higgs
   • Don Boudreaux
   • David Henderson
   • Wall Street Journal

2. Gary Becker on Controls Over consumer Choices

   New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to ban sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces from restaurants, street carts, movie theatres, and stadiums would seem to be a joke for hosts of late night shows were he not completely serious. Although the proposal makes little sense, and could even increase the consumption of these drinks, (see my later discussion), it does raise once again the question of how far governments should go in interfering with consumer choices?

3. Ed Dolan on Behind the Russian Protests: Rising Economic Expectations and a Business Leader Turned Activist

   Last week saw another mass protest in Moscow, the first since Vladimir Putin has returned to the presidency and undertaken tough new measures to curb the opposition. As seen on Western TV, the demonstrations appear to be dominated by the colorful flags of monarchists, anarchists, communists, and other extremist groups, but those images are misleading.

4. Steve Sexton on How California’s GMO Labeling Law Could Limit Your Food Choices and Hurt the Poor

   The American Medical Association resolved this week that “there is no scientific justification for special labeling of bioengineered foods.” The association has long-held that nothing about the process of recombinant DNA makes genetically engineered (GE) crop plants inherently more dangerous to the environment or to human health than the traditional crop plants that have been deliberately but slowly bred for human purposes for millennia. It is a view shared by the National Academy of Sciences, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N., the European Commission, and countless other national science academies and non-governmental organizations.

5. Eric Crampton on Tax incidence: alcohol edition

   Pop quiz: if the alcohol excise tax is charged to consumers rather than to producers, are winemakers better off?

6. Chris Dillow on Tax-dodging: the left's problem

   Lefties love talking about tax dodging, perhaps because it's an easy way of claiming moral superiority. But in fact, it raises an embarrassing question for them, namely: why do legal tax loopholes persist?