Craig Cantoni

The Sordid Truth about Tuition Loans

by Craig Cantoni | Jan 27, 2017 | Blog

Want to know the truth about student loans? Good luck. As with so many emotionally-loaded and politically-charged issues of the day, it’s nearly impossible for someone to know the full truth about student loans. By the time the issue is run through the propaganda generators of the left and right, by the time that the bleeding-heart media puts its left spin on the issue, and by the time that data are cherry-picked to fit liberal and conservative pickers’ biases and blinders—by the time all this occurs, the facts become so mangled and distorted that the truth is buried. In a poor imitation of...

Fannie sticks it up your fanny

by Craig Cantoni | Jan 26, 2017 | Blog

“Outrageous” is the first word that comes to mind. The next three words that come to mind are “We are screwed.” The first sentence that comes to mind is: “It’s outrageous that we’re being screwed once again by the government and its crony capitalists at Fannie Mae.” While we’ve been distracted by President Trump’s flurry of activity, Fannie Mae has announced that it will be underwriting billions of dollars in debt for Wall Street firms to invest in the building of rental housing. We should be running down to the nearest farm implement store to buy pitchforks instead of waiting in line at...

The Inaugural Brawl and Shivers up Your Leg

by Craig Cantoni | Jan 24, 2017 | Blog

You’ve no doubt heard about the fanfaronade between Trump and the media over the number of people who watched the Inauguration. Unlike the brawlers, I know the correct number: too many. Too many watched the pomp and ceremony, the plutocrats on the stage, the proletariats massed beneath them on the Capitol Mall, the praising of God for being on America’s side, and the firing of a battery of 105mm howitzers, which had a special meaning to this former Army Artillery officer. For sure, such displays of government power and leader worship should not be watched by innocent children. What’s wrong...

Trump’s Trade Ethics vs. Prof. Boudreaux’s

by Craig Cantoni | Jan 22, 2017 | Blog

Professor Don Boudreaux of George Mason University says that Trump’s trade policies are unethical. Boudreaux, who is one of my favorite free-market economists, should stick with economics instead of veering into ethics. Boudreaux is correct that free trade is an overall positive for America, that trade restrictions and tariffs are an overall negative, that trade deficits can be both good and bad, that creative destruction is good when driven by comparative advantage and true competition, that mercantilism and other forms of political interference in markets is almost always bad, and that...

Paranormals, Psychics, and Politicians: The Human Need to Believe in Hucksters

by Craig Cantoni | Jan 18, 2017 | Blog

Why are Clinton loyalists blaming Putin for Hillary losing the election? Why do Trump loyalists believe that Donald’s economic hokum will make America great again? Why do I believe in different nonsense without realizing it? What is it about humans from all walks of life and education levels that they fall for flimflam artists, hucksters, scoundrels, and claptrap? Why do they suspend rationality, reason, and logic? One can spend a lifetime looking for answers in philosophy, history, anthropology, sociology, and evolutionary psychology. Or one can spend an hour and 33 minutes watching the...

Do You Agree that Libertarians are Fruit Loops?

by Craig Cantoni | Jan 15, 2017 | Blog

That’s it! I’m done with libertarians and regret ever associating with the Fruit Loops. The final straw was a noted libertarian saying the following about foreign policy: “The United States should observe good faith and justice toward all nations and cultivate peace and harmony with all, should not have hatreds against some nations and affections for others, should have foreign relations based solely on commerce, and should engage in equal and impartial trade with all, without seeking or granting favors or preferences.” Geez, how naïve can one be? A second noted Fruit Loop said, “We should...

The Pleasure of Being Treated as a Profit Instead of a Cost

by Craig Cantoni | Jan 13, 2017 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism

A recent day began with me taking my wife’s new car to a Scottsdale dealer to have a spare tire and mounting bracket installed in the trunk. The car didn’t come with a spare tire because the manufacturer had to cut weight in order to meet federal mileage standards. Later, my day continued with a visit to an office of the Motor Vehicle Department for the State of Arizona. The contrast between the two experiences was stark. The experience at the dealer was pleasant; the experience at the MVD was unpleasant. The reason? Because I was seen as a profit at the dealer and a cost at the MVD. I...

Green Crony Capitalist Orgy

by Craig Cantoni | Jan 12, 2017 | Blog

The State of California cares deeply about protecting the environment and protecting people from capitalist predators. Or at least that’s what the Democrats who run the state would have a gullible media and populace believe. Actually, the Golden State is a leader in a crony capitalist program that preys on the little guy in the name of the environment. The program was hatched in 2007 in the hotbed of American leftism, Berkeley, Calif., and has now spread like a lot of California’s bad ideas to 33 other states and the District of Columbia. You’re going to think I’m making this up, but the...