The New Ideas Blog

Most people prefer simple ideas. Even geniuses like Albert Einstein like to keep it simple when possible. But Einstein understood that we can oversimplify things. He said “Simplify as much as is possible, but no more!” That last part is crucial, which gets us to today’s topic, the idea that SUVs are somehow bad because they use a lot of gas. It’s a gross over-simplification.

Does an SUV driver use more gas than someone driving a smaller more fuel-efficient car? That depends on how (more…)

Things are often not as reasonable as they appear to be when it comes to government regulation. They also are often not what they appear to be. With that in mind, here’s a different perspective on mandated auto insurance.

First we start with the obvious - at least what is obvious to those who understand what happens at the intersection of politics and business. It is that the big push for states to mandate insurance came from… wait, it’s coming… insurance companies! Surprised? Not in the least? No, it should be at all surprising that large companies want to use governments to force people to buy (more…)

Imagine for a moment a reporter interviewing a candidate for a national political office. The reporter asks this woman, “What do you think about the recent voter registration drives that have increased participation in this election?”

“I think it will make it more difficult for me, since most of those registered will probably vote for my opponent.”

“But in any case, isn’t it better for the country if more people participate?”

“Not if they vote for my opponent.”

The reporter laughs nervously, but (more…)

Forbes magazine recently did a profile of Victor Li from the the University of Michigan, and his newest innovation; flexible self-healing concrete. Great idea (and you should see the photo of the concrete bending without breaking). But that is not exactly what this post is about. Instead I want to look at another idea that occurred to me as I read the article. It is that we often create things without regard to the future costs they will impose on us or others.

In fact, after neglecting the massive highway system we have built in this country for decades, it would now cost well over two trillion dollars to catch up on maintenance and (more…)

Big brother? Yes, and big mother and father too. There is an obvious and increasing tendency to assume that we mere humans are not able to take care of ourselves or make decisions about our own lives, and that government should therefore be there to “guide” us. This argument very obviously forgets or purposely ignores the fact that government is made of fallible humans as well.

The example that reminded me of this is a recent government-ordered recall of over five million window blinds or shades. They happen to have (more…)

A politics of personal responsibility demands that we understand the consequences of laws or government actions that we support. We should also consider political candidates we support as our “agents” meaning we’re somewhat responsible for the choices they make since we hire or elect them. With that in mind, I have decided on a new rule for what or who I can support. I’ll get back to that in a moment, but first I have to relate the true story that inspired me to write this.

The Associated Press on September 29, 2009, reported on the case of a woman in Michigan who (more…)

Why is Boeing making planes from carbon fiber now? Because it is lighter than aluminum and so the planes use less fuel. Between this and other technological advances, the new Boeing 787 will be 20% more efficient than conventional planes. Airlines will like that.

Now, it is no surprise that companies will make environmentally-friendly changes when it means more profit. We don’t have to believe that they are interested in making such changes for the sake of the environment itself, although they will likely hint at that in their marketing. Nor do we need them to have any concern for a clean environment.

If we want a livable planet, we need only (more…)

It is easy to imagine that we can do the right thing, and that we can know what the right thing to do is, but is it so? We are so influenced by desires for things and what we want to be true that it colors everything we see if we allow our minds their usual ways. Let’s look at an example.

Suppose a politician long ago said “vote for me and I’ll force future generations to pay for you to quit working and relax.” People vote for him, and the “social security program” is created. To make it look fair people pay into the plan as though it is a retirement fund. But that’s for appearances only, since (more…)

I recently wrote a page about one of the ways to make a government health care plan work better. That doesn’t mean that I am in favor of such a system, but if we are going to have one I hope that we can at least do it in a way that doesn’t result in either bankrupting the country or rationing medical care. My idea was that you have to make people pay for the first thousand dollars of their care annually and pay an ongoing portion thereafter in order to discourage unlimited demand and to keep the medical industry competitive, as well as to make the whole thing affordable for taxpayers. That page is here:

Health Insurance Reform - New Solutions

But in this post I want to suggest some more radical ideas for making the system more affordable for everyone. Specifically, I want to start with this: Stop licensing doctors and other health care professionals. Stop (more…)

I used to argue against government welfare programs on moral grounds. My reasoning? Here’s the short version: If you don’t have the right to take my money to pay your bills, you don’t gain that right by having a government do it for you. Now I tend to favor limited welfare because survival is a higher value than my right to keep all of my money. But there’s another reason to be critical of welfare programs: They don’t work very well. Welfare that works should not just feed people, but help them to feed themselves.

I come from a background that not only included a very low income for years, but also included (more…)