OpinionOpinion
Where is Milton Friedman (pictured) when you need him? For that matter, where is Hans Sennholz?Both men were great economists who understood clearly what inflation was and why it should be avoided. In our current age of massive federal bailouts, stimulus packages and increases in the money supply, we are badly in need of their clear headed explanations of the dangers of inflation, where it comes from, and how it is to be avoided. Unfortunately, neither economist is with us any longer. Milton Friedman passed away in 2006 and Hans Sennholz in 2007. Fortunately, we have their writings to guide us in our current age of inflation.
In Dubai, there is an indoor downhill ski park. That's right, an indoor downhill ski park. It's indoors because Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates is in the hot desert. Rainfall is spotty and in the summer temperatures can soar to 100 degrees. Winter temperatures can fall to the mid 50s, but that still isn't cold enough to keep snow on the ground. In the UAE, if you want to see snow, you have to visit the Ski Dubai Resort.
That is, you would have had to visit Ski Dubai to see snow until this week. Despite the fact that global warming is still all the rage (Sec State Clinton just appointed Washington lawyer Todd Stern to be a special envoy to the UN for climate change), there are more and more signs that the actual climate is intent on ignoring those who so badly want it to get warmer for political reasons.
In a 14th century letter bearing the same title as this column, Francesco Petrarch, the father of the Italian Renaissance, warned the ruler of the Italian city-state of Padua: “Every people strives to imitate the deeds and habits of its prince. Hence, there is that very true saying that there is nothing more harmful to the state than the bad example of its prince.” Petrarch, a great admirer of Cicero, then pointed out that the renowned Roman orator had said much the same thing in his On the Laws. “[I]t is not so mischievous that men of high position do evil — though this evil is bad enough in itself — as it is that these men have so many imitators,” remarked Cicero. Indeed, the Roman solon continued, leaders “who do wrong are especially dangerous to the state, because they not only indulge in vicious practices themselves, but also infect the whole commonwealth with their vices....”
