Econ-Atrocity Bulletins

The following post is the text of a radio commentary I (Mike Meeropol) delivered over WAMC radio in early October.

Did you know that the US Congress has rejected efforts to punish, investigate and criminalize war profiteering?

Yes, that’s right. This past February, the House on a mostly party-line vote rejected an effort to forbid expenditures from going to any contractor, “…if the Defense contractor audit agency has determined that more than $100,000.000 of the contractor’s costs involving work in Iraq … were unreasonable.”[1]

Meanwhile, the Senate on an equally party-line vote, rejected an amendment to an appropriation bill “to prohibit profiteering and fraud relating to military action, relief and reconstruction…”[2]

What’s going on here?
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Dear Readers — the following is an email message I sent to all fellow faculty at Western New England College where I teach. I am including it here based on an invitation I received to share it with all readers of this Blog. I am reproducing it here without editing.

Mike Meeropol (econ Prof, Western New England College, Springfield, MA)

I am writing this e-mail because I am thoroughly disgusted with the effort to “Willie Horton” the candidacy of Deval Patrick for Governor of Massachusetts. I hope some of you inclined not to read this will force yourself to do so … Even people who were not inclined to support Mr. Patrick for Governor should respond to the vicious advertising campaign.
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My Recommendations for Election 2006
By John J. Fitzgerald

One of the most patriotic things that anyone, who loves this country, can do in the next few weeks has to be focused on voting. (I know that voting is not the only road for activists, but it does have some value.)

I would like to make a few recommendations to enlarge the effect of voting in 2006.
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Google buys YouTube. This was an opportunity for Adam Hanft over at Marketplace to think about the question: just why are these open-posting video sites so popular? For viewers they’re popular because (if) there are enough interesting videos to watch to make it worth a waste of some time. But what’s in it for the people uploading the videos? Adam’s answer is interesting.
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