GlobLog - May 2006
A direct link to each entry is obtained by using the button below the entry.

23:34 - FETA MYTER FRÅN FOLKHÄLSOFÖRMYNDARNA: 

Mattias Svensson avslöjar dem i dagens Expressen.

23:14 - $491 000 000 000: 

In In Defence of Global Capitalism I praised the investments in developing countries as one of the best aspects of globalisation. When I wrote it, private net capital flows to them were about $200 billion a year.

According to the World Bank, last year they reached the record level of $491 billion.

Developing countries also had 6.4 percent growth.

23:04 - TRADE-ADJUSTMENT OF THE DAY: 

"I will soon begin writing a book on globalization.

As a consequence, I wonder if Uncle Sam will consider me to be a worthy candidate for ´trade-adjustment assistance´ -- that is, to pay me if I can demonstrate that I suffer from foreign competition. After all, the world is full of superb, non-American writers on globalization, such as Johan Norberg and Martin Wolf. The books these gentlemen have written, and will surely write in the future, might well reduce market demand for my book, causing me to earn less income than I would earn were I protected from the competition of these and other foreign writers."

- Don Boudreaux shows that he is a worthy competitor in the global race to expose protectionist arguments.

15:14 - IT´S OUT: 

The release party last night was amazing. Almost 200 people joined me to celebrate my new book, see large projections of mankind´s proudest achievements on the walls and listen to my explanation of why entrepreneurs create the world.

We hadn´t planned for a disco, but Per Hagman´s 80s-beats managed to get people up and create a spontaneous dance floor. And when he left, the dance went on for another hour, despite the fact that we had only two records left, Depeche Mode´s Behind the wheel-single and a Boney M-collection...

Thanks to Timbro and all of you who participated and made it a night to remember.

More eyewitness accounts:

Jonas Morian, Argast i Uppsala, Livet i landet lagom, Ninja economist.

Update 2006-06-01: And even more:

Fabbes blogg, Katrine Kielos, Karolin A Johansson, HAX.

12:45 - T MINUS FIVE HOURS: 

Tonight I have the release party for my new 500-page book on entrepreneurship and creativity, När människan skapade världen ("When man created the world"). And personally I am most happy about the fact that Per Hagman has agreed to be the DJ. The book will only be published in Swedish right now, but I am sure that we´ll see translations later on.

The blogs were the quickest to review, here are Fredrick Federley and Håkan Jacobson.

11:12 - ATTENTION MEPS - VOTE AGAINST IT: 

On Thursday, after a debate on Wednesday, there is a risk that the European Parliament will say that it prefers redistribution to the creation of resources, that developing countries need more protectionism, that more EU market access is threatening poor countries, that we must resist “the invasion of Chinese products”, that we need controls to stabilise the price of natural resources, should undermine intellectual property rights, and stop goods and services from poor countries that don’t abide by “strong and enforced rules of protection on the environment and social rights”.

These destructive ideas that would undermine the struggle for development are all hidden in a generous dose of slogans and rhetoric about “fair trade” and poverty reduction, and some good suggestions as well, which makes it difficult for some to see that the German socialist Helmuth Markov’s report A6-0179/2006 is a direct attack on free markets and free trade. The committee on international trade did not see it and voted in favour (or perhaps they did see it and that’s why they voted in favour…).

If the European Parliament makes the same mistake on Thursday, the protectionists and the opponents of liberalisation in Europe have the perfect excuse to stop further EU concessions at the WTO negotiations. And the anti-capitalist Markov’s legacy will be that despite his intentions he gave anti-competetive businesses in the EU and around the world slogans to hide their monopolistic interests behind.

Thanks to Henrik Alexandersson for persistence in writing about this, and to the Swedish MEP Christofer Fjellner for his opposition.

09:22 - KÄLVEMARK OCH HANS VÄRLD: 

Näringslivets Medieinstitut kritiserade nyligen Torsten Kälvemarks osakliga Aftonbladetartikel om ett amerikanskt rättsfall, varpå han svarade med ett hejdundrande personangrepp på NMI:s Mikael Nussdorf, Billy McCormac och Michael Moynihan - deras debattstil var fascistisk och de var anhängare av tortyr. Strunta i den minimala replik NMI nu har fått in i Aftonbladet. Läs i stället deras långa replik på nätet där de på punkt efter punkt visar hur Kälvemark ägnat sig åt att klippa av citat och förvränga fakta för att få ihop sin världsbild.

Ett utmärkt exempel på varför NMI:s mediegranskning behövs.

00:23 - EXTRA: THE ECONOMIST MAKES A MISTAKE: 

Some good news in the Charlemagne column in the new The Economist: Social mobility in the Nordic countries is high, higher than in the United States. At least in low-income groups:

"Around three-quarters of sons born into the poorest fifth of the population in Nordic countries in the late 1950s had moved out of that category by the time they were in their early 40s. In contrast, only just over half of American men born at the bottom later moved up."

It sounds good, and it is presented as great news, and the article searches for explanations in how our welfare and education systems empower the poorest. But there is an explanation so obvious that it´s a mystery to me that my favourite magazine don´t see it. In fact, they even mention it, without relating it to this discussion:

"The Nordic countries are distinctive in one further way: the sons born at the bottom (into the poorest fifth) earn roughly the same as those born a rung above them (the second-poorest fifth)."

Now, if you do the job that Charlemagne didn´t do, and relate this second quote to the first, you see that the social mobility in Nordic countries means that people can "earn roughly the same", and yet, can be seen as socially mobile because they have statistically moved to a new income category.

If there are almost no wage differences obviously it´s easy to change your relative position, but that doesn´t show what is relevant to an individual: How easy is it for me to improve my income and my life significantly?

10:20 - READ THIS BEFORE YOU NATIONALISE YOUR NATURAL RESOURCES: 

700 000 tonnes

- The copper that was produced every year in Zambia in the 1970s, soon after nationalisation.

249 100 tonnes

- The quantity that was produced in 2000, after 30 years of mismanagement, waste and corruption in the state copper company.

427 000 tonnes

- The quantity produced today, after the mines have been sold to KCM, a private Indian company.

900 000 tonnes

- The quantity that will be produced in 2008, thanks to KCM´s upgrades and investments that will develop new mines and processing plants and expand old mines´ life. 

From The Economist.

15:55 - NÖRDARNAS IDEOLOG AVSLÖJAD: 

Katrine Kielos är vansinnigt kul. Jag får lära känna mig själv och den "nördarnas intressepolitik" jag bedriver samtidigt som jag får läsa de bästa argumenten mot föreställningen om samhällskontraktet. Jag skulle vara för Nuder som statsminister om Katrine lovade att bli hans talskrivare.

14:48 - NATIONALISED OIL "BRINGS DESTRUCTION": 

Speaking of the problems of oil socialism, Financial Times listens to voices from the small village Limoncocha in Ecuador, as the American oil company Occidental (Oxy) has been chased away and the state-owned Petroecuador takes over:

“Oxy helped us for 20 years – with infrastructure, educational scholarships, sports facilities and vehicles. Pretty much all the infrastructure here was paid for by Oxy.”

- Jorge Grefa, president of the parish of Limoncocha.

“Oxy was responsive to our requests. We asked them to limit work at night and they did so. And they were pretty quick about responding to environmental problems ... We know how Petroecuador works. They damage the environment and don’t help local communities. Petroecuador has brought destruction wherever it has operated.”

- Enoc Cerda, rector of the Limoncocha school.

11:46 - DET VAR SOSSESPINN: 

Ifall någon tvivlade.

Problemet här är inte att socialdemokraterna försökte provocera fram ett drev mot folkpartiet. Fp hade säkert gjort likadant i motsvarande situation. Problemet var att en rad tidningar mot bättre vetande köpte historien om en "fp-bloggkupp" (till skillnad från Fokus, som rapporterade sakligt). De visste mycket väl att ryktet inte kom därifrån, men om en story är tillräckligt bra så blir den tydligen oemotståndlig, även om de vet att den är fel.

09:42 - TELL THEM YOUR PARTNER IS A DOG: 

If a US Foreign Service employee is relocated and his partner is of the opposite sex:

- The Foreign Service pays for the partner´s relocation.

If a US Foreign Service employee is relocated and he has a dog:

- They pay $3 000 for the dog´s relocation.

If a US Foreign Service employee is relocated and his partner is of the same sex:

- They pay nothing for the partner´s relocation.

The Economist writes about federal discrimination - but it also points out that private companies, who live in a more competetive environment and whose survival is dependent on the best workers regardless of their sexual orientation, are beginning to provide gay employees with the same benefits other employees get.

17:16 - ”LITA PÅ OSS – FÖR OM VI BLUFFAR EN GÅNG TILL KOMMER INGEN LITA PÅ OSS” : 

”- Inför förra valet sade ni också att ni inte skulle stödja en regering som ni inte själva satt i. Varför ska vi tro på er den här gången?

- Just därför. Om vi gjorde samma sak igen och inte stod fast vid vad vi sade skulle ju ingen ha förtroende för oss igen.”

Mp-språkröret Maria Wetterstrand definierar trovärdighet i dagens Studio Ett.

16:33 - OIL AND GOVERNMENTS DON´T MIX: 

In Dagens Industri today I continue to write on oil, today about how oil controlled by governments create authoritarianism, corruption and poverty. (See also Tom Friedman´s first law of petropolitics)

Let´s not forget that most OPEC-countries didn´t nationalise their oil until the early 1970s. Between 1950 and 1973 these countries got more than 4 percent richer every year, 1973-2003 they got almost 1 percent poorer every year.

09:44 - SWEDEN PRODUCES EVERYTHING BUT JOBS: 

IVA´s and NUTEK´s project on the future of Swedish enterprise confirms that Swedish businesses are very competetive and increase their productivity at an impressive rate, partly because our economy face global competition. The 1 000 biggest employers in Sweden employ 2 million Swedes and 10 million abroad.

At the same time, their reports shows that we are much worse than other countries when it comes to producing jobs. In a comparison of 15 industrial economies 1988-2002, Sweden has had the least job growth of all countries in 4 out of 10 sectors, the second worst in another sector, and the third worst in two more sectors. So we were one of the three worst in 7 out of 10 sectors, and not better than average in any one. Ireland was the best in 9 out of 10 sectors.

15:19 - CORRECTION: 

I got it wrong here. Roland PM explains that the USA is good at soccer as well.

11:41 - ÄR DET FRISYREN?: 

Precis när tidningarna fått för sig att bloggar bara var skvallercentraler restaurerar Joel Malmqvist bloggosfärens rykte genom att visa att det bara är där vår tids centrala frågor dryftas.

Själv ska jag med nyfikenhet följa kommentardebatten om varför jag inte är en Fredrik Ljungberg för brudar med examen. Sällan har jag väl varit så öppen för argument från en s-bloggare. ;-)

09:38 - OBSESSED WITH THE POSSESSED: 

Yesterday I caught the last night of Ole Anders Tandberg´s stage version of Fyodor Dostoevsky´s novel The Possessed ("Onda andar") at Stadsteatern. It´s the best play I´ve seen for a long time, with very impressive acting and a dreamlike atmosphere, where the play moves forward and is illustrated on many levels simultaneously.

Brilliantly, the stage is a beautiful copy of Pelikan´s classical beer hall, which reminds us of early 20th century Central European political intrigue and conspiracy. And it helps us to see how Dostoevsky´s psychological analysis of the Russian nihilists is relevant to our understanding of totalitarians and terrorists of our time. How their idea that ends justifies means turned into an obsession with the means, the power and the violence, and how that corrupts the human soul. How the utopians´ longing for heaven on earth makes it necessary for them to direct and control people to make it happen.

As one of the ideologues, Shigaljov, insists when he says that total social freedom requires the slavery of nine-tenths of the population:

“I am perplexed by my own data and my conclusion is a direct contradiction of the original idea with which I start. Starting from unlimited freedom, I arrive at unlimited despotism. I will add, however, that there can be no solution of the social problem but mine.”

And as the revolutionary Pjotr Stepanovitj concludes from Shigaljov´s system:

"He suggests a system of spying. Every member of the society spies on the others, and it´s his duty to inform against them. Every one belongs to all and all to every one. All are slaves and equal in their slavery. In extreme cases he advocates slander and murder, but the great thing about it is equality. To begin with, the level of education, science, and talents is lowered. A high level of education and science is only possible for great intellects, and they are not wanted ... in the herd there is bound to be equality ...

We´ll reduce all to a common denominator! Complete equality!"

12:13 - LESSON FOR FREDRIK REINFELDT: 

If your strategy is to be as close to your opponents as possible, the voters won´t see a big difference between the alternatives, so why would they vote for you rather than for the others? And if they think that the normal alternatives are too bland and alike, they will lose interest and look for (and perhaps even vote for) any kind of alternative that is really different.

No I am not thinking of the recent opinion polls in Sweden. I am thinking of the success of the Finnish monster rockers in last night´s Eurovision Song Contest.  

13:12 - JOHN STUART MILL, AT 200: 

Today it is 200 years since John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was born. Why not use some part of that day to read him? His works still contain some of the most imaginative, insightful and thought-provoking arguments on many of today´s issues, whether you agree with him or not. It´s difficult to have an informed opinion on paternalism and free speech without having read the arguments in On Liberty, for example, and his On the Subjection of Women is still one of the best attacks on the oppression of women (and by implication against collectivist feminism).

And suddenly, when you read Mill´s Principles of Political Economy, you stumble upon the best argument for a flat tax:

 "To tax the larger incomes at a higher percentage than the smaller, is to lay a tax on industry and economy; to impose a penalty on people for having worked harder and saved more than their neighbours." (Book 5, Chapter 2)

(Here is an old critical article I wrote in Swedish about how his utilitarianism opened the door to socialism.)

22:27 - SAVING THE TAX PAYERS MONEY: 

And here comes the ultimate proof that taxes are too high in Sweden:

When the Swedish tax authorities produce eight infomercials about how to pay your taxes, they make them in Estonia - because the taxes are lower there...

14:18 - WHY THE US IS BAD AT SOCCER AND GOOD AT EVERYTHING ELSE: 

"Komi Akoumany grew up poor in West Africa and learned there were ´three ways to become somebody: Your father is head of a military branch or knows the president, you are gifted with extreme soccer skills that will catch the eyes of European soccer coaches, or you get on a plane to United States of America.´"

- David Boaz quotes a statement that says everything about Africa, Europe and America.

09:25 - DEN STORA DISTRAKTIONEN: 

Att Ulvskog greppar efter distraktionsmöjligheter i Tsunamiaffären är lika naturligt som att en ökenvandrare kastar sig över en vattenkälla, men medierna borde besinna sig innan de köper hennes version om Danielssonryktena. Alla som har brytt sig om att efterforska det hela en och en halv minut vet att det inte rör sig om någon folkpartistisk bloggkupp. Ryktena startade på UD och i kvällspressen, bloggarna var bara först med att skriva om det hela öppet.

En annan märklig uppfattning som plötsligt sprids är att politiska bloggar är fulla av skvaller och ryktesspridning ("dynga" med Ulvskogs språkbruk). Naturligtvis finns sådant på nätet och även i många bloggar, men ta en titt på Johan Ingerös och Johanna Nylanders bloggar. Ingen av dem har gjort sig kända som skvallerbyttor, och inläggen handlar i allmänhet om sakfrågor och politiska åsikter. Danielssonryktena är med därför att det tycktes vara den mest rimliga förklaringen till hans lögner, som är politiskt relevanta och fortfarande är outredda (trots att han upprepar dubbla budskap om samtal och ostyrka besked om närvaro i dagens SvD).

Även Ingerös och Nylanders skriverier om Danielsson är befriade från det som karakteriserar skvaller - intresse för relationen i sig, frossande i smaskiga detaljer, osv. Tvärtom är de främst upptagna med att diskutera mediehanteringen och det problematiska med att de stora tidningarna väljer antydningar och insinuationer.

Och förresten 1: För att ni inte ska tro att detta skrivs pga mina politiska sympatier vill jag påminna om att jag försvarade SSU-bloggaren när medierna falskeligen påstod att han utmålat Reinfeldt som pedofil. Rätt ska vara rätt, oavsett vilket parti någon tillhör.

Och förresten 2: Om Danielsson verkligen vill avbryta ryktesspridningen är det den enklaste saken i världen: Berätta var han var. Och om han faktiskt var på jobbet är det bara att styrka det med inpasseringsloggen och telefonlistan. Att rykten fortsätter att spridas tills det sker finns det bara en enda person som är skyldig till och hans namn börjar på Lars och slutar på Danielsson.

Och förresten 3: Spara det här citatet från Marita Ulvskog. Det kommer att bli en klassiker:

"– Han [Danielsson] måste naturligtvis fortsätta att ge sanningsenliga svar.

Har han gjort det?

– Om det sanningsenliga svaret är att han inte riktigt kommer ihåg, ja då måste han ju hålla sig till den sanningen"

15:57 - UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: 

"Recipients now number 4m, almost double the original estimate, and total benefit payments last year exceeded projections by €12bn ... How a reform that resulted in benefit cuts for many jobseekers could result in increased expenditures is something of a puzzle for government experts."

- Financial Times on Germany´s Hartz IV, a benefit for the long-term unemployed which has inspired youngsters to move out en masse from their parents´ homes to gain the benefit.

12:10 - DET VAR INGEN FOLKPARTISTISK BLOGGKUPP: 

Nej, ryktena om att Lars Danielsson skulle ha varit med en älskarinna på annandagen var ingen "folkpartistisk bloggkupp", hur mycket Marita Ulvskog än skulle vilja det. En vecka innan Johan Ingerö och Johanna Nylander skrev om ryktena hörde jag det både från journalister och från regeringskansliet (Peter Wennblad skriver att han också gjort det).

Jag förstår att journalister som Anders Jonsson på Expressen nu försöker peka ut den decentraliserade bloggosfären som ett problem för informationsspridningen. Själv har jag svårt att komma undan slutsatsen att det är de etablerade medierna som har brustit.

Ryktet uppfanns inte av bloggar (som t ex lögnerna om Reinfeldt uppfanns av en s-medarbetare), men det var bloggar som var först med att öppet skriva om det (jag gjorde det här). Tidningar som Dagens Nyheter och Aftonbladet, som också snappat upp det, valde precis samtidigt att försåtligt börja antyda det genom att hitta svepskäl att granska Danielssons krognotor och publicera bilder på Danielsson tillsammans med Eduards - "den flitiga matgästen" som "reser ofta med Danielsson".

Jag tycker att denna typ av antydningar och insinuationer är värre. Antingen håller en historia och då publicerar man, annars gör den inte det, och då låter man bli. Flera av våra stora tidningar valde en feg mellanväg som spridde ryktet men gjorde det svårare för den utpekade att dementera det - vilket hon berättar att hon gjort för Aftonbladet, Expressen och Dagens Industri, som inte publicerade dementierna.

Och förresten ska vi inte glömma att Danielsson fortfarande mörkar vad han gjorde på annandagen.

17:30 - BIG MAC VS RISHULTSKORVEN: 

Peter Wennblad om SvD:s sportkrönikör Jan Majlards matiga självmål.

08:43 - MORE PROOF OF THE BENEFIT OF IMMIGRATION FOR THE US: 

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the outspoken Somali-born Dutch liberal MP who defends women´s and homosexuals´ right against radical Islam, does what European intellectual dissidents have done for 200 years - moves to America. This comes after Hirsi Ali admitted that she lied to win asylum in the Netherlands, but insanely, the direct result seems to be that a Dutch court has ordered her to leave her heavily-guarded home, because neighbours have complained of the security risk of having a person under constant death threat living with them.

Europe´s shame is America´s gain. Hirsi Ali will be working at the think tank American Enterprise Institute.

08:19 - FAMILY VALUES: 

"It is writing discrimination into the constitution."

- Mary Cheney, Dick´s daughter, about a federal ban on gay marriage, on Fox News.

"I don´t think it should be used as a campaign tool"

- First Lady Laura Bush about a federal ban on gay marriage, on Fox News.

00:20 - SCANPIX ÄR VINNAREN PÅ DANIELSSONAFFÄREN: 

Är det inte bättre att tidningarna skriver rätt ut att de är övertygade om att han var hos älskarinnan på annandagen än att antyda det med bildvalet gång på gång?

12:26 - IT IS ACTUALLY ROCKET SCIENCE: 

Here is an interesting point about Iran´s nuclear programme for those of us who like nuclear power, but not in dysfunctional dictatorships (like the Soviet Union in the 1980s). In New Scientist Hossein Derakhshan reminds us that even a civilian programme is incredibly risky in a country like Iran:

"There is also nothing being published [in Iran] about the environmental risks of nuclear technology. No one dares remind the public how a dysfunctional state in which tens of thousands of people die in road accidents and hundreds get killed in plane crashes every year can be trusted to keep its nuclear facilities safe and protected."

(Thanks Anders)

09:45 - PER ALBIN VS EKOT: 

"På söndagen var det 75 år sedan som fem unga människor sköts till döds i Ådalen när militär öppnade eld mot ett fredligt demonstrationståg. Då var det en enig arbetarrörelse." (min kursivering)

Så uttryckte sig Ekonyheterna i går. Men så var det inte. Som Dick Erixon påpekar fördömdes demonstranterna i Ådalen - som hade misshandlat strejkbrytare och förmodligen tänkte gör det igen - av socialdemokraternas partiordförande Per Albin Hansson i partiorganet Ny Tid:

"Naturligtvis ha de kommunistiska elementen utnyttjat situationen för att hetsa upp stämningarna och driva fram konflikter med ordningsmakten. Ny Tid har aldrig tvekat i att fördöma denna trafik, att visa hur oförenlig den är med den utvecklingsståndpunkt, till vilken arbetarrörelsen hunnit, och hur skadlig den är för arbetarnas sanna intressen. Vi ha heller icke tvekat, när det gällt att hävda nödvändigheten av att ordningen upprätthålles, eho det vara månde som stör densamma. Därmed är vår ställning till våldsgärningarna i Ådalen också given."

Men Ekot må vara förlåtet för att det har fallit för arbetarrörelsens mytologisering av Ådalenskotten. Som det numera heter från ABF Ångermanland:

"Samma kamp då som nu." 

"Samma kamp". Hur menar de då? Allians med kommunister och våld mot fredliga arbetare som vägrar strejka?

21:27 - LEFTIST SELF-CRITICISM: 

The latest edition of Arena, the biggest centre-left magazine in Sweden, includes a very interesting article by Magnus Jiborn and Lars Truedson. They write that the left is wrong in saying that things are getting worse, in fact the world is improving and we see less poverty, less war and longer lives.

Jiborn and Truedson say that the left has denied this development partly because it thinks that a world full of disasters and problems make it easier to build support for an interventionist agenda. But the article argues that this has given "neo-liberals" in general and myself in particular the benefit of having facts on our side of the debate, and therefore credibility. Jibon and Truedson concludes that the left has to learn from yours truly to regain the advantage in the debate.

I welcome this healthy dose of realism in the internal leftist debate, and look forward to the day when we don´t have to spend time debating wether poverty is rising or declining, and instead we can argue about why it is declining, and how to make it happen even faster, in even more places.

17:52 - AT LAST: 

My new book will be published in Swedish on May 30th.

The release party will be held at 18.00 in Färgfabriken, Stockholm.

DJ: Per Hagman

You are very welcome, and the invitation is here.

12:09 - WHY OUR IDEAS AREN´T MORE SUCCESSFUL: 

When I lecture about the benefits of free markets and free trade I am often asked why this isn´t implemented immediately, everywhere if it is that beneficial. One of the reasons seems to be that politicians lose votes when they promote it. As Luxemburg´s prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker has put it: 

"We all know what we need to do, but we don´t know how to win elections after we have done it."

This study looked at how tax reform, privatisation and liberalisation of trade and investment regimes in Latin America affected the incumbent in the next presidential election. Turned out that on average the ruling party lost 23 percent of their votes. Increased growth as a result of the reforms only reduced the losses, it didn´t reverse it. It also shows that the losses were bigger if the party did not have a liberal, free-market agenda. So "liberalisation by stealth" is a real loser.

This means that we need principled politicians who doesn´t seek power for its own sake. We need idealists who really want to make the world a better place long-term, even if they don´t gain personally in the short run. And it means that we´re in trouble if there is even a grain of truth in Mario Vargas Llosa´s conclusions after his own involvement in politics (when he ran for president in Peru in 1990):

”…politics as lived and practiced day by day has little to do with ideas , values, and imagination, with teleological visions – the ideal society we would like to create – and, to put it bluntly, little to do with generosity, solidarity, and idealism. It consists almost excklusively of maneuvers, intrigues, plots, paranoias, betrayals, a great deal of calculation, no little cynicism, and every variety of con game. Because what really gets the professional politician, wheter of the center, the left, or the right, moving, what excites him and keeps him going is power, attaining it, remaining in it, or returning to it as soon as possible. There are exceptions, of course, but they are just that: exceptions.” (A Fish in the Water)

10:46 - MEDIEMISSAR: 

Realtid.se visar hur det plötsligt blev "sant" att bonusprogram inte fungerar genom Uppdrag Gransknings val av gäst och klippning.

NMI är för övrigt en guldgruva full av avslöjanden av bristande källkritik och plagiering i svenska medier. Sätt ett bokmärke där omedelbart.

00:15 - I´LL BUY THE REAL THING NEXT TIME: 

I participated in a conference on intellectual property rights recently, and I heard the most convincing argument so far against pirated goods:

The main stabiliser in fake perfume is...urine.

And here is another example that will convince those of you who aren´t that interested in perfume:

One of the most common ingredients in fake whisky is...horse urine.

09:02 - NO PEAK IN SIGHT: 

Most people seem to think that we are running out of oil, and that it would be disastrous. I tend to think that we are not running out of oil, but that it would be a good thing if it did - for the environment and for world politics. (If authoritarian states like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela didn´t have easy money to distribute to the chosen ones they would be forced to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship and therefore freedom.)

In my DI column today I write about this.

15:52 - CRAPONOMICS: 

"How bad is inflation in Zimbabwe? Well, consider this: at a supermarket near the center of this tatterdemalion capital, toilet paper costs $417.

No, not per roll. Four hundred seventeen Zimbabwean dollars is the value of a single two-ply sheet."

- New York Times reports from a country with 914 percent inflation.

14:46 - BEER OF THE DAY: 

"I don´t think I am an alcoholic but for me not drinking beer or wine with food is bad. Having water with a meal reminds me of my years in prison."

- Vaclav Havel to FT on one of the reasons he didn´t like Americans before. Today he says he finds them "more and more likeable".

23:17 - NO RECORD LEVELS OF OZONE: 

Today, most Swedish news sources have warned about "Record levels of ozone". And as usual the media logic overemphasises problems. The only story is that this weekend the ozone smog levels in several places were above the official ozone standards. That happens every year, but the trend is downwards. Here is the average number of days above the norm every year since 1985, from Naturvårdsverket:

And in the US, the trend - and the media logic - is the same.

19:25 - OSNUTNA PARTIET: 

Oskar skickar mig ett av de mest avslöjande citaten som jag någonsin har hört från extremvänstern. Det är ett hot från "Osynliga partiet" i Hässleholm efter att det har krossat fönster i protest mot idén att unga ska arbeta i stället för att leva på bidrag:

"Fler rutor kommer att krossas fram till dess vi får leva våra liv utan krav på motprestation"

Notera att "motprestationen" är att de ska ta ansvar för sina egna liv och inte leva med händerna i andras fickor. Sådana pubertetssocialism kan man faktiskt bara bemöta med hjälp av Mark Twain:

”Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

07:25 - THE END OF CHILD LABOUR AS WE KNOW IT: 

"The ILO report also says that if the current pace of the decline were to be maintained and the global momentum to stop child labour continued, it believes child labour could feasibly be eliminated, in most of its worst forms, in 10 years ...

The new report says the actual number of child labourers worldwide fell by 11 per cent between 2000 and 2004, from 246 million to 218 million.

What´s more, the number of children and youth aged 5-17 trapped in hazardous work decreased by 26 per cent, to reach 126 million in 2004 as opposed to 171 million in the previous estimate. Among younger child labourers aged 5-14, this drop was even more pronounced at 33 per cent, says the report."

- Summary of a new ILO report on child labour.  

00:44 - DAGENS MAIL OM INTERNATIONALEN: 

"Apropå ditt bloggande om (s), islamism och Internationalen. Snart får andra versen strykas också.

I höjden räddarn vi ej hälsa,

ej gudar, furstar stå oss bi,

nej, själva vilja vi oss frälsa,

och samfälld skall vår räddning bli"

- Mattias

12:34 - HERE WE GO AGAIN: 

Evo Morales´ socialisation of the natural gas companies will make Bolivians rich he says. It´s not the first time Bolivian leaders say and do that, this is the third socialisation in 70 years. Every time companies begin to invest in technology and knowhow, the government punishes them and change all the terms. 70 years ago, Bolivia was almost as rich as Spain. Today Spain is about seven times richer.

Here is Mario Vargas Llosa´s classical explanation of the problem, when he talked about his own Peru:

"In France, Sweden, or England, a public enterprise maintains a certain autonomy in relation to those who hold political power: it belongs to the state; and its administration, its personnel, and its functioning are more or less safe from the abuse of governmental power. But in an underdeveloped country, exactly as in a totalitarian one, the government is the state and those in power oversee it as though it were their own private property, or, rather , their spoils. Public enterprises are useful for providing cushy jobs for the protégés of those in power, for feeding the people under patronage, and for making shady deals. Such enterprises soon turn into bureaucratic swarms paralyzed by the corruption and inefficiency introduced into them by politics. There is no danger that they will go broke; almost always they are monopolies protected against competition and their life is guaranteed indefinetly thanks to subsidies, that is to say, the taxpayer´s money." (A Fish in the Water, 1994)

11:09 - WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY: 

Ayn Rand pointed out that the evil and the thugs are always a tiny minority, and the proof of that is that every dictatorship has always relied on censorship. They know that they would always lose if a free debate was allowed.

Today is World Press Freedom Day. We need such a day. Thousands of journalists are imprisoned all over the world for their opinions and for their reporting. One of them is Dawit Isaak, a Swedish citizen, who has been imprisoned in Eritrea for 1 683 days so far. Read more about him, and protest against his treatement, here and here.

22:14 - ANOTHER THOUGHT ON QUTB AND (S): 

Where did all the atheists, secularists and cultural radicals on the left go? Come back! We need you.

21:06 - SAYYID QUTB (S)?: 

Uppdrag Granskning today was an interesting insight into how Swedish Social Democrats pour tax money over radical Muslims who advocate separate legislation for Muslims and pretend that there are no "honour killings". In return Imams say in the Mosque that Muslims should vote for the Social Democrats.

Most disturbing was the total ignorance of Ola Johansson from Broderskapsrörelsen (the Christian Social Democrats) about the ideas he is supporting. Johansson said that there is common ground between democratic socialists and these Muslim groups, since the latter follow teachings from Sayyid Qutb, who Johansson saw as a spokesman for some sort of Muslim social justice and welfare state.

Uppdrag Granskning didn´t make much of this, but as Paul Berman has showed, Qutb was a totalitarian Islamist who believed in the Shariah, censorship and the end of the separation between state and religion, and he was influenced by European fascists, like Alexis Carrel.

Where do Christian Social Democrats find their friends?

15:34 - BÅD´ STAT OCH LAGAR OSS FÖRTRYCKA, VI UNDER SKATTER DIGNAR NED: 

Versen som inte bara har strukits ur Internationalen, utan nu även förs bort av polisen...

08:59 - COMMUNICATIONS AND CENSORSHIP IN CHINA: 

Some interesting figures from The Economist´s special report on China and the internet:

111 million

- The number of Chinese internet users.

75%

-The increase in Chinese internet users since 2002. 

30 million

- The number of Chinese blogs.

 63%

- The proportion of Chinese who say that internet gives them greater opportunities to criticise the government.

30 000

- The number of Chinese police spies who monitor all the activity online.

Over 50

- The number of Chinese imprisoned because of what they have written online.

4

- The number of years in prison a Chinese dissident was sentenced to after Yahoo´s Hong Kong unit gave Chinese police his draft e-mails.

21:33 - APROPÅ BRA FILM: 

Häromdagen var jag på förhandsvisning av 1 200 miljarder. Martin Borgs far Sverige runt i en gammal sheriffbil för att undersöka vart våra skattepengar egentligen tar vägen. Det är en fascinerande och tragikomisk betraktelse, som säger oerhört mycket om vårt land i nedslagen på kommunala bowlingbanor och sjukskrivna bygder. Och Martin har star quality.

13:27 - TV-TIPS: 

Fotbollen och dess läktarkultur brukar mest omtalas för våld och grabbighet. Men min kompis Mattias Svensson, den liberale debattören, brukar försöka övertyga mig om att det också finns en annan sida, som handlar om glädje, gemenskap och kreativitet. Nu har han gjort en dokumentär om AIK-trubaduren Mats Hellberg för att bevisa det, och han lyckas faktiskt riktigt bra. Se den i morgon:

TV 8, tisdag 2 maj, kl 21.00: Trubaduren - med uppenbar känsla för ironi

09:20 - TO READ WHILE YOU ARE NOT DEMONSTRATING: 

Yesterday Sweden celebrated the King, today the Social Democrats. I must say that I am looking forward to the next, normal working day.

Here are two relevant things on Labour Day:

- The trade union LO will pretend it is an interest group for workers, but its chairman Wanja Lundby-Wedin has confessed that she is not even looking at how the oppositon´s suggestions could benefit her members, her only focus is to help get the Social Democrats re-elected. And that´s how LO use its resources. According to a report from Fredrik Segerfeldt and Klas Hjort, LO spent six times more per capita to get them elected in 2002 than Bush spent to get elected in 2004. (Which means that I underestimated Bush´s figure when I wrote that it was eight times more.)

- The Social Democrats will pretend that they built all the social security and all the welfare institutions in Sweden. But in a Timbro Briefing Paper Anders Johnson shows that all those things were being developed in Sweden before then, but voluntarily by companies, organisations and citizens. The government just socialised what was already there.