The plan to tax bonuses on individuals who work for firms which received bailout dollars already sounds spectacularly stupid. What can we expect from this and from Obama’s even-more-stupid plan of having government control wages (yeah, price controls always work out well…)? Well, the incentive effects will probably make the most productive Americans less likely to work and more like Europeans (ick). Bob Murphy points out that, even if nothing else were done, this will have negative ramifications for the US financial sector. And if such a bill passes (not to mention the Obama’s 1970s 2: Electric Boogaloo dive into wage controls), it’s possible that the Supreme Court won’t even overturn it. David Brooks, after supporting the economic illiterate Obama, wants to cover his tail by claiming that the US is a commercial society so we won’t let the government ruin it. Well, Peter Robinson’s right: “inevitable” isn’t. By eroding further the institutions which make our economy strong and (unlike Europe) not stagnant, you can also alter the culture and, as in England, the financial lion might be reduced to a wheezing old cat. Take Jonah Goldberg’s penultimate paragraph to heart.
In short, yeah, we’re one step closer to a banana republic. On the plus side, that means we get cheap fruit, right? And we get to be outraged the whole time! Time to pick up my Banfield [bottom paragraph of this article] and re-read the chapter on rioting for fun and profit; I may need to learn a few tips…
36 Chambers - The Legendary Journeys: Execution to the max! 
The funny part is that I spent about fifteen minutes whether it would be better to be Stalinist or Europeanist. Then I decided that in order to succeed in a Stalinist system, you either have to be Stalin or so close to Stalin that he won’t possibly see you as a threat. You definitely don’t be want to be Trotsky.
Also, banana republics only make cheap fruit for export. Who actually eats bananas in banana republics?!? They’re WAY too expensive.
No, I’m not drunk, but thanks for asking!
Considering that it was 2 PM over there, I would hope that you weren’t drunk…
I’d much rather live in a European society than a Stalinist society. Note that I lived in Germany rather than North Korea; this was not simply because I didn’t know Korean.
You’re right about the banana republic portion. Again, unless you’re tight with El Presidente (like, say, you’re his teleprompter mechanic), you probably won’t be able to afford the bananas you make or clothes you sew…