To know nothing of what happened before you were born is to remain ever a child—Cicero

\ Meet 's Daddy

arren Buffett, the legendary can and courageous naysayer. Winvestor whose taste for ham- Buffett was also a strict isolationist, ; burgers and life in Omaha, denouncing NATO, conscription, the : gives him a reputation for Middle ("Operation Rathole"), and .Varren Buffett : American eccentricity in the world of the incipient Cold War, which he believed : high finance, is just another colorless would enchain Americans in "the shackles nee G. Harrold Carswell from charges of ; gray-pinstriper when compared with his of regimentation and coercion...in the "mediocrity" with the immortal effu- : father: Rep. (R-NE), name of stopping communism." sion, "Even if he were mediocre, there ; who half a century ago was perhaps the Foreign aid was a Buffett bugaboo. are a lot of mediocre judges and people ; most radical and principled Republican The story is told that as the family drove and lawyers. They are entitled to a little : member of Congress. past the British Embassy late one night, representation, aren't they?" : The Buffetts were pillars of Omaha. Howard, seeing the lights still on, Even his critics conceded that ; Howard Buffett was a stockbroker, "gen- quipped, "They even stay up late to think Howard Buffett was no mediocrity. To ; tie and sweet-natured," in the words of of ways to get our money." The Nation, he was "an able young man I Warren's biographer Roger Lowenstein. Buffett summed up his views of whose ideas have tragically fossilized." : His politics, though, were to "the right of America and the world in a speech on In retirement, he had the good fortune ; God," cracked one local banker. the House floor condemning the to befriend an energetic young econo- : Buffett was elected to Congress in : "Even if it were de- mist named , who ; 1942 with a pledge to keep FDR from sirable, America is not strong enough would in time become the Happy War- ; "fasten[ing] the chains of political servi- to police the world by military force. If rior of the libertarian movement. For ; tude around America's neck." He marked that attempt is made, the blessings of years, Rothbard touted the wisdom of : himself an oddball by returning a pay liberty will be replaced by tyranny and Howard, the Buffett who was neither ; raise to the Treasury and by subjecting coercion at home. Our Christian ideals billionaire nor beachbum wasting away each piece of legislation to a simple test: cannot be exported to other lands by again in Margaritaville. "Will this add to, or subtract from, dollars and guns. Persuasion and ex- Congressman Buffett's son, while • human liberty?" ample are the methods taught by the revering Pop as a tower of integrity and ; Very few House bills passed Howard Carpenter of Nazareth, and if we be- honesty, seems not to have inherited the \ Buffett's test. lieve in Christianity we should try to old man's libertarian streak. Warren Buf- ; In four non-consecutive terms rep- advance our ideals by his methods. We fett is a liberal Democrat whose favorite : resenting Omaha in the U.S. House of cannot practice might and force abroad political causes are legalized abortion Representatives, the radical backbench and retain freedom at home. We cannot and population control. Republican compiled an almost purely talk world cooperation and practice But surely the father bequeathed the i libertarian record. He opposed what- power politics." son a confident contrariety, for if Warren : ever New Deal alphabet-soup agencies Dissent must be its own reward; sel- Buffett lacks Howard Buffett's politics, he ; and Fair Deal bureaucracies emerged dom does it bring promotion. Howard shares his disdain for the eastern citadels ; from the black lagoon of the Potomac. Buffett retired from politics after losing of commerce and power, choosing to live ; As the historian Joseph Stromberg has the 1954 Republican Senate nomination in his hometown of Omaha: a radically : written, "the only [current] member of to , who would achieve decentralist act of which Rep. Buffett ; Congress who bears comparison with immortality in 1970, when he defended would have heartily approved. : Buffett is Ron Paul," the Texas Republi- Nixon's doomed Supreme Court nomi- —

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Global Self-Interest

Allan Meltzer, a professor at Carnegie I by the Congress of the United States or TAE: Why is it so hard to sell some Mellon University and a visiting scholar ; the state legislatures? observers on the benefits of globalization? atAEI, is the Institute's leading scholar on : TAE: How do you rate the Bush admin- MELTZER: Paul Samuelson, the great monetary policy, economic history, and istration's record on trade and interna- economist, was asked which fundamen- international financial institutions. In ; tional economic development? tal economic principles were true but February he received AEI's highest honor,: MELTZER: They've done quite well on not obvious. He answered that the gain the Irving Kristol Award. In his address, economic development. They've really from trade was such a principle. The fact Meltzer focused on creating a 'pax ameri- I made an effort to reform the grant and that two sides can trade things and have cana" based on the stabilizing influence of ; loan-making apparatus to introduce both end up better off is not an obvious free trade and better-managed interna- I much more incentive and much less thing. But that's what globalization is all tional financial institutions, as well as command and control. On trade, the about. I don't think that people fail to democracy and military strength. He ; progress is mixed. We have new free recognize this so much as they deny it— spoke with TAE senior editor Eli Lehrer : trade agreements with Singapore and either to protect the jobs of unionized and freelance writer Mark Hemingway in : Chile, but at the same time the adminis- workers in industries where there are Washington, D.C. : tration puts tariffs on steel. others who can produce the goods at a ; TAE: What's wrong with the Interna- lower price, or because they are simply TAE: Multi-nation agreements like NAFTA : tional Monetary Fund and World Bank? anti-capitalists and see the market have advantages when it comes to free- MELTZER: In short, both the IMF and system as evil. ing trade and improving economies, but ; the World Bank suffer from being largely TAE: Do you think the recent criti- can cut into national sovereignty. Where ; command-and-control institutions. cisms of the U.S. acting without U.N. do you draw the line between national ; They say, "We give you the money. We approval or massive global consensus interests and the global interest? ; tell you what to do." in Iraq will spill over into international MELTZER: An international economy ; TAE: How could they be fixed? economic institutions now that the war needs to gather interests in a harmo- : MELTZER: They need to become is over? nious way, not subvert national interests : incentive-driven. They need to say to MELTZER: I think people will pursue to global interests. For a nation-state to ; a country, "If you adopt these reforms, their interests and not do things to prosper, you have to protect people who i we'll help you if you get into trouble. spite themselves. People around the are traveling and trading. This allows the : If you don't adopt these reforms then world depend on us a great deal market system to form, develop, and ; people who lent you money should because we're the most powerful coun- grow. In the nineteenth century, if you know that they're going to lose their try in the world. They're not going to had a trade disagreement you sent gun- ; money and we won't help you." refuse to trade with us. They're not boats. Now you send lawyers. It may not : TAE: Is any progress being made in the going to try to disrupt our economy be great, but it is better. It's true that ; direction of reform? because there is no way they can do so international agreements require that we ; MELTZER: The International Monetary without disrupting their own. Coun- give up some sovereignty. But we should ; Fund has gone quite a long way in the tries, by and large, try to act in what give up only the amount of sovereignty ; right direction. It's developed the Contin- they perceive as their self-interest. that we want to give up! Do we want the ; gent Credit Facility, which says to coun- tax laws for the United States to be made : tries: "If you adopt these reforms we'll in Europe by a non-elected government : lend to you." The World Bank has moved in Brussels, or by the WTO, rather than ; much less in the direction of reform.

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