Author: John Horner
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HORNER: Turn crisis into opportunity to fix our looming problems
In politics, crises are opportunities to fix problems and correct mistakes. Things that normally can’t be done in moments of political calm can magically resolve themselves in a crisis. Witness the strange game of legislative chicken the Republicans and Democrats are playing in Washington. While they tempt financial meltdown, there is an opportunity to fix…
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HORNER: What we’ve got on our hands is a ‘dead shark’ economy
Woody Allen’s movies are famous for their wit and neuroticism, but they generally have some wisdom buried beneath the laughs. Take for instance, the scene near the end of Annie Hall in which Allen and Annie are breaking up: “A relationship is like a shark.” Allen says, “It has to constantly move forward or it…
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HORNER: The meaning of the Declaration of Independence
Around this time every year I start looking forward to National Public Radio’s annual reading of the Declaration of Independence. NPR’s annual reading began almost a quarter century ago and features many radio personalities. For years I’d get a thrill when I heard the late Red Barber, the legendary play-by-play baseball announcer, reading his part…
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POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Regulation of markets
Left: Why regulate free markets John Horner You know the geeks are back in town when they start debating esoteric economic concepts like Pareto Efficiency (PE). But the question of what makes an economy efficient and how efficiency can best be achieved is what separates liberals from libertarians and Republicans from Democrats, and often…
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HORNER: How I become such a liberal is a matter of science
When I first came to Colorado Springs 24 years ago, those that knew me believed I was an arch conservative — perhaps some of my colleagues at the college still do. Of course today, on the pages of the Gazette, I’m regarded as a liberal. Perhaps in a crowd of liberals, I look like a…
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HORNER: Numbers prove we don’t pay as much in taxes as we think
The budget battle rages on in Washington where the Democrats and Republicans are playing an odd game of chicken with the economy. The Democrats are rejecting attempts to make major changes to social programs in the face of the Republicans’ refusal to raise the debt ceiling. At the moment, it looks like Republicans could be…
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HORNER: Why are we so preoccupied with an apocalyptic vision?
Judgment Day, 2011. The end-of-time seems to be a regular occurrence these days. The most recent apocalypse comes only 11 years after the Great Millennium Apocalypse that was supposed to have been brought about by the Y2K bug, but only 19 months before the Mayan Apocalypse of 2012. (I bet the most recent letdown will…
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HORNER: Benefits of cooperating usually outweigh those of betrayal
We humans are remarkable in many ways. While you can show that other species do things that we once thought of as unique to us, such as tool use and rudimentary language, we have achieved feats that far surpass those realized by our fellow species. How did we do it? Why are we so special?…
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HORNER: Challenging the misconception that our state taxes are too high
Much of the current legislative debate in our state centers on the question of whether we should raise taxes as well as cut spending to cover the looming deficits in both state and local budgets. On the spending side, the arguments fall into two broad categories: reducing waste and fraud, and resetting governmental priorities. We…
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HORNER: Life at top of food chain has its downside
No one wants to be at the bottom of the food chain. If you’re on the bottom, you are the one getting eaten. It is much better to be at the top, where you are the one doing the eating. Even though humans are only omnivores, we have now scrambled our way to the top…