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Show I 4 2 1 UK M VGNA Pickens plan By Sheldon Richman Can a person be a good businessman but a lousy economist? Yes. Take T. Boone Pickens, for example. Hes all over television touting his plan for wind power as a substitute for foreign oil, a plan that calls for massive government subsidies. This should immediately make us suspicious. If wind is so good, why docs it need subsidies? In trying to sell the American people cm the plan, Pickens either displays his ignorance of elementary economics or he's counting on the ignorance of his viewers. How else to explain this statement about oil imports: Over 700 billion dollars are leaving this country to foreign nations America's Founders on Politics and ? , Magna Times USPS 325 580 Second class postage paid at Magna, Utah 84044 8980 West 2700 South Magna, Utah 84044 J. HOWARD STAHLE Publisher BONNIE STAHLE Advertising Manager COLIN B. DOUGLAS News Editor BENNION GARDNER Staff Writer JOHN BODF.NHOFER Staff Writer MELISSA HALL Education Reporter DALE SIMONS Sports Columnist CARLOS ESTRADA Pressroom Supervisor CHARITY JACOB Layout and Design Copyright. Magna TimesWest Valley News . All rights reserved. Reproduction, reuse, or transmittal of all matter herein is prohibited without prior written permission by the publisher or editor. The Magna Times and West Valley News are published each Thursday Subscription $25 per year $30 per year out of state Postmaster: Send change of address to: Magna Times, West Valley New, and Kearns Post 8980 W. 2700 So. Magna. UT 84044 6 (801) or FAX (801) 250 5685 250-565- m are a bona fide newspaper Advertise with Us! 250-565- 6 you wouldnt know that Pickens is talking about tiansactions at all. He conjures up images of wealth pouring out of our pockets and into the pockets of gulp foreigners. But no transfer is taking place. Pickens has conveniently foi gotten that we buy something with that money; we get something in which we return oil want because it renders useful services. It makes as much sense to talk about dollars leaving the country without mentioning the valuable stuff we get in return as it w'ould for oil exporters to talk about all the oil thats leaving their countries without mention S, based os ing the money coming in. Its a transaction. W'hen two parties agree to exchange oil for money, each side expects to benefit or the transaction W'ould not occur. One party wants the oil moie than the money; the other wants the money moie than the oil. Theres a gain for both sides. Thats Economics 101. True, buying and selling oil do not occur in a true free market. The we ld economy is riddled wiih subsidies and regulations that distort decision mak ing and create privileged and exploited groups. But Pickens is not calling for an end to this corporatist system. On the contrary, he merely wants to shift the piivileges to different groups through subsidies for his favoied The projects. would continue. exploitation And as a domestic oil producer, he would profit from a forced reduction in oil imports. By Bryan Golden The way you treat others offers a window into the type of person you are. Your interaction with people, whose job it is to serve you, reflects on your character and offers a glimpse into the w ay they will react to you. When you behave in a condescending manner, you are sure to elicit a negative reaction. Immediately, the person you are talking down to will be put off, even if they dont show it. You will squelch any inclination for the other person to go out of their way to help you. At most, they will do no more than the bare minimum to keep you mollified. Corporate CTOs like to observe how job candidates treat waiters. These corporate captains have found that how a prospective employee treats a waiter offers a clear picture of the type of person he or she is. Someone who is polite to you but discourteous to a waiter does not have desirable interpersonal skills. They tend to be abrasive, causing friction among coworkers and subordinates. Your treatment of waiters isnt just significant in business settings. A survey by a dating service discovered that being rude to waiteis tops the list as the worst dining etiquette. It is a real turnoff to be in the company of someone w ho is mean spirited. Anyone can treat a waiter well when there are no The mishaps or mess-upreal indication of a persons true nature is how they react when there are problems. What do they do when a waiter makes a mistake or their meal is not what they had hoped for? Do they get indignant, make a scene, and jump down the waiter's thioat? Or are they graeious and magnanimous? No one likes to be berated when they make a mistake. Some waiters are better than others. Some are more s. conscientious. You can't manage their behavior, but you do control yours. If you can't handle a problem when you are eating out, how can you be depended on to handle life's real predicaments? People who are rude to waiters erroneously believe they are displaying power and authority. They mistakenly think their behav ior will impress others. Anyone who attempts to elevate their status by stepping on others will ultimately fall flat on their face. People with integrity and character treat ev eiy one w ith courtesy and respect, regardless of their occupation, financial, or social status. They don't view themselves as being abo e or below anyone else. The way you treat people determines to a large part how they treat you. Not Pickenss free trader, is have to said, If reputed goods dont cross borders, soldiers will. His English counterpart Richard Cobden teenth-centur- demagoguery, an emotional appeal to economically illiterate people in order to piomote his plan. Pickens is also counting on Americans suspicion of foreign nations. As economist Bryan Caplan points out in The Myth of the Rational Voter, many people are biased against profit and foreigners. Pickens is using his commercials to tap into peoples deep feelings that if one person makes a profit, self-servi- someone else must lose and if the one making the profit is from another country, the siluation is even worse. These biases strike at the very heart of trade, which is the foundation of our civilization. Trade not only makes us all richer by permitting specialization and the division of labor we save money by importing it also exposes us to new ideas and encourages peace. Frederic Bastiat, the nine- - everyone will respond to kindness and consideration. But everyone will react negYour atively to berating. best bet for bringing out the best in people is to treat them with respect. If you expect the worst from people, your attitude will project this and your low expectations will usually be met. If you anticipate the best, people tend to try to live up to those expectations so as not to disappoint you. People crave approval and recognition. If you start out rejecting someone, they will feel there is no chance to please you and won't even when you say please, thank you, and can you help me, others will make an extra effort to accommodate you. Treat waiters, and everyone you encounter, w ith dignity. In so doing, your relationships with people, even will improve. strangers, You w ill still find some individuals you just cant deal with. But they will be much more of an exception. You can never go wrong by treating another person well. NOW AVAILABLE: "Dare to Live Without Limits," the book. Visit www.Bryan Golden.com or your bookHow-eve- ignorance odd is sheer try'. August 14,2008 KEARNS POST How do you treat waiters? nec-essa- iy CATHY HARDING Staff Writer We statement, EST ALLEY NEW 4 f reedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing. JTiomas Paine magwestxmis-sion.co- every year. The largest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind. Whats wrong with this statement? The first problem is that it focuses on only one side of a series of transactions. Judging by this TIMES, r y called international trade the great panacea. Aside from his attack on trade, what is Pickens up to? He believes we must break our addiction to oil by wand and natusubsidizing ral gas. But its not an addiction. Its a rational choice based on economic calculation. If another form of fuel made more economic sense, it wouldnt need subsidies. And if govern speaker, author, professor. h m it sheldtmrichman.com. Send him email. advertise in the Magna Times, West Valley News, and Kearns Post, or to place your ad in the 2008 Magna Telephone Directory, call Bonnie motivational and adjunct Bryan at bryancolumnist.com. 2006 r To store. Bryan is a management consultant, ment intervention such as the historical favoritism for the oil industry impedes the introduction of alternative fuels, lets end the intervention. The last thing we need is clumsy bureaucrats trying to pick winners in the energy market. Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of teedom Foundation, author of Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State, and editor of The freeman magazine. I hit his at blog Fixe Association Brvan Golden WE WANT YOUR OPINION! at |