Cato Daily Dispatch for November 7, 2003
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Terror Alerts Refined"Do Not Call" Means Poorest May Lose Jobs
European Pension System Faces Demographic Crisis
Terror Alerts Refined
"Nearly six months ago, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge expressed concern that local governments and citizens were starting to tune out his office's nationwide terrorism alerts and the color-coded warning system that accompanied them," USA Today reports.
"Since then, the Bush administration's new approach to alerts has become clear: It's not issuing them as often. At least, not nationwide."
Cato's director of defense policy studies, Charles Pena, recommends in "Homeland Security: Follow the Bouncing Ball" that "instead of needlessly raising anxiety levels or providing a false sense of security with the color-coded alert system, the Department of Homeland Security needs to focus its resources on more important tasks, such as preventing terrorists from entering the country. Indeed, all of the 19 hijackers of 9/11 entered the country through a legal point of entry, as do millions of other people each year."
"Do Not Call" Means Poorest May Lose Jobs
According to The Los Angeles Times, "Last summer, the federal government announced a national registry for consumers who want to block telemarketers from calling them. Americans rushed to sign up.
"Of the nation's 166 million residential numbers, 51 million are now off-limits to telemarketers. Despite ongoing court challenges, the list went into effect last month.
"The crackdown might be welcomed by consumers, but not by telemarketers like Millican, many of whom survive on the economic fringe. The nation has lost 2.6 million jobs in two years, and the 'do not call' list is expected to put hundreds of thousands more people out of work."
In "Like It Or Not, Free Speech Protects Telemarketers, Too", Cato's Robert Levy, senior fellow in constitutional studies, argues that "when government sets the rules, it must not discriminate based on the content of the calls. That's what the First Amendment means. Free speech is not subject to plebiscite, no matter how many millions sign up for no-call. [Supreme Court] Justice William Brennan got it right: 'If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.'"
European Pension System Faces Demographic Crisis
"Bernard Foultier lives life fast and full -- international travel, including trips to Japan and Bolivia, amateur photography, courses in history and art, and painting in his small home studio," The Washington Post reports. "Even though he retired three years ago with a full government pension, he barely has time to pursue all the interests he put aside during his working life.
"For Foultier ... these busy retirement years are like a second chance at youth. But he recognizes that large pensions like his are increasingly viewed in France as a luxury that the country can no longer afford. Indeed, all over Europe, a continent famous for generous social welfare systems, the same conclusion is being reached."
In a "Retirement Finance Reform Issues Facing the European Union", William G. Shipman, co-chair of Cato's Project on Social Security Choice, writes that "changing demographics are forcing countries around the world to reexamine their public pension systems. The member states of the European Union are no exception. Indeed, the EU nations are among those facing the greatest social, budgetary, and economic challenges as a result of their aging populations. Therefore, EU members will be forced to rethink their public pension programs and move away from traditional pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) pension models to new systems based on savings and investment.
Shipman examines long-run data from many countries with pension systems, and shows that "the yield on market assets is sufficient to provide adequate retirement income at a reasonable cost. Indeed," Shipman concludes, "such income is likely to be significantly higher than income that can be provided through PAYGO systems."
Christopher Kilmer, editor, ckilmer@cato.org
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