Recommended reading

• Warren Buffet, not for the first time, has called for the federal government to raise his taxes. Mark Perry responds, with an assist from Dan Mitchell.

• The Netherlands comes up with a tax increase that I approve of, provided it is used to reduce taxes elsewhere.

• Apparently one idea being considered by the Obama administration to combat unemployment is the establishment of a Department of Jobs -- no I am not kidding. When some bureaucratic/government-centric response to every problem is your default position, this makes complete sense. 

• Here's a stark illustration of just how out of touch Washington DC is and the city's bubble existence. 

• One justification for continued massive spending investments in infrastructure projects is a report from the American Society of Civil Engineers claiming infrastructure needs at least $1 trillion from the taxpayers. Charles Marohn, however, takes issue with this conclusion.