New from the Free Market Project

Media Myths: The Housing Bubble Is Bursting
The housing market is set to come crashing down � or so the media say. The trouble is, they�ve been saying it for four long years now. Even the Fed�s chairman and soon-to-be chairman have assured the public that local markets are where the action is, but the media continue the national hype. The Free Market Project debunks this media myth by taking a look at news coverage versus the reality of the still-strong market.

Bubble, Bubble, It�s the Media in Trouble
It�s hard to take journalists seriously when their predictions of doom keep coming out wrong. How many times will they say the housing boom has gone bust? And who�s that singing �Tiny Bubbles�?

CBS Blows Hurricane Season Death Toll out of Proportion
CBS�s Jim Acosta declared the 2005 hurricane season the �deadliest� of all time. That claim was far off the reality of several past hurricanes that killed more than 8,000 people.
**Stay tuned for an upcoming FMP Special Report on the media�s linkage of hurricanes and global warming in the 2005 season.**

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly tracks the best and worst media coverage of business and economics. Readers are invited to submit suggestions or news tips to staff writer Ken Shepherd.
This week:  Post reports how states restrict medical technology; CBS�s gas price reporting running on fumes; CNN reporters heap attacks on restaurant industry.

Also from FMP:

TV Academy Honors Dobbs, Ignores His Slant on News

CNN Unloads Double Portion of Bias

CBS Reporter Misrepresents Pump Prices

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Research, News & Commentary

Taxes

News: Turkey�s prime minister is proposing investment and corporate tax cuts to spur economic growth in the European Union candidate country.

Commentary: �If Congress is serious about addressing economic growth and unemployment,� writes The Heritage Foundation�s Andrew Grossman, it needs to re-authorize President Bush�s soon-to-expire tax cuts.

Commentary: James Glassman similarly warns that �Congress is about to do severe harm to the U.S. economy if it fails to act in the next few months to stop three huge automatic tax increases.�

Commentary: National Taxpayers Union�s John Berthoud urges Congress to turn the thermostat down on calls for a Jimmy Carter-style windfall profits tax on oil.

Research: The Christmas holiday season upon us, the Tax Foundation releases a report which takes on the charity deduction for income taxes, noting �most 501(c)(3) charities now benefiting from the charitable deduction are neither charitable� nor providers of public goods.�

Environment

Commentary: University of Virginia environmental scientist Patrick Michaels debunks the methodology behind a study which recently attributed 150,000 deaths per year to global warming.

Commentary: Bob Brown of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West points to Montana�s forest management as a market-friendly model for the feds to pursue.

Commentary: �[T]he more we learn about the climate, the more it is clear our knowledge is just scratching the surface,� writes CEI senior fellow Iain Murray at TechCentralStation. Murray adds that the Kyoto Treaty and other treaties like them are �simple-minded.�

Wal-Mart/Labor Unions

Commentary: Robert Huberty of Capital Research Center�s blog mocks an anti-Wal-Mart activist who found it hard to fight Wal-Mart from his hotel in India for lack of an Internet provider.

Eminent Domain

Research: Carla Main details �How Eminent Domain Ran Amok� in the Hoover Institution�s October/November 2005 Policy Review, tracing how the federal courts have turned a constitutional protection of free market capitalism into a cash cow for governments at the expense of economic liberty.

Gas/Oil Prices

Commentary: The Heritage Foundation blogs on how �windfall profits� are helping to quickly repair refinery infrastructure to ensure long-term stability in gas prices.

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The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science
Heritage Foundation
Dec. 1, 12:00 p.m.

What Does the Public Know about Economic Policy?
American Enterprise Institute
Dec. 5, 9:00 a.m.

Is a New Era in Monetary Policy upon Us?
Cato Institute
Dec. 5, 11:00 am

How Much Will Trade Liberalization in Rich Countries Help Africa?
Cato Institute
Dec. 6, 12:00 p.m.

Does Supplemental Security Income Enduringly Reduce Child Poverty?
American Enterprise Institute
Dec. 12, 2:00 p.m.

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