Price Gouging

Stop complaining about "price gouging". This is still a free country. If a businessman anticipates that some commodity is about to become scarce, he is doing our country a major service by raising his asking price thus reducing demand and signaling that producers should accelerate production. For example, many people complain when lumber yards double the price of plywood during hurricane threats or aftermaths. But they should raise their prices. If it is shown that such "excessive" profits are possible, lumber distributers will come to maintain heavier inventories in hurricane areas. Also, the high price will encourage other pepole to rapidly truck in additional supplies. Moreover, the high price will prevent individuals in the hurricane area from squandering precious materials by building a dog house for Fido while they're off from work.

Supporting the American Stock Market

Today's stock market was vastly overvalued and even before the terrorist attack. With price to earnings valuations 5-100's of times higher than is normal, the markets were in a very unhealthy mania and causing huge misallocations of capital. American desparately needs to correct this imbalance quickly so that we can achieve a healthy productive economy capable of supporting the war effort. Moreover, most of these dot-com wennies (like myself) need to plan on a new career based a bit more in profitable reality. Our country must not waste billions of dollars trying to support this mania, the money will be desparately needed to improve our production infrastructure when business recovers.

Don't Fixate on the Consumer Economy

The media has been harping on Americans to continue their spending binge that has left them without savings, deeply in debt, and buried with trinkets. Prosperity is NOT achieved by consumer spending, but by Americans SAVING. Money saved and socked away is money available in times of crisis. Money saved is money that can be used to invest in better factories. Don't squander your wealth. America is going to need funds to build factories producing tanks, subs, missiles, rifles and all of the tools of war. You don't necessarily need a home theatre system.

Air Transportation Security

Again, the government doesn't need to waste billions of dollars (in funds and lost productivity) trying to provide air transportation security. Hijakers can't comandeer a plane full of armed passengers. At the very least let the airlines offer consumers a choice like they used to do with smoking, passengers can choose a gun free flight or the armed flight. We'll soon learn which is safest. And this very effective security doesn't cost the government a cent. See Airplanes & Guns: Myths and Reality

Don't Assume the Enemy is Stupid

The art of war is deception. Things are or might not be as they appear. Certain events might be a diversion. For example, there are a number of possibilities surrounding the terrorist air attack: 1. The enemy wishes to make note of how our government reacts and maneuvers during a threat, 2. The enemy wishes to herd American military forces into a concentrated killing zone., 3. The enemy is concealing an economic attack against America. Do not assume that these Arab terrorist who were so skilled in planning this attack were suddenly so sloppy in leaving behind a huge paper trail in their car. True enough, it's possible that this was simply a bunch of lunatic terrorist who got lucky. However, the dangers to this nation security implied by other strategic possibilities deserve consideration and "paranoid" scruitny.