When I was a kid, my (even then) conservative cousin from New York used to take me to baseball games both in Washington and (best of all) New York. Because of him, for example, I had the pleasure of seeing the 1962 Mets of “Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game” fame at the old Polo Grounds. This weekend, my cousin and his wife (designer of the Deacon icon) are coming to visit and we will travel to Baltimore for an Orioles game.
I was a fast learner when it came to baseball, but was much slower to absorb my counsin’s wisdom about politics and economics, such as that contained in this message about Microsoft’s announcement of a special dividend:
“The New York Times once again exhibits its ignorance of how wealth is created in America. [Yesterday’s] paper’s front-page headline on Microsoft’s special dividend characterizes this action as a ‘WINDFALL OF $32 BILLION’ to its shareholders. The Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines windfall as’something (as a tree or fruit) blown down by the wind.’ Alternatively, the dictionary states a windfall can be considered ‘an unexpected, unearned, or sudden gain or advantage.’
“Only in the Marxist-tinged world of the Times would the distribution of cash to shareholders earned by a company that has been a leader over the past decade in building a more productive economy be viewed as equivalent to winning the lottery. By contrast, The Wall Street Journal’s headline correctly characterized this business decision as signaling a ‘mature future for the software giant.’
“The Times has made me feel guilty about receiving my very small share of this ‘windfall’. Guess the only way to relieve my guilt is by donating my share to the Democratic Presidential campaign. Senators Kerry and Edwards have shown me that the route to prosperity lies not in receiving “windfalls” from savings and investing. Instead, wealth is creating by marrying heiresses or sharing in excessive punitive damages awards.”
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