American Thinker Article on Discrimination and Chinese Inflation Heats Up

I have an article on the American Thinker today entitled "Defending Discrimination." Here is an excerpt:

One would think that a company which provides cheap necessities to the public would be regarded as virtuous.  Maybe even saintly.  Instead, Walmart continues to be demonized by tenured college professors who have never worked a low-wage job or struggled to make ends meet on food stamps.  They probably never even stepped into a Walmart before, let alone mingled among the great unwashed.
It may not be politically correct, but discrimination is a beneficial human function.  Without it, people are unable to make rational decisions about whom they associate and do business with.  The gang of street toughs waiting at the end of the block could be the kindest people in the world.  Or they could rob you of all your belongings and leave you half-naked in the street.  Whichever the case, judging on the basis of looks can save a person's life.

A big thank you to the editor for posting my blog address at the end of the article and all the commentors.

Big, but expected news today as Chinese inflation is heating up

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — China’s consumer prices accelerated to a-three-year high in June as food prices soared 14.4%, according to data released Saturday, reaffirming expectations that Beijing won’t be in a hurry to relax its monetary stance even if it may not aggressively pursue more interest-rate increases.

The China Central Bank has been raising bank requirements to try and head off inflation but is failing miserably.  Somehow I think Bernanke is going to make the same mistakes soon enough.
China isn't the only country experiencing crippling inflation now,  add Russia to the list. Via Financial Times:

Since the onset of the economic crisis in 2008, which saw gross domestic product fall 8 per cent in 2009, wages in most sectors have been frozen, while inflation, temporarily damped by the crisis, has now picked up. In the first quarter of 2011, real wages fell 2.9 per cent, driven by higher inflation than expected.
While official inflation for the year sits at a little more than 9 per cent, many think this statistic is fudged. “I think the real inflation rate is being understated by official statistics,” says Sam Greene, a professor of political science at the Moscow-based New Economic School. Prices for many products have jumped sharply – petrol, for example, rose 6 per cent in the month from April to May.