I am just back from Italy (which is why I have not been blogging regularly of late), where I was scouting for a study tour that I will be leading in May. The theme of the tour will be Renaissance Commerce and
Archive for February, 2011
Capitalism, Happiness, and Beauty
The following was excerpted from The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality Critics level two charges against capitalism: First, they say, that the possession of a motor car, a television set, and a refrigeraÂtor does not make a man happy. Secondly, they add that
Action Aversion
If I just straight out told you that there is a model within the conventional economic theory that implies most of us would prefer a world in which we would not be acting humans, you would probably tell me that
Why gold and oil sold off yesterday
Please, click here to read this article in pdf format: february-25-2011 It’s the end of the month and the animal spirits nervously want to take profits on a good February. Before we start today’s letter, we want to clarify our
The Practical Science of Austrian Economics
The Austrian Economics Newsletter - An Interview with Thomas J. DiLorenzo Winter 1999 Volume 19, Number 4 AEN: Your recent book, The Food and Drink Police, is quite timely. DILORENZO: We’ve seen an explosion of litigation designed to destroy whole
Competing Currencies: The Gold Standard of Monetary Systems
Discussions regarding monetary policy and currencies in particular will often include some talk of abandoning fiat currencies in favour of commodity backed units of wealth. While the defunct Confederate States of America attempted to back their confederate currency with cotton
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Corporatism, Then and Now
I’ve just finished reading “The Myth of the New Deal†by Ronald Radosh. This essay appears in A New History of Leviathan, a collection of essays edited by Murray Rothbard and Ronald Radosh. It is free to download from Mises.org.
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Three macro themes
Please, click here to read this article in pdf format: february-22-2011 During the last two weeks, we think that three self-evident macro-themes began to develop. We can even venture to add that these themes may stay with us longer than
Increasing Public Sector Not a Good Way to Reduce Inequality
Anyone with even the slightest familiarity of contemporary political life recognizes that the distinguishing feature of left-of-centre parties is their overriding commitment to the reduction of inequality. It is because they want to realize this goal that they generally support
The Price of Arrogance
The ongoing economic crisis has stirred up quite bit of debate among economists. In addition, it seems that the current students as well as the lay public show significant interest in the subject. One just needs to visit blogs of
A Webb of Lies
In The Foundations of Leninism, Stalin declared “For the overthrow of the bourgeoisie, we must have the efforts of the proletarians of several advanced countries.†What he secured instead was the slavish devotion of Western intellectuals who claimed to represent
Much Nationalist Ado About Nothing
Another proposed merger is once again sparking nationalist anxieties about the supposed hollowing out of Canadian business. Several months ago, it was the prospect of Potash being taken over by BHP Billiton. Now it’s a potential merger between the London
The Curse of Being Rich
The times never change for people who want more government intervention in the economy. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has published a report[ref]http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2011/01/Recession%20Proof.pdf[/ref]denouncing –yet again– that CEOs are making a lot. The report says that the latter are
The Death of Reaganomics (Keynesian Redux)
One of the ironic but unfortunately enduring legacies of eight years of Reaganism has been the resurrection of Keynesianism. From the late 1930s until the early 1970s, Keynesianism rode high in the economics profession and in the corridors of power
The way out
Please, click here to read this article in pdf format: february-16-2011 Perhaps the most relevant factor shaping the action this week is the absence of a significant, market moving event. Investors seem to just be marking time. Every major decision
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GDP and the Proper Way to “Measure†an Economy
You know, there’s a joke which goes something like: “teach a parrot to say supply and demand and you have an economist.†I think it should be changed to: “teach a parrot to say GDP and you have a sophisticated
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Economic Calculation: Chapter 5
5. The Most Recent Socialist Doctrines and the Problem of Economic Calculation Since recent events helped socialist parties to obtain power in Russia, Hungary, Germany and Austria, and have thus made the execution of a socialist nationalization program a topical
