It’s Not Colonization, It’s Containment
Obama was warned by Bush, along with the other democratic candidates, that once he gained office he would not be able to exit either country. The one who paid attention to that warning was Clinton. Obama softened slightly but was more reliant on the radical left. So he wasn’t as careful. Now that he’s in…
Is There A War On Police?
There have been a large number of police deaths lately. “It’s not a fluke,” Richard Roberts, a spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations, told MSNBC.com. “There’s a perception among officers in the field that there’s a war on cops going on.” This is not rocket science, but it cannot be attributed to one…
Capitalism Is A Political Concept
THIS IS FALSE: “capitalism is not a political concept” – Andrew J Galambos. THIS IS TRUE: Capitalism is not a *rhetorical* concept that relies upon the process of debate for the purpose of decision-making about the use of resources within a geography. However, capitalism is a political concept, because it relies upon the **absence** of…
Mario Rizzo: Hobbesian War (First Great Thought Of 2011).
I captured this post in it’s near-entirety from Think Markets. It’s the first succinct and meaningful post of the year that I’ve come across. And I captured it for my own reference, for posterity. Of course, my answer to this problem is the calculative rather than political society. Unfortunately, unless I devote full time to…
Capitalism? It’s Cooperative Technology. It’s Not A Religion.
A laugh. From a Galambos Fan. A link to a posting on Dubai’s economy. “Capitalism is that societal structure whose mechanism is capable of protecting all forms of property completely.” — Galambos Is the new epic-center of capitalism to be the Islamic World? They already have a religion… 😉 But let’s look at this…
Rereading The Constitution Of Liberty Leads To A Few New Insights On Freedom
I’ve read Hayek’s The Constitution Of Liberty twice again lately while editing it so that I could convert the text to spoken audio. The resulting audio is imperfect — because my editing of the multitude of optically recognized characters is imperfect — but for personal consumption it’s works just fine. But editing a text forces…
Putin: Your Cow Better Be Silent
Putin Slams West for Wikileaks’ Assange Arrest : Putin Suggests U.S. Criticism Is the Pot Calling the Kettle http://abcnews.go.com/International/putin-slams-west-wikileaks-arrest/story?id=12364345 Putin criticizes supposedly democratic institutions for clamping down on a dissident. “The villagers say, that if your neighbor’s cow is mooing, yours better be silent”. Which is the Russian equivalent of ‘the pot calling the kettle…
A Decidedly Christian Set Of Laws In 1603
I hadn’t read Hugo Grotius’ Commentary before today. It is an interesting attempt to provide a coherent set of legal principles. Even if it is just very simply a recitation of Biblical principles with european legal conventions. I would never agree to place such faith in Magistrates, or any other officer of the state. They…
Arresting Assange For What? Say Again?
OK. I just dont get arresting Assange for getting women to sleep with him, and not using a condom. We’d need an awful lot of additional jails. Either arrest the guy for the real reason that you want him, or you’re abusing the justice system. I’m not a fan of this guy, and I think…
The Globalization Of Status and Beauty and The Rise In Rhinoplasty
I read and commented on a piece recently that lamented the rise in rhinoplasty (nose jobs) among Iranian women, seeking smaller more feminine noses. But I am not sure it’s a reason for lament. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STATUS Self modification is partly popular because it is expensive and demonstrates that you have joined the market-participating…
A Response to Gene Callahan: Scientism In The Way Of Science
From Thinkmarkets: Scientism in the way of science by Gene Callahan. Gene takes critics of economics to task. I misunderstand it at first, (as does Ebeling), and the ensuing commentary is worth reading. (Originally posted there. Posted here for documentary purposes. -A nod to the few sites like Econlib that seem to think documenting one’s…
The Need For Manufacturing Jobs Is Not a Myth
Myth of China’s Manufacturing Prowess Myth of China’s Manufacturing Prowess Contrary to the conventional view, manufacturing in the U. S. has been growing in the past two decades despite the decline in manufacturing jobs. The latest data show that the United States is still the largest manufacturer in the world. In 2008, U.S. manufacturing output…
Myths That Are Realities: Donald Trump vs CATO and Don Boudreaux
On Cafe Hayek, Don Boudreaux references a CATO posting which in turn references a Wall Street Journal article, that criticizes Donald Trump for stating that we need more manufacturing jobs. The libertarian sentiments held by my friends at CATO and Cafe Hayek, inform them that productivity gains show that we produce just plenty of manufacturing…
The Nature Of Man?
The nature of man is to reap the rewards of a market economy, while spending his efforts on avoiding any and all PARTICIPATION in the economy. In other words, the vast majority of people would prefer to live in countries with advanced market economies, largely because of the quality of life that can be obtained…
The Common Law vs Fiat Law – Definitions and Expositions
Today, someone, in an obscure little news group, expressed his libertarian sentiments by saying: “Common law is good enough for all: You must not cause harm, damage or loss, infringe on the rights of others or use mischief in business. To be accused you must have a flesh and blood accuser who can provide proof…
No Surprises In Wikileaks: It Only Illustrates The Obvious: Overreach By Our Bureaucracy.
SURPRISE? NO SURPRISES IN WIKILEAKS AT ALL. These are common diplomatic cables, written in the common business-language-of-state. Anything ‘shocking’ is simply the result of how people speak when they believe that their communications will remain private. Look at your own email, or personal conversations. We all trash-talk whenever we can. It vents our frustrations. For…
Tyler Re-Reads Road To Serfdom And Misses The Point
I don’t particularly like criticizing Tyler Cowen, but this is a bit ridiculous, and I”m going to have to chalk it up to excess holiday tryptophan. Last time I read Road To Serfdom was this fall, driving cross country. Actually, I listened to it on tape. And I cautiously pulled aside whenever I needed to…
Two Founder Quotes Translated Into Forgone Opportunity Costs
“To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people is a chimerical idea.” — James Madison Becomes: “Liberty represents the ability of each individual to achieve his greatest happiness, but only by servicing the wants and needs of others, and to do so by participating in…
To Time Magazine on Taleb: Quantity and Probability.
Mr. Galdel, of Time Magazine, asks readers what questions he should put before Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan, and implies, without understanding his own cognitive bias, that the liberal belief in our own wisdom and control of our own destiny is unquestionable. http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2010/11/23/whats-wrong-with-bernanke-and-qe2-ask-nissam-taleb/ Taleb has recently been bashing Bernanke saying he doesn’t know…
What does free speech have to do with copyright law?
An interesting question from Mises.org: ” What does free speech have to do with copyright law?” It’s fascinating how this fairly simple set of ideas can exist in the public discourse without understanding the rational foundation upon which the concepts of free speech and copyright are based. a) Books, magazines, movies, plays, music (at least,…
Is There A Cartel Effect Under Minimum Wage?
From: SMALL TRUTHS ABOUT THE MINIMUM WAGE http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2010/11/small-truths-about-the-minimum-wage.html Something troubles me about this debate on the minimum wage. How do we know that employers in at least some sectors, artificially reduce wages by forming a wage-price cartel using state-sponsored price fixing of minimum wages? Wages are, aside from compensation, also a form of data, and…
What Do The Elections Mean For The Economy?
In a staff meeting the other day, one of our senior people asked me what the elections mean for the economy, since our business (advertising and marketing) is highly influenced by the direction of the economy. We are a leading indicator of both upward and downward trends. I responded that the question depended upon the…
The Liberal Gene
Researchers have determined that genetics could matter when it comes to some adults’ political leanings. According to scientists at UC San Diego and Harvard University, “ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4.” That and how many friends you had during high school. The study was…
A Study On Corruption, Without A Definition Of Corruption. Is That In Itself Corruption?
From http://dmarron.com/2010/10/31/how-corrupt-is-the-united-states/ “According to a recent study, the United States has more public sector corruption than do many other developed economies.” “Perception” is only a measure of popularity. It is not a fact of relative corruption. The problem faced by the USA is that it is too large, and our political system is insufficient for…
Recommended A Book On Philosophy? Hmmm. Maybe a Library of them.
Last weekend a friend of mine surprised me by confessing to have an interest in philosophy (which surprised me, I thought all he was interested in was traveling and fly-fishing) and recommended a book, Philosophy of Language , by Scott Soames. I am wondering, what do folks here think of Soames and of his book,…
