Speaking at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, President Joe Biden on Tuesday morning declared inflation to be his top “domestic priority” and insisted that inflation would not be a problem were it not for covid and the war in Ukraine. There was little room, however, for any sound economics in a speech that was little more than a campaign speech for the ruling Democratic Party in an election year in which the party looks to take a beating at the ballot box. In truth, it is the U.S. regime itself—and the regime's central bank—that is the real cause of today's galloping inflation....
economics
How to Effectively Fight Global Poverty. Bryan Caplan & Keith Knight
https://youtu.be/FrAG6MpikUg Free markets are awesome because they give business incentives to do good stuff that sounds bad. Governments are awful because they give politicians incentives to do bad stuff that sounds good. Since the correlation between what IS good and what SOUNDS good is quite low, this is a huge deal. - Bryan Caplan, Ph.D. (December 27th, 2021) Dr. Bryan Caplan is the New York Times Bestselling author of Open Borders, The Myth of the Rational Voter, Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, and The Case Against Education, has been blogging for EconLog since 2005. Labor Econ...
4/22/22 Ryan McMaken on Capitalism and Peace
Download Episode. Scott talks with Ryan McMaken about free markets and free trade. They begin with a discussion about the role of the Mises Institute in the push for sound money. Scott then asks McMaken about the nuances of debating capitalism vs. socialism while living under a mixed economy. They then discuss the changing role of the United States in the world. McMaken does believe a “rules-based international order” existed after the fall of the USSR. But that the U.S. destroyed it by invading Iraq in 2003. McMaken argues that the best path forward is a commitment to the classical...
The Mark of a Civilized Society. Mark Skousen & Keith Knight
https://youtu.be/HX9SZHeDaoY Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. - Mark Skousen, Ph.D. and Jo Ann Skousen, Persuasion vs. Force (1992) Mark Skousen earned his Ph.d. in monetary economics at George Washington University, is the editor of Forecasts & Strategies, author of 25 books, and is the founder of FreedomFest. Save $50 if you use...
For 12 Years and Tens of Thousands of Dollars, Is Schooling Worth It?
The Case against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan (Princeton University Press, 2018, 395 pages). Almost every book on education policy (and I have read a great many of them) springs from the set of assumptions that education “experts” embrace: that schooling builds our stock of knowledge and skill, that it needs to be done mainly by government, that it makes us better human beings, and that we owe our prosperity to our great “investment” in education, kindergarten through college. Among the tiny number of books that challenge the...
The Evil of Economic Regulation
In the Yucatan, we stayed at several all-inclusive resorts. These resorts were a good fit for my family: When you’re travelling in a Third World country with four kids during a pandemic, you want a convenient supply of abundant and tasty food – and enough variety to please each and every picky eater. (Me included). Since portions were smallish, we routinely ordered 12-15 dinners for dinner, all at zero marginal cost. At least in Mexican resorts, tips are appreciated but not expected. Economically speaking, there’s a straightforward win-win case for these Mexican resorts: Not only do...
Human Action Book Review. Jacob Hornberger & Keith Knight
https://youtu.be/YUpUBt52hXk Economics, as a branch of the more general theory of human action, deals with all human action, i.e., with man’s purposive aiming at the attainment of ends chosen, whatever these ends may be. Ludwig von Mises, Ph.D., Human Action, p. 880 Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. An Encounter with Evil: The Abraham Zapruder Story by Jacob G. Hornberger Odysee BitChute Minds Flote Archive...
Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life (Book Summary). Danny Duchamp & Keith Knight
https://youtu.be/qkBHmzwIvRo We don't usually make people better off by reducing their alternatives. - David D. Friedman, Ph.D., Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life Danny Duchamp creates videos and essays on philosophy, economics and politics from a consequentialist libertarian perspective. Follow him on Odysee, Twitter, Substack, and his Website. Odysee BitChute Minds Flote Archive...
The ‘Threat’ of the Big Bad Bear
At the height of the late Cold War period, Andrew Cockburn wrote The Threat, a book that explored the bear cave of assumed Soviet military dominance. Challenging the narrative of Soviet supremacy—the belief that the Red Bear not only had greater numbers in their favor but also technological marvels that were capable of ensuring swift victory in time of war—Cockburn exposed myths that had been invented: a perceived supremacy that helped justify NATO, the Pentagon’s spending sprees, and a military-industrial complicated nation state that continues to grow long after the Berlin Wall fell and...
News Roundup 3/30/2022
US News The Pentagon delays awarding a contract to build a cloud for the Department of Defense until December. [Link] Norwegian soldiers arrive in the US to train with the Minnesota National Guard. [Link] Russia A majority of Americans believe Biden has not been tough enough on Russia. [Link] NATO members are split on talking with Putin and on what weapons to send Ukraine. [Link] Four European countries expel over 40 Russian diplomats. [Link] Turkey says meaningful progress was made during the latest Russia-Ukraine talks. After the talks, Moscow announced it would reduce its military...