If an omnipotent authority has the power to assign to every individual the tasks he has to perform, nothing that can be called freedom and autonomy is left to him. He has only the choice between strict obedience and death by starvation.
Ch'ien was one of the world's first monetary theorists. He pointed out that increased quantity and a debased quality of coinage by government depreciates the value of money and makes prices rise. And he saw too that government inherently tended to engage in this sort of inflation and debasement.
"Nagel thinks that people in society are morally bound to each other in ways that generate egalitarian obligations."
Until corporate welfare takes a backseat to real, proven solutions that help stateside consumers save a bundle at the pump (and help our less-prosperous allies financially), corn will remain king.
If Washington had done nothing at all after 9/11/01, either in domestic or foreign policy, the world would be much more peaceful and prosperous today.
In the real world, erecting higher trade barriers will reduce economic output in both countries, whereas reducing trade barriers will lead to greater output.
Posner is — to the best of my knowledge — a magnanimous person with a genuine concern for the lives of millions of Americans, but his book, if heeded, will only exacerbate current conditions.
To avoid runaway inflation we must have the resolve and the will to cease the inflationary expansion of credit, and to force the Federal Reserve System to stop purchasing assets, and thereby to stop its continued generation of chronic, accelerating inflation.
To draw insights from all sources is to create the kind of diversity that makes for a vibrant and productive intellectual paradigm and an endlessly fascinating website erected in the defense of liberty.
