Though news coverage of Enron has evaporated, its aftereffects remain. This supposed crisis led to an expansion of leviathan in the form of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Unfortunately, the high costs of this act are not getting anywhere near as much coverage as the 'crisis' that fueled support for it.
Because of their minority status, most budding Austrian economists must endure graduate training in the mainstream orthodoxy before earning their Ph.D.s. A recent graduate of New York University highlights the major differences between Austrian economics and the neoclassical, New Keynesian paradigm: method, choice, money, institutions, time, and the business cycle.
The authors of the Time article are correct in that coming energy crises are brewing. However, they are wrong when they assume that such problems occur because of the ineptitude of capitalists and the lack of political will by members of Congress. Whether it be gasoline or the making of bread, the production of goods is best left to economic, not political entrepreneurship.
Abercrombie & Fitch, a constant winner in the voluntary "dollar-vote" elections of the market, is accused of being an intensely racist company in both its employment practices and its product marketing. In fact, it is doing nothing but what should be permitted in a free society: finding a market niche and making a profit.
The tragedy of mercantilism is that it tends to creep up when it can do the most damage, that is, during economic downturns. Sure enough, the US is experiencing a wave of protectionist sentiment, legislation, and action, some of it supported by the supposed friends of free trade. Let us begin the round up.
"Social responsibility" is out. Richard Teather explains that activists are demanding even more: corporate citizenship. This concept demands that a company's whole actions be carried out with regard to their "social impact" as interpreted by unions, environmentalists, poverty campaigners, and other non-profits. Of course, and mainly, it also means big donations to their organizations.
Germany's biggest economic troubles trace to Otto von Bismarck, who conceived of a system of social security for the industrial workers in the late 19th century. His goal was to bring them under the control of the State. It was first during World War I and its aftermath and under the Third Reich in the 1930s when the welfare state experienced its greatest expansions.
The Invisible Heart: An Economics Romance will no doubt be disappointing for those who like their romance novels with Fabio flexing on the cover, damsel in his arms, his hair blowing in the breeze, but it might reach a few romance novel readers and help expose those in the dating pool to the free-market message.
People can feel socially secure in Denmark—at least for now. People don't get rich from welfare but they can live a comfortable life. Practically all people are eligible for one program or another. But it is not sustainable in the long run. At some point, the trough will be empty. Per Henrik Hansen explains.
When today's clergymen expound on issues of political economy we are often given a stark choice. Will we allow companies to selfishly pursue profits or will they recognize a wider social mission? Will workers be paid the barely subsistent market wage or will they be paid a more Christian "living wage"? Even conservatives tell us we must choose between markets and compassion.
