In a market economy, prices are determined by supply and demand: how much of a quantity is being offered and how much value people place on that good relative to other goods. However, with great government power comes potential for great government irresponsibility: artificially lowering prices for some either through outright money printing or by taxing some to subsidize others.
Men are not infallible; they err very often. It is not true that the masses are always right and know the means for attaining the ends aimed at. “Belief in the common man” is no better founded than was belief in the supernatural gifts of kings, priests, and noblemen. Democracy guarantees a system of government in accordance with the wishes and plans of the majority. But it cannot prevent majorities from falling victim to erroneous ideas and from adopting inappropriate policies which not only fail to realize the ends aimed at but result in disaster.
[This talk was delivered on Saturday, September 3, 2022, at the Ron Paul Institute conference in northern Virginia.]
Remember the quaint old days of 2019? We were told the US economy was in great shape. Inflation was low, jobs were plentiful, GDP was growing. And frankly, if covid had not come along, there is a pretty good chance Donald Trump would have been reelected.
Three months have passed since quantitative easing officially began. Per the official plan the Fed was to reduce US Treasuries by a maximum of $30 billion and Mortgage-Backed Securities by $17.5 billion per month. So far they’ve been reducing their assets by around half of the total limit of $47.5 billion a month.
The immigration debate has polarized societies across the Western world. Objectors assert that the influx of migrants has corroded social relations, and defenders argue that immigrants release a dose of entrepreneurial dynamism.
Some libertarians have said that there’s a lot to like about the “criminal justice reform” prosecutors, which effectively refers to those district attorneys whose campaigns were financially supported by George Soros. These district attorneys specifically want to decrease incarceration rates (as well as racial disparities in incarceration rates). But are they acting in good faith?
