The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
by Zachary D. Carter
Random House, 2021 [2020]
xxii + 628 pages
For many people, though not, to be sure, readers of The Austrian, John Maynard Keynes ranks as the greatest economist of the twentieth century; but for Zachary D. Carter, this is a restrained understatement. Carter, a writer on economics at the HuffPost, says this about Keynes:
The Pope Who Would Be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe
by David Kertzer
Random House, 2018
xxx + 474 pages
Historian David Kertzer made a name for himself with his 1997 book The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. The book covers the until then rarely mentioned case of an Italian Jewish boy who was illicitly baptized by the housekeeper and then kidnapped in 1858 by Papal State authorities on the grounds that Jews in the Papal States could not be permitted to raise a Christian child.
Even if “won,” endless wars like our 20 year assault on Afghanistan would not benefit our actual national interest in the slightest. So why do these wars continue endlessly? Because they are so profitable to powerful and well-connected special interests. In fact, the worst news possible for the Beltway military contractor/think tank complex would be that the United States actually won a war. That would signal the end of the welfare-for-the-rich gravy train.
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell showed how simple questions do not always get simple answers. When speaking to the media after the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, some difficult questions were asked. So much so, Powell had to repeat one question to himself, asking:
When will the economy be able to stand on its own feet?
He immediately followed with:
[Editor’s note: In this selection from The Society of Tomorrow, Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912) discusses how competition in the political and natural worlds differ greatly from competition in the marketplace. We find Molinari makes some observations similar to those of Ludwig von Mises in identifying the consumer as the ultimate arbiter of who “wins” in market competition: “The most powerful rival still takes the first place, but it no longer rests with the victor to proclaim, or to assess, his own victory.
Last month, I mentioned the case of Karen Garner, a seventy-three-year-old, eighty-pound woman with dementia who was beaten by police for “resisting” arrest in June 2020. At the time, Garner was allegedly guilty of almost stealing thirteen dollars’ worth of merchandise at Walmart after apparently forgetting to pay. When confronted by store workers, Garner attempted to pay but was thrown out of the store by Walmart staff.
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article.
Anyone who believes the “rich” and large corporations will pay for $28 trillion in debt or the $2 trillion in new deficit has a real problem with math.
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article.
