Democratic socialism is in the news again. Following Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning victory, helping her become a darling of the mainstream media, Americans are becoming interested in democratic socialism again – a philosophy that involves voting to steal your stuff. Two key planks of democratic socialism are to rail against the rich and promise everything for free, which then leads to the next question: Who’s going to pay for all that free stuff?

While most of America remains blissfully unaware of what’s going on at Putin’s soccer tournament, aka World Cup 2018, the New York Times printed Gabriel Zucman’s piece merging soccer’s stars and tax evasion.

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Not long ago, I needed the help of a plumber to fix a leaking bury hydrant on my property. While I could probably dig the hole and then, thanks to the glorious Internet, figure out how to fix it myself, it would hardly be a valuable use of my time. I am better at researching and teaching, and then spending some of my earnings to get other things done. So, I relied on the specialization offered through the division of labor in the market.

Outside of the original trilogy on DVD (and VHS!), I don’t own any Star Wars products, apparel, films, or knick-knacks. I skipped the most recent film, Solo. But since I like to follow movie trends, my various news feeds still send me articles about the latest Star Wars movies.

Rarely does anything on this pique my interest as an editor here at mises.org. But then this tweet came through, which certainly raised my eyebrows:

In “ The Intellectuals and Socialism ,” F.A. Hayek contrasted intellectuals with scholars, original thinkers, and specialists. The intellectual is a public figure who is a “secondhand dealer in ideas” who is not necessarily very bright but can speak and write with confidence and authority about a wide range of subjects with which he or she has little direct knowledge or experience.

Most economic commentators are likely to agree that in relation to the period prior to the Great Depression, the present world is many times more sophisticated in terms of advanced technological knowledge. It is then tempted to suggest that with the present advanced technology we are in a position to generate enough real wealth to prevent a severe economic slump.

On this way of thinking, ideas are not themselves scarce unlike material inputs. Consequently, new ideas for more efficient processes and new products can make continuous growth possible.

It is a credit to the economics profession that the labor theory of value has largely fallen out of style. There is, however, one sector of the economy in which it continues to be taken seriously: sports.

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