Lord Acton was one of the greatest classical liberal historians of the nineteenth century, but his view of the War between the States has in some circles occasioned dismay. Acton, in a letter of 1866 to Robert E. Lee, said, “I deemed that you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization; and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.”
Economics is about human action and choice within the context of scarcity. The problem facing economists is how to understand and explain human betterment, which is another way of saying production. The critical question, posed correctly by economist Per Bylund, starts with scarcity as the default point for understanding purposive human behavior.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Or tyrannical men do tyrannical things when it comes to propping up paper money whose value is circling the drain. The Financial Times headline screams, “Turkey to Target ‘Under the Mattress’ Gold in Effort to Bolster the Lira.”
The eurozone’s annual price inflation rate hit 5 percent in December 2021 and (as of this writing) the consensus is for 5.1 percent in January 2022.
“You do not have the right to parade through the public streets or to obstruct public thoroughfares. You have the right of assembly, yes, on your own property, and on the property of your adherents or your friends. But nobody has the ‘right’ to clog the streets.” –Ayn Rand
History was made under the Biden administration last week as the Federal Reserve announced Dr. Susan M. Collins to be named President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Her appointment makes her the first African-American female to serve on the Fed’s Board of Directors.
