1. Introduction: Praxeological Criticism of Ethics
1. Introduction: Praxeological Criticism of Ethics
2. Knowledge of Self-Interest: An Alleged Critical Assumption
This criticism of the market is more existential than ethical. It is the popular argument that laissez faire, or the free-market economy, rests its case on the crucial assumption that every individual knows his own self-interest best. Yet, it is charged, this is not true of many individuals. Therefore, the State must intervene, and the case for the free market is vitiated.
The free-market doctrine, however, does not rest on any such assumption. Like the mythical “economic man,” the Perfectly Wise Individual is a straw man created by the critics of the theory, not implied by it.
3. The Problem of Immoral Choices
Some writers are astute enough to realize that the market economy is simply a resultant of individual valuations, and thus they see that, if they do not like the results, the fault lies with the valuations, not the economic system. Yet they proceed to advocate government intervention to correct the immorality of individual choices. If people are immoral enough to choose whiskey rather than milk, cosmetics rather than educational matter, then the State, they say, should step in and correct these choices.
Fascism: The Career of a Concept
Dr. Guido Hülsmann: Nation, State, and Borders
Frank H. Knight: Prophet of Freedom
Keynes in 1939: The Coming War Will Solve our Unemployment Problem
On the eve of World War II, Keynes delivered the following chilling address on the BBC, talking about the “great experiment” of curing unemployment through war expenditure:
And So It Begins… Negative Interest Rates Trickle Down in Japan
The negative interest rates imposed by the Bank of Japan have begun to make their way into the Japanese banking system. Japanese trust banks have begun to impose negative interest rates on accounts held by institutional investors. It shouldn’t be surprising that Japanese banks are trying to pass on the costs imposed by the central bank’s policy of negative interest rates.
The European Union Is Anti-European
What is Europe? It seems that no rigorous answer can be provided. Europe is not exactly a continent. It is not a political entity. It is not a united people. The best definition, in fact, may be that Europe is the outcome of a long historical process that engendered unique institutions and a unique vision of what men ought to be. The idea that men ought to be free from violent government interference. Europe has no founding fathers. Its birth was not orchestrated but completely spontaneous.
