Pikachu is a yellow mouse and the internationally-recognized mascot of the Pokémon Franchise. Pokémon’s beginning was a game and disconnected (“Pocket Monsters”) playing cards decades ago. Over time, it has spawned a TV series, a monopoly game, and a worldwide card collection fever. The tangible cards are now an ersatz currency to reward chore completion, trade for other cards, cash, and bitcoin. Bartering lives, and the card collection fever illustrates Austrian economics.

The Telegraph recently headlined a report titled ‘Monstrous’ Equality Act has gone too far, warns Lord Sewell. It seems that conservatives in the UK believe the Equality Act 2010, which is based on the same principles as civil rights legislation in the United States, has “gone too far.”

[This is a chapter from The Problem of Production: A New Theory of the Firm.]

[Chapter 19 of The Conquest of Poverty (1996)]

The socialists and communists propose to cure poverty by seizing private property, particularly property in the means of production, and turning it over to be operated by the government.

“By July 2026, the libertarian president’s approval rating has plummeted to 35.5 percent, with disapproval surging to 63 percent...”

Henry Hazlitt, author, journalist, editor, reviewer, economist, has written or edited 18 books and countless articles, columns, editorials, and book reviews. He has gained renown in at least three areas: as a popularizer of sound economic thinking, as a critic of John Maynard Keynes, and as a contributor to moral philosophy. His Economics in One Lesson (1946), a long-time best seller, is one of the finest introductions there is to sound economics.