Łukasz Dominiak: Culture in Hoppe’s Private Law Society
New Directions in Entrepreneurship Research
Dean Shepherd has a new article in the Journal of Business Venturing discussing the future of entrepreneurship research. A video of Shepherd talking through his major points can be found here, along with a gated version of the paper, which is aptly titled, “Party On! A call for entrepreneurship research that is more interactive, activity based, cognitively hot, compassionate, and prosocial.”
Black Markets in School Cafeterias
Congress and the First Lady teamed up to impose the “Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act” on school children across the country, but news of unintended consequences abound.
Greece and the West’s Monetary Sin
The stability of the Eurozone is back in the spotlight this week amidst Greece’s talks with its creditors—which seem to be going nowhere good. Some, like the UK, seem relieved at not having entered in such spurious monetary agreements. Others, like Germany and the IMF, seem desperate to convince the Greeks to do something, anything, to begin reforms that will enable them to pay their debts. But the Greeks are keen on pushing the issue past the breaking point—after all, there’s too much at stake for everyone to let Greece fail.
Part I. Business Cycle Theory | 1. The Positive Theory of the Cycle
Study of business cycles must be based upon a satisfactory cycle theory. Gazing at sheaves of statistics without “prejudgment” is futile. A cycle takes place in the economic world, and therefore a usable cycle theory must be integrated with general economic theory. And yet, remarkably, such integration, even attempted integration, is the exception, not the rule. Economics, in the last two decades, has fissured badly into a host of airtight compartments—each sphere hardly related to the others.
2. Keynesian Criticisms of the Theory
There are two standard Keynesian criticisms of the Mises cycle theory. One charge takes the followers of Mises to task for identifying saving and investment.
Self-Determination and Secession
The secessionist impulse doesn’t seem to be going away in Europe. This month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the latest drive for secession comes from Sardinia. The leaders of the movement propose that the island, only part of Italy since the 1860s, be joined to Switzerland instead.
Frédéric Bastiat’s Economic Sophisms Is Now More Important Than Ever
The great economist Frédéric Bastiat would have turned 214 today. His contributions to liberty have been many, but while so many advocates of free markets focus on The Law, there is another book that represents his legacy even better: Economic Sophisms. This short work of essays epitomizes perhaps his most important contribution: using taut logic and compelling prose to bring the dry field of economics to hundreds of thousands of laymen.
Baltimore’s Unemployed and the True Cost of Minimum Wages
Since President Johnson first declared war on poverty in his 1964 State of the Union address, this war has cost US taxpayers $22 trillion. The primary implement of this war has and continues to be public assistance programs. Prior to the war, the poverty rate had fallen steadily from just under 35 percent in 1949 to just over 15 percent in 1965.
