States have a long tradition of bringing the best and the brightest into its sphere. The National Socialists, for example, certainly had no shortage of highly qualified and ingenious intellectuals on its side, from a great many medical doctors and engineers, to brilliant intellectuals like Albert Speer and Leni Riefenstahl. The Soviet regime employed no shortage of more-than-adequate engineers, physicists, filmmakers, and musicians. Some of history’s greatest advertising minds and writers (i.e.

Christine Lagarde admits that the International Monetary Fund “got it wrong” when it chastised the British government’s austerity plans. One year ago the IMF’s chief economist Oliver Blanchard claimed the U.K. was “playing with fire” by cutting its budget.

On my way to Oxford to participate in the Oxford Union debate, I stopped off in London to tour the venerable Institute for Economic Affairs which has been promoting free market ideas for many decades. I had the great pleasure to contribute a chapter to one of their book publications — Prohibitions a few years back.

I was given a great tour of the facilities and had a great conversation with Dr. Steve Davies about the economic crisis, current policies issues and the challenges and strategies of free market organizations.

Shawn Ritenour writes:

As Ryan McMaken noted on June 5, the European Central Bank has instituted negative interest rates for member banks. This could soon spread to the US and also to consumer accounts. If so, you would find money taken out of your bank account each quarter unless you spend it. Some observers think that in the US at least it will start with higher account fees, which will be stealth negative interest rates, and then move to overtly negative rates.

Brazilian entrepreneur and businessman Helio Beltrão talks to Jeff Deist about crony capitalism and the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and why the Liberty Movement is like a soccer team. It’s also on iTunes. 

Here is the YouTube version:

It may be a stillbirth. As mentioned here and here, banks refuse to conduct business with legal cannabis-related businesses in Colorado because federal regulations prohibit banks from doing business with merchants who deal with substances deemed illegal by the federal government.