The interventionist policies as practiced for many decades by all governments of the capitalistic West have brought about all those effects which the economists predicted. There are wars and civil wars, ruthless oppression of the masses by clusters of self-appointed dictators, economic depressions, mass unemployment, capital consumption, famines.
Today’s New York Times is a treasure trove of stories of government standing in the way of commerce. Anyone visiting the Big Apple knows hotel lodging costs an arm and a leg. Some enterprising property owners in the city and outer boroughs have stepped in to fill consumer demand and make some money in the process. And with the aid of internet search engines and websites devoted to helping travelers find cheap rooms, demand has been brisk.
[Rethinking the American Union for the Twenty-First Century • Edited by Donald Livingston • Pelican Publishing Company, 2012 • 272 pages]
The contributors to Donald Livingston’s valuable collection of essays defend two main contentions. Each of these contentions may be held independently of the other, but the first one provides a reason to welcome the truth of the second.
There is word of more capital destruction in South America. It’s hard to keep up with the Chavzes, but down Argentina way, President Cristina Kirchner announced that her government is seizing a majority stake in oil company YPF SA, owned by Repsol YPF of Spain, the largest oil company in the world.
Then tune in to the Peter Schiff Show this morning, with me as guest host. I’ll be joined by Mises Institute Senior Fellow Jeffrey Herbener. We’ll be unpacking this piece of wisdom:
A commentator on my recent daily article, “Not Enough Inflation,” asked,
“John (and I really hope you answer this question),
Why is no one dismissing the “concept” of full-employment as utter nonsense? Doesn’t that give Krugman and his ilk a route to deceive people while sounding economically profound? I see the use of full employment as a goal to justify Keynesian prescriptions all over the place and yet no Austrian seems to be dismissing it from the discussion space.
Why?”
My response:
A year ago the Treasury Department bragged about an analysis that claimed the government’s massive bank bailout in response to the 2008 financial crisis (TARP) would actually end up turning a $24 million profit.
