p>The picture below (from this Flickr feed) illustrates the large number of lawsuits between players in the telecom sector–most seem to be patent infringement suits or suits based on antitrust law, i.e., totally without merit and a complete waste of resources. Without patent and antitrust law, we would have a less wasteful, less litigious, more competitive market. This ain’t the result of capitalism, but of unlibertarian state law. (H/t Jock Coats)
People must not be allowed to get prescription medications without doctor approval — or else an entire fake industry could collapse. So the pharms, the docs, and all those who benefit from the current system banded together and instituted a medieval guild system for the digital age.
Justin Lahart with the Wall Street Journal wrestles with the definition of inflation in his article “Using a Dictionary to Define Inflation Can Spell Trouble”. Lahart writes that up until 2003, Webster’s defined inflation as “printing money”. Since the 2003 edition, Webster’s defines inflation as “a continuing rise in the general price level.”
When it comes to proponents of Keynesian economics, none has a broader stage or influence than Paul Krugman. For almost a decade now, Krugman has used his New York Times column to promote both Keynesian economic policy and the Democratic Party’s agenda, as well as to mock opposing economic theories such as the Austrian business-cycle theory (which he labeled the “hangover theory” in his infamous Slate article from 1998).
In response to Friday’s Forbes article, a friend asked how we would all be better off if the washerwoman who has higher earnings as a result of the minimum wage takes a pay cut. The employment effect of a minimum wage is a classic example of the law of unintended consequences and Frederic Bastiat’s insights about the seen and the unseen.
