Ideological and Irrational Exuberance
David Kramer on Bitcoin—Just Another Bogus Medium of Exchange
The Gold Standard: Myths and Lies
With various states debating measures to elevate the monetary status of gold, the gold standard is more politically relevant now than it has been in decades. When the LA Times (to pick just one example) runs an article stating matter-of-factly that “economists” uniformly oppose gold, you know the defenders of the current system are getting nervous.
Precisely because a gold standard is such a hot topic lately, it’s important for people to understand its rationale.
Early Warning Report
According to RichardMaybury.com, Ron Paul writes, “I look forward to reading every issue of your Early Warning Report.”
Still Trouble in Bankland
Leaving aside the worries over Basel III requirements and the 300-plus new regulations soon to spew forth from Dodd-Frank, first quarter data from the FDIC has been parsed by ValuEngine Chief Strategist Richard Suttmeier and while the numbers look good, a peek under the hood reveals problems.
The End of Hystery? Francis Fukuyama’s Review of The Constitution of Liberty
Fukuyama, being a neocon, doesn’t see the strategic role of liberty in encouraging individuals to lead virtuous lives.
How I Learned the Truth about the State
In a police state, we’re all criminals. How many laws have you broken today? This week? This month? Have you changed lanes without a turn signal? Exceeded the posted speed limit? Hired a neighborhood kid to cut your grass and then paid him under the table?
Arthur Ekirch on American Militarism
In 1783 the treaty ending hostilities between Great Britain and its rebellious colonies along the eastern seaboard of North America was signed in Paris. For their part the English proclaimed that, “His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations … “ — there followed the rest of the thirteen colonies — “to be free sovereign and independent states,” with the British Crown relinquishing all claims to “the same and every part thereof.”
What the Turks Can Teach Us about Recycling
It’s now considered too radical to believe that people should just throw unwanted items away. To allow people to do this is “going too far.” But here is a fact: forcing people to spend time separating garbage turns the division of labor on its head.
C.M. Kornbluth and the Syndicate
[Transcribed from the Libertarian Tradition podcast episode “C.M. Kornbluth (1923–1958)”]
Read Hoppe, Then Nothing Is the Same
Austrolibertarianism begins with Murray Rothbard. His mentor Ludwig von Mises systematized Austrian economics and put it on a modern, rigorous foundation. Rothbard built on, and extended, this Misesian-praxeological Austrian framework, and he integrated it with his own radical anarchocapitalism to produce the superstructure of modern Austrolibertarian thought.
