In late June the Mises Academy will launch my new online class, Keynes, Krugman, and the Crisis.

In his brilliant article on “The Intellectuals and Socialism,” Friedrich Hayek suggests a strong causal connection between copyright laws and socialism. In discussing the development of the intellectual class, whom he characterizes as “secondhanders in ideas” and inherently inclined to promote socialism, Hayek writes:

One of the most important points that would have to be examined in such a discussion would be how far the growth of this [intellectual] class has been artificially stimulated by the law of copyright.

Who to side with? What a dilemma! On the one hand, we have Claudio Ballard and his company Data Treasury, which uses patent monopoly privileges granted by an agency of the central state to shake down banks for “violating” “its” check image capture and storage technology.

Milk in its natural state — raw milk — is consumed by very few Americans, because it is illegal in many states and thoroughly discouraged by federal health organizations, regulators, and the Big Dairy lobby. Its dangers are minimal, and those are due to its prohibition.

I recently came across “Putting Economics in Its Place,” an article penned by Robert L. Heilbroner, an avowedly Schumpeter-influenced socialist.1 Heilbroner’s main purpose is to argue that the explanatory scope of economics has been greatly exaggerated. He contends that economics does not provide a universal, underlying science of society.

Is a second American revolution imminent? Frankly, I doubt it.

Due to the exponentially increasing popularity of artisan, small-batch foods, governments everywhere had to react quickly to control these horrifying and hazardous-to-our-health voluntary market transactions that were taking place everywhere. Michigan, for instance, is a state where wonderful and unique artisan and local products are easily obtained – there’s Detroit Eastern Market, the zillions of local (suburban) farmers markets, rural farmers selling products on property food stands, and small, specialty stores that are just about everywhere.