Is it really such a stretch to suppose that when the US government (and Federal Reserve) brings the economy closer to outright socialism — as with Hoover, FDR, Bush, Obama, and Bernanke — that those very interventions hamper the economy?
According to David Beckworth, the problem with our economy is that people aren’t spending enough. This simple idea is very powerful; it permeates our financial press when they wring their hands and wonder if “the consumer” will buy enough to fix the economy.
Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art recently made a curious move to whitewash a mural painted by internationally known street artist BLU. The mural was originally commissioned by MOCA for their upcoming “Art in the Streets” exhibit. The wall faces the Veterans Administration healthcare building on Temple Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Was the series of giant coffins wrapped in dollar bills too politically incorrect? Did the truth hit too close to home?
Most Austrians stop short of following Chicago School economists’ advocacy of the “efficient-markets hypothesis” (EMH). In its most extreme form, the EMH becomes a caricature of itself in which asset bubbles are not just unlikely but logically impossible.
It’s bad enough to have mainstream economists tell us we need to “stimulate” the economy by printing money, to get us out of the recession. Now we have some calling for the printing of patents to do the same, by patent attorney Gene Quinn, about whom I’ve blogged before. You remember Quinn–he’s the guy who ridiculously argued that we need a state-granted monopoly system … so that Albert Einstein could have had a job in the Swiss patent office.
History tells a cyclical story of man versus state: man persistently creating new ideas and the state tirelessly laboring to destroy them. Bureaucracy has never been a friend to the ideas that undermine its artificial legitimacy.
A nice video from FEE:
See the following post from Inside Counsel. The typical mainstream patent bar view. It’s complete nonsense, of course. The comment notes that the Patent Reform Act of 2010
provided guidance on patent damages, raised the bar for finding willful infringement, discouraged forum shopping and eliminated false marking suits where the plaintiff could not show competitive damage. All in all, the 2010 Act was seen as pro business and a good first step towards much needed systemic change.
