Commodify My Grass, and Everything Else
Thank goodness that no local government has decided that lawn care is a public good.
Are markets (and other social phenomena) really “spontaneous”?
I have misgivings about the term. ”Spontaneous” can mean “impulsive” (as in “he spontaneously started dancing”), which is obviously unsuitable. In biology, it means “involuntary”, which also obviously doesn’t apply to human action. I suppose “without external cause” (as in “spontaneous combustion”) fits somewhat, because the direction of market activities occurs within the market and not outside of it.
Technology Eats Lawyers
Back in 1900 over 40 percent of the America’s workforce was employed in agriculture. One hundred years later the percentage had fallen to less than two percent. What happened was technology. Tractors, balers and fertilizer meant that yours truly despite growing up in farm country didn’t get stuck down on the farm.
What Is Your Plan for the Day After Tomorrow?
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s masterpiece celebrating capitalism and the individual, is a rare accomplishment. It still holds up, more than ever.
What’s Wrong with Government Debt
The problem with government budget deficits is not merely that they (typically) lead to higher interest rates and thus reduce private-sector investment and consumption spending.
The Socialism of Agri-Patents
Some bozo tried to patent a species in 1889, but the patent commissioner rejected it as “unreasonable and impossible.” Exactly. But this changed in stages, and only fairly recently. The current regime dates from the late 1980s. These patents handed the Left their best arguments.
More for Me Does Not Mean Better for Us
Union defenders have justified their position based on little more than the assertion that some union benefited them or some member of their family.
The Fed Extends and Pretends
Real estate mogul Sam Zell appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box yesterday morning, devoting some of his time to the state of the commercial real estate market.
Mortgage Delinquencies by Zip Code
The Wall Street Journal has an amazing table of percentage of mortgage loans that are 90 days+ past due by zip code, using numbers from CoreLogic Inc. for zip codes with more than 5,000 mortgages.
Zip codes in college towns like 36830 in Auburn AL, 1.84%, 65203 in Columbia, MO 1.20%, 77845 in College Station, TX 1.24%, 80301 in Boulder, CO 1.58%, 68516 in Lincoln, NE 1.30%
Pirates and Hayek
I appreciate everyone’s comments on my intro to my “Capitalism and Socialism” course; indeed, one of the first things we’re going to do is figure out exactly what we mean.
