How an Economy Grows
Since World War II, most economists have been apologists for government growth.1 Now the “experts” who never see a crisis coming tell us that we must once again abandon free-market principles to save
Should the Fed Be Concerned about Low Price Inflation?
A so-called lowering of “real” interest rates by means of money pumping is basically an act of a diversion of real wealth from wealth generators to various nonproductive activities. Hence, contrary to popular thinking, the Fed’s attempt to lower the real interest rate in fact leads to a higher real interest rate.
French Students Should Celebrate Pension Reform
That students are in the streets demonstrating against this pension reform suggests professors and politicians have failed to explain what economists call the lump-of-labor fallacy. Jobs are not fixed and do not depend exclusively on the supply of labor.
QE2 and the Alleged Deflation Threat
The justification given for “QE2,” another round of quantitative easing, is of course the threat of deflation. But if we actually look for ourselves, we see that prices are not falling — not that it would be bad if they were.
Start-Up Fever
After Social Network, college kids are going wild for commercial start ups.
Industrial Production Index is Falling Again
Trust for Anti-Trust?
I’m reviewing my notes for a lecture I’m giving in Denver in about an hour, and I came across notes about an FTC judgment against Toys-R-Us claiming that they were stifling competition by using their market power as a toy distributor. In light of the recent bankruptcy filing by Blockbuster, I started to wonder: what is the effect of a negative antitrust ruling on the probability of a future bankruptcy filing? In short, how many so-called monopolists ended up belly-up within a few years of their antitrust proceedings?
Understanding IP: An Interview with Stephan Kinsella
“Finally, everything fell into place, primarily from Rothbard and Misesian theory. I found that this issue is difficult, but once you see it, it’s one of these issues that sets peoples’ minds on fire. It frees you to think about other things in different ways.”
What’s Wrong with “Contemporary Classical”?
Contemporary classical-music pieces written by living composers routinely manage the amazing feat of displeasing nearly everyone in the concert hall, starting with the audience of course, but also including the performers.
Can Moral Rights Expire by Law?
A Norwegian blogger has written what he believes to be a sweeping defense of “intellectual property” rooted in moral claims and natural rights. I always enjoy reading these pieces, if only for sport: it is interesting to see where the argument begins to fall apart, as it necessarily must. And this is because IP is a state-created right that cannot exist in purely voluntary exchange.
