[Based on the notes for a lecture given by the author to Young Americans for Liberty at the University of California, San Diego on May 4, 2010.]

Several recent blog posts indicate that the modern supporters of “free banking” continue to misconstrue the fundamental theoretical challenge posed by their critics. The main question is not about the ethical-legal issue of whether or not fractional-reserve banking is “fraud” under all circumstances. Nor, ultimately, is it even about fractional-reserve banking versus 100-percent reserve banking.

[This article first published in 2006 as “Japan’s Gift to FDR.” Liberty. 20, Volume 1, Issue 1: 19–27.]

Helping the poor is one of the most important things society does. But we do the poor no favors when we promote public policies that perpetuate poverty.

This especially applies to the tax system.

Stock up on your favorite junk food now, folks, because it looks like the federal government is going to be messing with our food supply a whole lot more if regulators at the FDA have their way. Plans are underway to mandate restrictions on salt.

Nina Paley is not only a famed artist and producer, having produced Sita Sings the Blues, the movie that is being called the most widely available film in history (review). She is also a one-woman warrior against copyright, leading first by example and then through patient explanation to the world art community via the website she runs with her colleagues, QuestionCopyright.org.

There are many reasons to be excited about Klein’s book. Guido Hulsmann mentioned in passing a few years ago just how rare it is for a new book to appear that focuses on pure theory in the Austrian tradition.

Guido estimated that it happens about every ten to fifteen years. There are several reasons: a) writing pure theory is hard, b) the Austrian theoretical apparatus old and well developed and thereby difficult to add to in a substantive way, c) with something so well developed, there is always a greater risk of making errors than of making genuine progress.

It is not unusual to hear about the virtues of hard money and the evils of the paper variety at a gold conference. However, Austrian business cycle theory is rarely cited given the audience is only interested in hot stock tips. But at the Las Vegas Hard Assets investment conference held last week at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, the Austrians were mentioned prominently in two separate presentations.

Jonathon and Brandy Miller are suing homebuilder Hovnanian because after buying their home for $360,000 in 2006 it’s now worth $164,500 and “We just feel like we’ve been wronged,” Jonathon Miller, is quoted as saying. “We were misled when we purchased it and we finally just got fed up and had to take some sort of action to address it.”