Peace and the “Peace Prize”
Real peace is the absence of aggression, whether on an international scale or localized within a small area. Real peace requires the absence of aggression in domestic affairs concerning individual citizens.
Williamson and the Austrians
Oliver Williamson’s Nobel Prize is great news for Austrians. His pathbreaking analysis of how alternative organizational forms emerge, perform, and adapt has defined the modern field of organizational economics.
How the Free Market Works
In Rothbard’s vast compendium of economic wisdom, we read much that has not yet been properly popularized. Rothbard’s production theory, for example, is quite different from the standard account.
No Such Thing as a Free Flu Shot
The best way to supply the public with vaccines is the unhampered market, a market absent of any subsidy and absent of any obligation to get a “flu shot.”
Be Happy for Tax Deductions
NPR had a story today about a bill introduced by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan. The Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years Act (HAPPY Act) would allow taxpayers to deduct up to $3,500 a year for pet care expenses. It turns out that the bill (H.R. 3501) was actually introduced on July 31.
Another Problem with Legislation: James Carter v. the Field Codes
There is a fascinating paper published in 1884 by James C. Carter, The Proposed Codification of Our Common Law: A Paper Prepared at the Request of The Committee of the Bar Association of the City of New York, Appointed to Oppose the Measure. This paper was an attack on David Dudley Field’s attempt to (legislatively) codify New York’s common law. Carter opposed replacing case law with centralized legislation.
A Picture of Marketing
I just received an exciting notice that one of my favorite books, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, is being released October 27, and the pre-orders are going well. But wait: according to copyright theory, this isn’t suppose to happen. There are many editions out there already. The book is long ago in public domain. And this is hardly the only case. Tens of thousands of public domain works are still sold the same as new releases. Intriguing.
The House That Goldman Sachs Built
The U.S. Treasury Department is the central headquarters of Wall Street, and Timmy Geithner is its demigod. The coup of the Treasury Department, which promotes itself as the “steward of U.S. economic and financial systems,” means an economy and financial system run by and for the Wall Street oligarchy, with Goldman Sachs spearheading the ruling class.
Gold: India’s Capital Asset through History
India’s obsession with gold is well known around the world. To most Western commentators, this obsession seems irrational, and Indian people seem like incurable gold bugs.
A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism
In the wake of the downfall of the Berlin Wall, the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the emergence of capitalism in China, I was asked to teach the comparative-economic-systems class at Auburn University for the summer term in 1989. My only exposure to the topic had been as an undergraduate student, where my teacher was a Cold War–era professor who concentrated almost exclusively on the Soviet Union. His implicit message was to fear the Soviet Union, which would soon come to smother the American dream.
