It Started with Plato
Plato was the first of the “planners” and the true founder of socialism. In his Republic the Athenian philosopher set out a blueprint for the evolution of what has come to be called the “Welfare State.”
Inhumanity of the Minimum Wage
Except for such differences in detail, fixing a minimum wage by law has come to be a bipartisan project. That may indicate good politics — but it is no assurance that a minimum wage law will accomplish what is claimed for it.
Democracy in the Schoolroom
John Dewey thought he had found a short cut to a system that would train students to think. It has not worked. Our generation is uncritical of easy panaceas and a ready prey to the demagogue.
Bubble Economics: The Illusion of Wealth
The economic position that the United States is now in is the result of a series of economic bubbles. To explain the nature of bubbles, I’m going to start by talking about their history
Time Preference and Marshmallows
Jonah Lehrer’s article DON’T: The secret of self control in a recent issue of the New Yorker describes some fascinating research by on the importance of time preference by Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel.
The Bottom Hasn’t Arrived for Commercial Real Estate
“Commercial real estate is also dependent on finance, but it’s far less of a driver for the banks,” Susan Wachter opined in a recent edition of the Opelika-Auburn News. And while Ms. Wachter, a professor of real estate and finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, is right to be bearish on the prospects for commercial real estate, she is far too sanguine about the effects dud commercial real estate loans will have on the nation’s banks.
Are We About to Become Children of Revolution?
“In all the general assemblies Marin always demands that the older boys like him shall have more work than the younger ones. There is always a big discussion on this; sometimes it is settled one way, sometimes another. “I can work all day from sun-up to dark,” boasts Marin, “and it won’t hurt me now. But when I was little, I sprained my wrist from working too hard and it will always be a bad wrist. And our younger ones now are working beyond their strength; I see them with heads and backs aching in the hot sun.
The Debt Crisis Cannot Be Solved with More Debt
The principal problem with the current economic crisis is that the authorities are trying to solve the debt crisis by adding more debt — which is akin to trying to cure a viral infection by injecting more viruses.
Rereading Our Enemy, the State
It has in common with the classics all those qualities of clear thinking, objective presentation and lucid exposition which distinguish the wise philosopher from the merely intellectual pamphleteer.
The Real Right to Medical Care versus Socialized Medicine
The status quo with respect to medical care does not deserve to be preserved. It does bear the earmarks of financial lunacy. It does call for reform – for radical reform.
