China and the Development Myth

Advocates of government planning often cite China as an example of economic success. China supposedly achieved success by adopting a mixed economy. According to Joseph Stiglitz, the Chinese government has avoided the deficiencies of capitalism and communism by allowing a limited amount of private competition, while also retaining strong governmental controls over investment.

Are We Running Out of Food?

If we had free world markets, food would be exported from some countries, such as the United States and Europe, where food is plentiful, to countries where it is needed. This is because it would be profitable to ship goods to needy areas like Africa, where shortages were making prices rise. The fact that this is not currently happening can be a result only of government price controls (which prevent prices from rising in needy countries), trade restrictions, or some other government barrier that prevents people from getting what they need.

The Revolution

We now have Ron Paul’s book in, and I must say that it is very impressive. It is not just a campaign book. Actually it isn’t one at all. It is a world-view book, issue by issue, and very compellingly argued. I would not hesitate at all to give this to somehow who knows nothing about the libertarian point of view. It is also a manageable size.

Prison Nation

Americans, perhaps like all people, have a remarkable capacity for tuning out unpleasantries that do not directly affect them. I’m thinking here of wars on foreign lands, but also the astonishing fact that the United States has become the world’s most jail-loving country, with well over 1 in 100 adults living as slaves in a prison. Building and managing prisons, and locking people up, has become a major facet of government power in our time, and it is long past time for those who love liberty to start to care.

Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XXII

Chapter XXII. The Nonhuman Original Factors of Production

Chapter Summary

1. General Observations Concerning the Theory of Rent

The Ricardian treatment of rent was actually quite similar to the marginal utility analysis of prices; the classical economists were simply wrong in applying the concept of “differential rent” only to parcels of land, and not to every productive factor. More generally, the classical trichotomy of land, labor, and capital — which earned incomes of rent, wages, and profit/interest respectively — was untenable.

Congratulations to Dr. Dan D’Amico!

Peter Boettke from The Austrian Economists: “It is with great pleasure that I announce that Dan D’Amico successfully defended his dissertation on Tuesday April 22, 2008. Dan is a deep thinker and committed Austrian economist and radical libertarian social thinker. His dissertation addressed the ‘imprisoner dilemma’. D’Amico uses economic analysis (market process theory and public choice analysis) to examine and adjudicate the debates in criminal justice.

Study Guide to Human Action, Chapter XIII

CHAPTER XIII. Monetary Calculation as a Tool of Action

Chapter Summary

1. Monetary Calculation as a Method of Thinking

Monetary calculation is the guiding principle of action in any society with a division of labor. It transforms the very thought process of anyone considering action that involves the property of others. Potential actions are evaluated on the basis of expected costs and revenues, while past actions are evaluated with the accounting of profit and loss.

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