The book and music killers

One theory of copyright is that it promotes the production and distribution of literary works. Well, that myth is completely shattered in chapter five of Against Intellectual Monopoly by Michele Boldrine and David Levine. The chapter is pithy, thorough, dead on in its practical analysis, and deeply radical. It is the perfect illustration of why I think this is one of the most original and compelling books on economics in a generation.

Forced Sterilization

It is often useful for Americans to look toward Europe for a portent of things to come, at least with respect to the political climate. Recently the Dutch Labour MP introduced a rather disturbing new bill for consideration. This despicable piece of legislation seeks to grant the government the power to forcibly sterilize women.

The Importance of Failure

Bailouts attempt to erase the effects of losses, or economic failure. But such efforts inevitably undermine the loss aspect of “profit and loss.” Profit and loss go together — like up and down, left and right, good and bad. If we try to do away with losses, we’ll wind up diluting the meaning of profits.

Seen and Unseen Cost of Patents

[This is part 4 of an ongoing live blog of Against Intellectual Monopoly]

Drugs patents took it on the chin a few years ago, when major drug companies refused to sell cheap AIDS drugs in Africa. Presuming the drugs work, countless lives might have been saved. But the desire to protect the high price on the patented drug--despite the low marginal cost for producing additional units--trumped the humanitarian impulse to save lives. The large drug companies refused to budge, despite protests from all over the world.

The Misesian Case against Keynes

I – Classical Economic Theory

It is my goal to reconstruct some basic truths regarding the process of economic development and the role played in it by employment, money, and interest. These truths neither originated with the Austrian school of economics nor are an integral part of only this tradition of economic thinking.

Ben Bernanke’s Blunders

 

The strangest thing about the ongoing financial crisis is that US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has so far come out of it relatively unscathed. Except for the narrowing of some credit spreads over the last few months, economic indicators have not sustainably improved since Bernanke initially moved to address the crisis. In fact, matters have grown significantly worse.

Money and Our Future

Consider what it means to live through our times in the light of economic understanding. Even in the face of calamity, there is no mystery, and hence fear is reduced. You look at department stores going belly-up, and you know why. You see parking lots empty, and you know the reason. You have friends losing their jobs, and there is clarity concerning the cause. You see depositors in failing banks lose their money, and you are not surprised. Prices behave in ways that shock and surprise everyone else, but you know what’s what.

Austrian Economics: The Ultimate Achievement of an Intellectual Journey

[On November 1, 2008, Pascal Salin received the Gary Schlarbaum Prize for lifetime achievement in liberty. This is a lightly edited version of the lecture he delivered on the occasion, first published in Libertarian Papers, a new online journal of libertarian scholarship published by the Mises Institute. See the abstract and download options.

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