I’m really enjoying John Stossel’s Guide to Politics. Here is part one, which advances a late Hayekian view of social order. Particularly impressive is part two, which takes a sound position on the bailout, even as it takes a rather superficial view on the cause. In general, it is a good link to shoot to someone who is confused. Part three is great too.
Jacob Weisberg explains how stupid and ideologically blinkered libertarians are for not recognizing the meltdown as a failure of “unregulated markets.” Yes, yes, I know we’ve heard this all before, but it’s almost kind of funny how someone can write a whole article about this and never once — as in not one time — mention central banking.
Jake, buddy, central banks are an intervention into the economy. They also have a teensy weensy bit to do with the financial situation right now.
During the fury and carnage of World War I, little thought was given to two shots fired from a small pistol on a leafy suburban street in Sarajevo that killed Archduke Ferdinand and his wife. Gavrilo Princip acquired fame as the man who started World War I only after the upheaval was over and historians had the leisure to trace causes from effects.
[This article is excerpted from chapter 7 of What Has Government Done to Our Money? ]
The idea of private coinage seems so strange today that it is worth examining carefully. We are used to thinking of coinage as a “necessity of sovereignty.” Yet, after all, we are not wedded to a “royal prerogative,” and it is the American concept that sovereignty rests, not in government, but in the people.
