The work cumbersomely entitled, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, now commonly abbreviated as “The General Theory,” was published in 1936. Probably no other book has ever produced in so little time a comparable effect. It has tinctured, modified, and conditioned economic thinking in the whole world. Upon it has been founded a new economic church, completely furnished with all the properties proper to a church, such as a revelation of its own, a rigid doctrine, a symbolic language, a propaganda, a priestcraft, and a demonology.

There I stood at the pharmacy counter, with a head cold, sniffing away, and begging for some product that contains pseudoephedrine, which works like a magic nose unclogger. The stuff you can get off the shelf now contains the similar-sounding drug called phenylephrine, but it might as well be a placebo. It just doesn’t work, and most everyone knows this.

Ian Bernard, host of the internationally syndicated radio show and podcast “Free Talk Live” has produced a free audiobook of Linda and Morris Tannehill’s The Market for Liberty (print version available here).

Here is Bernard’s introduction to the audiobook:

Government: An Unnecessary Evil

Please alert your loved ones about the coming price deflation. Assuming that mainstream economists are correct, tomorrow’s sales signal the beginning of the end. Ah, yes, the quality of customer service during holiday shopping. Customer service is the result of consumer valuation of service versus price.

Christmas is a make-or-break time for many retailers, and the holiday season’s importance to the American economy is so great that “Black Friday” sales at some retailers, particularly Wal-Mart, are reported as a macroeconomic indicator. The holiday season is indeed festive and inspiring even in spite of clichéd paeans against the “commercialism” of Christmas. But does the Christmastime “bacchanalia of peace on Earth and goodwill towards men” promote economic growth or not? FULL ARTICLE

In a recent post, I linked to “The Economics of Santa’s Workshop” and “Scrooge Defended,” both classics from Mises.org.

The Economist has an interesting story on how markets drive goods and services to zero price in the presence of relentless innovation — with the web as the example in question.

ZIMBABWE’S tough-talking central bank chief Gideon Gono unveiled three new banknotes yesterday in the clearest sign yet that he is losing the battle against skyrocketing inflation.

In a live TV broadcast, Dr Gono said he was introducing a Z$250,000 note, a Z$500,000 note and a Z$750,000 note. None of them is enough to buy a single loaf of bread.