The Blessings of Economic Sanctions
Iran has been concerned about threats of economic sanctions since the beginning of the year. But why? If trading with another country is bad, as we are continually told by nationalist conservatives and some well-known economists, then Iran should rejoice if the whole world refused to trade with it. Sanctions should be looked upon as a great economic blessing. Long live autarky.
The Egregiously Destructive War on Drugs
Compared to the adverse effects of their illegalization, writes Gennady Stolyarov, the harm of drugs themselves is small indeed.
RatesRise, Lines Lengthen at the ol’ PO
I don’t mean to pick on the US Postal Service, but I must admit to a strong (but not yet clinical) obsession with monopolies — especially those that deliver mail. Consequently, the planet’s largest governmental monopoly draws my attention like cow patties attract flies.
A Fair Wage
You hear it from them all the time; teachers just want a fair wage. Oh, well who doesn’t? This line of thought begs two questions: How are wage rates established in a free market? And, are market wage rates fair?
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Myth?
Were the barbarians more beneficent than the Romans? A couple of Englishmen are trying to convince you that this is so. They state that the only uniquely Roman feature of the Empire was its professional army (hardly an advance).
Is Bernanke An Admirer of Galbraith?
In today’s New York Times, Robert H. Frank, who is described as “the co-author, with Ben S. Bernanke, of `Principles of Economics,’” writes that Galbraith should have won the Nobel Prize—for the ideas expressed in The Affluent Society.
In case anyone needs a refresher about Galbraith, and the fascistic nature of his ideas, be sure to see my “Galbraith’s Neo-Feudalism.”
Every Breath You Take, Every Call You Make
USA Today has broken the story that, with the cooperation of AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, the NSA has been collecting (nearly) all our phone call records since shortly after 9/11:
Let Bush Rule (His Fans)
Let’s say that we put our politics on the market model. Everyone who is still nuts for Bush should be permitted to be ruled by him completely and without question.
Gasoline at 10 Cents a Gallon and Falling
Does gasoline at 10 cents a gallon and falling sound impossible in today’s world? Well, if you think it’s impossible, you’re wrong.
Because that’s where gasoline actually is, and it looks like it’s going even lower.
Of course, it’s not 10 cents a gallon in today’s paper money. But it is 10 cents a gallon in the Constitutional money of the United States, which is gold coin and bullion.
