To Rule Is To Destroy
Think of the contest between power and market (in Rothbard’s phrase) as two parallel foot races on a track that never ends, writes Lew Rockwell.
Objectivists on IP
As I noted in a recent post, Objectivist had written a critique of libertarian arguments against intellectual property. At the time the article was not available online, but it has since been posted: Don’t Steal This Article. I have not had time to reply in detail, but let’s just say, for now, I think the critique--while a decent attempt, about as good as you can do given some of Rand’s premises--is confused and utterly unpersuasive.
“Energy Crisis: Many Paths but No Solutions”
The above headline, “Energy Crisis: Many Paths but No Solutions,” appears on page one of the print version of The New York Times’ National Edition. I can’t find it on the web version of The Times, however. (To wit: “Your search for Energy Crisis: Many Paths but No Solutions in all fields returned 0 results.”) Perhaps it was withdrawn to avoid embarrassment.
Well, that’s a relief...
...That Congress is finally going to do something about gasoline price gouging. There’s really no commentary I could come up with that could improve on this article from the NYT. Consider it your entertainment for the day.
The Free Market in Hong Kong
In a reply to a recent mises.org weblog posting someone posted a challenge- Would anyone be so kind as to tell me in which countries poverty was eliminated by means of your (Austrian) enlightened theories?...” the author of the original post replied with several good examples, without discussing any specific details of how these countries managed to succeed. Here are some of the specifics from one particular free market success story.
Tax Deductions = Freedom
Amazingly, many who claim to be for lower taxes continue to support repealing tax breaks (and giving the government more money in the name of “fairness”). Tax breaks are good, of course, and the increasingly prevalent practice of labeling tax cuts and tax breaks as “spending” is extremely dishonest.
Where Has Austrian Economics Eliminated Poverty?
ALBATROZ (an internet identity): “And I would like to repeat my challenge to all of you:
“Would anyone be so kind as to tell me in which countries poverty was eliminated by means of your (Austrian) enlightened theories?...”
MY REPLY: Taking “Austrian” economics in its political application to mean private ownership of the means of production and respect for individual rights, including property rights, the answer is (and this should be understood as only a partial list):
How Prosperity Generates Poverty
In a peculiar way, writes Paul Trescott, the underclass are subsidized by our prosperous society.
Athens and the US: The Decline and Fall
The government of Athens was not as wise, efficient, or free as Pericles boasted, writes Eric Phillips.
J.K. Galbraith Celebrated Power, Not Freedom
He was revered as a dissident, writes William Anderson, but the truth is that he celebrated power in all its forms all his life.
