There is scarcely one month without a corporate executive being charged with some crime or jailed for something. The Wall Street Journal runs a special on-line section about “Executives on Trial.” Just last week, four former WorldCom employees were sentenced to jail terms for such offenses as securities fraud, conspiracy, and false filings. Is what the media call “the largest accounting fraud in U.S. history” hidden behind these offenses? Thinking out of the box is required.

Lew Rockwell was right. In his article, “Where’s the Kelo Calamity?” he asks: “Did the nightmare begin? Some local governments that had been waiting for a ruling took advantage of the situation and pushed ahead with plans for confiscating properties. But far more important is the flurry of legislative activity that it has spawned. Twenty-five states and hundreds of localities are working to enact laws against this type of takings.

Is the Mafia like a state that uses violence to enforce its agenda? Or is it more like a private business that specializes in the market provision of security? Robert Murphy reviews a book on the topic by Diego Gambetta and concludes that the author has everything right except the fundamental analytics concerning what distinguishes public and private provision. The violence of the black market would largely vanish if its operations were normalized within a market setting.

Web Entrepreneur Banks on ‘Bum-vertising’ - Homeless Advocates Say He’s Exploiting the Poor:

The Russians seem to be close to achieving yet another space first: a trip around the moon that will be wholly funded by “space tourists.” The tab? A cool US$100 million. Of course, with three individuals in the Russian Soyuz capsule for up to 21 days, the accomodations for this voyage may not exactly be luxurious.

Mishaps in Space: Failures and Foul-Ups:

Pete Boettke, Chris Coyne and Peter T. Leeson have a new blog: The Austrian Economists. The great name is inspired by Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk’s 1891 essay of that title for the American Academy of Political and Social Science summarizing the significance of Austrian economics. What the world needs now... Is more Austrian economists blogging!

When Paul Krugman isn’t writing nonsensical columns praising welfare statist intervention in Canada or France, he can sometimes write interesting columns. His latest one on the housing bubble was quite good.

While Congress is away, the bulls will play. At least that’s what the authors of a new study, “Congress and the Stock Market,” conclude: Stock market returns are lower and more volatile when Congress is in session than when it’s in recess.In fact, about 90 percent of capital gains recorded on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) index between 1897 and 2001 occurred on days when Congress was not is session, according to the study.