Today’s [March 16, 2006] New York Times reports as news a story which, if true, would be an event in defiance of economic law and thus a literal miracle, comparable to the raising of the dead or a virgin birth. This alleged miracle is contained in the headline “In Korea, Bureaucrats Lead the Technology Charge.”
The attack on Wal-Mart, writes Clifford Thies, essentially comes down to this: opposition to economic progress.
Ed Stringham presented his new edited book “Anarchy, State, and Public Choice” at today’s Austrian Scholar’s Conference. He introduced the work as a response to the Public Choice anarchist literature of the 60s and 70s which all seemed to share Buchanan’s pessimistic outlook for the potential for anarchy, the critical pieces of which are reprinted in the publication.
In an article titled “A Senate Panel Interrogates Wary Oil Executives” today’s New York Times reports that “The nation’s top oil executives were called before Congress again yesterday to defend their industry’s recent mergers and record profits, in the face of public outrage over high oil and gasoline prices.”
A front-page story in today’s [March 14, 2006] New York Times, datelined Biloxi, Miss., reports,
The devastation of the coast here remains shocking to the uninitiated eye; towns where people have clearly worked night and day just to remove debris look as though they were hit by a hurricane six days ago, rather than six months.
However, just two paragraphs later we are told,
Professor Ronald H. Nash, theologian, philosopher, and advocate of Austrian economics, has died. A famed teacher, he was the author of 35 books, an adjunct scholar of the Mises Institute, and a gentle and effective advocate of the free market.
In an effort to spice up the otherwise dreadfully boring section in my micro class on different industry types (price takers vs. searchers, oligopoly, etc.), I always have an “experiment” to demonstrate the difficulties of cartel formation. These aren’t controlled experiments so I don’t bother keeping accurate figures, but I can share some highlights.First, let me explain the setup. I tell everyone to rip off a small piece of paper and put his/her name on the top. Then on the bottom they will write a C or a D.
