Cell Phone Markets Change Life in Africa
Here is an awesome AP story explaining how the cell phone market is changing African life for the better. Cell phones are circumventing government controls connecting brokers and consumers more efficiently. Prepaid minutes are a form of currency. Cell phones are adding true wealth to the African capital structure that can’t be done with foreign aid and isn’t tracked by Keynsian statistics.
Year-End Contributions to the Mises Institute
The Mises Institute is funded entirely by private donations from readers like you who make it all possible.
Our Money Madness
Lew Rockwell speaks on money old and new, and the absurd notion of monetary central planning.
A Misguided Defense of Sarbanes-Oxley
Alan Murray of the Wall Street Journal defends the Sarbanes Oxley Act, arguing that its costs do not explain why more companies are going private. In contrast, the CEO of Georgia Pacific explained that his company sold out to private Koch Industries in order to avoid mounting Sarbox costs. Murray claims that estimated annual auditing costs of $14 million (on average) are small compared to CEO compensation and stock options. This comparison is inappropriate.
The Nature of Man and His Government
Here is Robert LeFevre’s classic argument for a purely free society, the essay that made him a leading, if controversial, spokesman for the libertarian position on government and society.
Is this really why God made Conservatives?
From the Guardian: “A last-ditch Conservative bid to scupper the government’s plans for extended pub opening hours failed in the Commons tonight. The move was rejected by 302 votes to 228, majority 74. The Tories had hoped to prevent next week’s relaxation of Britain’s drinking laws, with a vote on whether to allow the Licensing Act - passed two years ago - to come into effect...
China’s Benign Neglect Pays Off
K.Y. Leong writes of the Chinese Emperor Han Wudi, who ruled in the 2nd century BC.
Quis custodiet...
Delicious irony in a CFO.com story about how the US tax man himself can’t keep a set of straight books.
My Brief Encounter with von Mises
The exact date escapes my memory but many will know it. Ludwig von Mises was to be the featured scholar at the Future of Freedom Conference at Long Beach State University. He would be introduced by Dirk Pearson, then going by the name Sky Deorious or something.
The way I got to meet von Mises is that I came to be the designated driver to pick him up at, I believe, the Long Beach Airport. During the time walking from the plane to my car, I had a chance to chat with him briefly.
