William Holstein, editor of Chief Executive magazine, takes NY gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer to task for abusing his prosecutorial powers. In the attorney general’s insurance industry investigation of ex-AIG chairman Hank Greenberg, Holstein points out that Spitzer “is applying a new set of values to reinsurance practices that had been in place for years.” This is a rather soft criticism. Fraudulent corporate conduct should not be allowed to persist just because it has persisted.

Mitchell Anderson’s article, “End of cheap oil is a blessing,” attacks the widespread outrage over the unusually high gas prices of recent months. Anderson mixes three parts economic fallacy with two parts condemnation of government absurdities, and adds a dash of fervent environmentalism.

One of the most controversial areas in Austrian economics, and one where even long-established Austrian theorists differ sharply, is monopoly theory. Indeed, as we shall see below, the differences are not merely semantic, nor are they confined to detail or some minor theoretical implication.

That was the urgent message on the letter in my college mailbox. It turns out that Dr. Friedman wants me to sign an open letter endorsing The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition. What troubles me is the reasoning:

Coming as a shock to no one but socialists, an AP story is reporting the results of a congressional investigation which indicates that privately employed baggage screeners outperform TSA bureaucrats. The Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security’s reply: “We need more money for better technology.”

Yesterday’s daily article by William Andersson on Paul Krugman’s recent dismissal of Austrian economics as religion was quite interesting. It might seem appropriate to remind everyone of a older attack by Krugman on Austrian economics, or more specifically, the Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT).

Please Don’t Call It a G-Rated Dispute:

A reader of the Mises film page sends in an upcoming film that may be of interest. The Brazilian film The Man Who Copied (trailer) is about a young, poor man who works as a photocopier operator. Desperate to win the attention of a girl, he decides to go into the fiat money business.