Economics, Philosophy, and Politics

An extraordinary and wide ranging interview with Hans-Hermann Hoppe: “The apologists of the central state claim that a proliferation of independent political units would lead to economic disintegration and impoverishment. Today, however, manny small countries are all wealthier than their surroundings. Moreover, theoretical reflection also shows that this claim is just another statist myth.”

Why Honor Politicians?

Our public institutions routinely celebrate politicians as heroes and parade them before school children as examples of great community leaders. Tibor Machan doubts the underlying assumption. Members of a city council, especially in major cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, are as a rule undeserving of special respect. They do not hold honorable professions.

Murray Rothbard and Henry George

Both Austrian economics and Georgist economics stem from studying the nature of man, from individual actions, from praxeology. However, they arrive at different conclusions regarding the cause of the business cycle. Both the geolibertarians (Georgists) and the Austrian libertarians start from the same axiom of self-ownership, yet arrive at different conceptions of property. The argument between these two factions has been largely ignored, which is unfortuante. Rothbard, however, dealt with it.

It’s Raining Money

Jim Puplava on the explosion of global liquidity that central banks are undertaking:

The world is awash in liquidity with helicopter money that is printed out of thin air and dumped on to the financial system. Central banks everywhere are injecting vast amounts of credit and money into the financial system. Fiscal and monetary policy is focused on reflating the global economy. Money is literally being dropped from helicopters on to the financial system and the economy.

Franz Kafka...

...Call your office.

A reader wrote this morning in response to my Martha Stewart article on Mises.org:

“[I]t is one matter to profess innocence when questioned by the media, it is quite another animal when someone intentionally sets out to deceive the public by voluntarily proclaiming their [sic] innocence in order to prop up their [sic] company’s stock.”

Health Care in Prison

Not even Krugman advocates an economic system akin to what we see in North Korea of the former Soviet Union. Yet, as William Anderson points out, we are now left with a perplexing question: If socialism does not deliver the goods like bread and automobiles in large numbers and in high quality, why does anyone believe that the practice of medicine is an exception?

Martha Stewart’s Surreal Ordeal

The latest developments are part of a long list of transgressions perpetrated by the government in its zeal to ruin Martha Stewart. The reason why ImClone shares were set to fall in the first place was due to an incompetent Food and Drug Association’s decision to reject the firm’s request to market a highly anticipated cancer drug—a decision it would hypocritically reverse.
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