With reference to “In Defense of Scrooge,” there is more to say. Contrary to the implication of Dickens’s story, it is doubtful that anything a rich man does with his money can harm the poor, unless he uses it to pay for the initiation of violence. If he stores all of his money under his bed for his entire life, then it’s just that much money that’s been withdrawn from the monetary supply: an effective deflation, which may be minutely beneficial to everyone else.
One of the more confused propositions in the realm of currencies and exchange rates is the belief that the value of a currency is measured or determined by the exchange rate. For example, the dollar has fallen about 13 percent against the euro in this year and has lost about a third of its value against the euro since mid-2001. This makes some people believe that the value of the dollar has fallen and the value of the euro has risen.
Government is not very adept at accomplishing it aims, but it is very good at re-defining its objectives.
“Back in 1937, an economist named Ronald Coase realized something that helped explain the rise of modern corporations -- and which just might explain the coming decline of the American two-party political system,” writes Everett Ehrlich in the Washington Post (link courtesy of Arts & Letters Daily)..
Posted by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Only 1.8 percent of civil cases go to trial in federal court, reports the NYT. Good news: it represents the abandonment of a failed state system of justice. Bad news: it represents the institutionalization of a system of mass blackmailing backed by legal force.
Tyler Cowen is now pondering how we might handle the supposed shortage of flu vaccines.
You might think that Dr. Cowen, as an economist who has no doubt taken, if not taught, Econ 101, would answer: charge a market price. There are never shortages for a good where the market determines the price.
But that is not what he suggests. Indeed, he does not mention the possibility at all.
Dallas Fed President Bob McTeer, it seems, often breaks from promoting easy money policies in order to write poetry. Here is an excerpt:
It would also be swell
To be a member of the
Committee on Personnel.A master of the universe I wanted to be
That was important to me.But I’ve lowered my sights somewhat
Since I’ve aged, and gone to pot.
If you are Nasa, anyway, according to Clive Thompson in the New York Times.
As the Michigan battle over affirmative action heats up, and issues of race and sex politics continue to play a huge role in academia, a larger issue is being lost. A core assumption behind “affirmative action” and “equal opportunity” is that individuals have property rights in their jobs, or the right to at least be considered for their jobs.
