What is Interventionism?

At the Mises University, George Reisman explained why many countries often thought to be socialist, either now or in the past, such as Sweden, Israel, and Britain under the old Labor Party, should be thought of as hampered market economies instead. For production in those countries characteristically takes place, or did take place, at private initiative, motivated by private profit.

Malaysia: Muslim and Prosperous

Since 9-11, many commentators have asked question: can the West can really ever be at peace with Islam? If the cooperative spirit of the market economy prevails, the answer is yes. An example is Malaysia, which defies the stereotype. It shows what peace is possible when governments permit market exchange and freedom of cultural contact, while avoiding imperial overreach and belligerence.

Softwood Subsidy a Stumper

  • Softwod Subsidy a Stumper(Colby Cosh, National Post): “Canada’s federal government says the current stumpage fees reflect what would be fair market rates for the wood. The U.S. says they don’t. The NAFTA panel tried to puzzle out what the “real” price of the timber might be, using economic benchmarks, but the question defies hypothetical solution. In a free timber market, no two trees are alike.

What, Me Vote?

Yet another puzzle for mainstream economists....why don’t people vote? In his National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, “What, Me Vote?”  Richard Freeman finds that despite legal and regulatory changes designed to reduce the cost of voting, the proportion of the voting age that actually vote is declining.

Huum...maybe the benefits of voting have declined. Can I get a Nobel Prize for that?

 

Oslo the Most Expensive City in the World

“In a [USB] list of high-priced places Oslo has overtaken Tokyo as the costliest place to live. Tokyo is now third on the list - dropping from first place in 2000, when the survey was last done. Hong Kong was second on the list and New York fourth, the survey said.... After New York, the UBS survey said the most expensive cities were Zurich, Switzerland; Copenhagen, Denmark; London; Basel, Switzerland; Chicago, Illinois; and Geneva.

The Unbearable Dullness of Economic Writing

From Jeff Jacoby (Boston Globe) comes this review of the new ISI book The Literary Book of Economics. “Watts, a Purdue economist, had the ingenious notion of representing economic principles with selections drawn from literature, poetry, and drama. The result is a wonderfully rich and vivid survey of the economic realm — a compilation far more likely to kindle an interest in economics than Greenspan’s jargon-filled sludge.

Sumner’s Forgotten Classic

Sumner was referring to the seemingly endless attempts to harness the power of the State to further one’s own ends at the expense of other people. All human types—generals, millionaires, priests, scholars and so on—have made these attempts. The disease is not confined by race, color or creed, by age or occupation, by democracy or dictatorship. The desire to live at the expense of other men is a constant theme that runs through all of human history.
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