Cronyism: Liberty versus Power in Early America, 1607–1849
by Patrick Newman
Mises Institute, 2021, 362 pp.

Patrick Newman dedicates Cronyism to Murray Rothbard, and it is a fitting choice, as this outstanding book continues and extends Rothbard’s brilliant interpretation of American history. Newman is eminently qualified to do so, having edited both the fifth volume of Rothbard’s Conceived in Liberty and his The Progressive Era.

Those who forget police debacles could be the victims of the next law enforcement fiasco. Former Montgomery County, Maryland, police chief Charles Moose passed away on Thanksgiving Day. He became famous as the most prominent law enforcement official during a three-week sniper rampage in the Washington area in 2002.

Competition is probably considered by everyone as an indispensable requirement for the proper economic functioning of a society. This is indeed justified because competition encourages producers of goods to look for the best ways of satisfying customers, for example by trying to offer them goods of better quality than others, or cheaper goods. But we still need to know exactly what competition is all about. There is essentially the same conception of competition in terms of public opinion and traditional economic theory.

Critics of egalitarianism, meaning by that equality, or close to it, of income and wealth among the members of a society, often claim that it rests on envy. In response, defenders say that there are respectable reasons to favor equality. (I’m assuming that envy doesn’t count as a respectable reason.) For instance, it can be argued that inequality is unjust, that it leads to the rich having power over the lives of the poor, and that it makes it difficult for the poor to maintain their self-respect. The philosopher T.M.

Almost anyone who follows social media is familiar with the latest tweets by Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has pronounced her verdict on higher food and gasoline prices: they are nothing less than the result of corporate greed. In fact, according to Warren, there is no inflation, only corporations arbitrarily raising prices in their relentless pursuit of … profits.

In a November 21 interview with MSNBC’s Joy Reid, Warren declared (later placed on Twitter):

Most emerging and developed market currencies have devalued significantly relative to the United States dollar in 2021 despite the Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary policy. Furthermore, emerging economies that have benefitted from rising commodity prices have also seen their currencies weaken despite strong exports. As such, inflation in developing economies is much higher than the already elevated figures posted in the United States and the eurozone.

The main reason behind this is a global currency debasement problem that is making citizens poorer.

This article is unashamedly in Friedrich von Hayek’s category of “second-hand dealers of ideas.” In fact, it is lower than that being third-hand.

This Thanksgiving, may you never forget the words of the United States of America’s Vice-President Kamala Harris, as reported by Fox News:

Prices have gone up and families and individuals are dealing with the realities of the bread costs more, the gas costs more, and have to understand what that means.