You remember when Hostess declared bankruptcy last November? There were outcries that the iconic snack pastry would be gone forever. Speculators began to stockpile the tasty treats. As Zero Hedge documented, eBay featured the following items: For a price of $89.95, three boxes of SEALED Box of Hostess Chocodiles 3×10 Chocolate Twinkies For a price […]
Laissez-Faire Today
Smart People Share
For young people facing terrible job prospects and a generally bad economic environment going forward, starting a business sounds very appealing. It has advantages over embedding yourself in a big institution, taking your wages in forms of benefits, and hoping (against hope) to climb the ladder. It’s never been easier to strike out on your […]
How Business “Recesses” Itself
There’s a jewelry store in town with a long tradition, a devoted client list, and a good record of solid profitability. But during the last year, it’s moved around like the “oldest established permanently floating crap game” from the musical Guys and Dolls. It was downtown. Then it was not. It was reestablished on the […]
Keynesian Policies Are a Flop
World unemployment is on the verge of breaking new records. This trend will continue until 2017. That’s the news from the International Labour Organization (ILO) in their annual employment report. Currently, 2009 is the record year for world joblessness, at 198 million. In its 2012 Global Employment Trends report (source), the ILO believes unemployment numbers […]
The Marginal Rule of Wicksteed
Finally, my obsession comes to an end. For a full week, I’ve thought about not much else besides the economic concept of “marginal utility.” It has consumed me completely. I’ve come to realize how much it pervades my thinking about virtually everything. I first heard about the notion in college, but one book revived the […]
Marginal Steps Toward a Better Life
I’m at dinner and the hostess serves me pie for dessert. I gobble it up. Then the hostess says, “Would you like another piece?” I politely decline. In her head, she is thinking “he hates my pie,” but this is totally wrong. I love her pie, especially the first piece. But the second piece has […]
The Uses and Abuses of Social Media
That headline probably seems strange coming from me. I’ve been a champion of social media, and my book A Beautiful Anarchy has a chapter on each of the most popular social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, Google+, and so on. These tools have connected people as never before, and given people the power to […]
Government Will Lose the War on Piracy
It began as a skirmish. Then it was a battle. It became a war. Now it is a bloody conflict that is global in scope. Both sides have passed the point of no return. There is no question who is winning and going to win totally in the end, despite massive carnage along the way. […]
The Dangers of Mortgage Debt
In 2008, the American dream of homeownership turned into an incredible nightmare for millions. The government had been subsidizing this stuff for nearly a century, and it all turned to dust. As is typical, government has swung back the other way, seeking to discourage reckless borrowing on houses and to suppress mortgage rackets. This time, […]
The Coxeyites, the Bankers, and the Political Class
In 1894, a scraggly band of misfits made their way from Ohio to Washington, D.C. They had a plan to present to the political class, one that they said would bring an end to the economic depression that had been sparked by the Panic of 1893 and guarantee a future of endless prosperity for all. […]