Where have all the workers gone? One of the most bizarre happenings in our current economic environment has been the surprising collapse of the number of people in the labor pool. This reality adds a sting to the unemployment numbers. They are falling bit by bit, but so is the total pool of people who […]
Laissez-Faire Today
Aaron Swartz, Hero and Martyr
My apologies for the sad tone of this piece, but a hero has fallen and we need to pay him tribute — and make sure his death is not in vain. Every turning point in the history of civilization has its champions and its opponents. The opponents of the digital age are those who use […]
AIG Is Right: Sue the Bastards
AIG, the mega-insurer that was bailed out by the government in 2008, wants to sue the government. People’s automatic reaction: How terribly ungrateful! The government saved this company’s bacon and now they want to sue? Most people might have the reaction of Col. Nathan R. Jessup (played by Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men”): […]
Progress, Despite Every Attempt to Stop It
The typical libertarian sees the world’s glass of water as half-empty. No wonder people avoid freedom lovers. While they tend to be smart and well-informed, they’re often socially inept, ill-tempered, underemployed, and overeducated. While they can explain the functions and evils of the Federal Reserve, their version of dress for success is a trip to […]
The Great Robbery of Wage-Earners
If you think of American wage-earners as swimmers, they were mostly underwater after 2008. Then last year, wages increased a bit. It was only 2.4% for the year, but it was like coming up for a slight gulp of air. Now think of Congress and the president as the people in a boat pushing the […]
The Failure of Common Knowledge
It takes a shockingly long time for the masses of people to pick up on new realities. This is especially true if the new realities reverse very old trends that have burrowed certain false assumptions in our minds. As examples, most people even today assume that you should: get as much formal education as possible […]
India’s Gold Mania
Less than 1% of the world’s gold is mined in India. The rest comes from somewhere else. Still, India can’t get enough. It is the largest consumer of gold in the world, buying nearly a third of production in recent years. Some estimates say that 10% of all gold is held in India. Indians save […]
The Man the Keynesians Fear
The great battle since 2008 has pitted the ghosts of F.A. Hayek against John Maynard Keynes. Team Keynes dictated the policies we know too well: more government spending, flood the economy with money, prevent liquidation. This team predicted a recovery that still hasn’t come. Meanwhile, Team Hayek has had a different set of predictions. This […]
Markets Stagnate Until They Clear
What the home and mortgage market needs — and it will not recover until then — is a rebooting to current values. To do that, principal amounts must be reset. They need to be reset not by government force, but by letting the market work. Let bankrupt mortgage holders fail. The housing market has gone […]
The Meaning of GPS
I am one of those people who has a seriously deficient sense of direction. In other words, I feel lost most of the time. It’s been this way since I was very young. My parents would take me camping. As soon as I walked out of eyesight of the tent, I was lost and they […]