Jul 08
The great Enlightenment writer and thinker Rousseau once wrote in his DISCOURSE ON THE ORIGIN AND FOUNDATION OF INEQUALITY that “[I]t is very difficult to reduce to obedience one who does not seek command.”
In order to be free, in order not to be a slave, one must first renounce the desire to be a master.
True freedom is the condition of being “neither master nor slave.”
Ann Hartle, “Montaigne’s Radical Conservatism,” pages 19-28 in Modern Age: A Quarterly Review, Fall 2013, Vol. 55, No. 4.
Jul 08
Ludwig Von Mises was one of the most far-thinking and insightful economic thinkers in history. Mises studied the economy of Russia when communism was riding high; and Mises concluded it was only a matter of time before its Soviet economy melted down.
Mises correctly calculated that below-natural-interest-rate lending by government central banks created unhealthy business cycles. Such below-natural rates incentivized debt rather than savings and capital accumulation, and prompted businesses (like governments) to overextend and make foolish investment choices.
Today the whole world operates according to versions of Keynsian central banking.
Greece–having indebted itself to the European central bank and spent foolishly on welfare and socialistic entitlements–is melting down and defaulting. The Chinese stock market is reporting it has lost one-third of its value in the past month or so.
U.S. federal policymakers have plunged America some $18.3 trillion in debt (while U.S. GDP is no more than about 17 trillion). At the beginning of the Obama administration the debt was $10.67 trillion.
This debt is hardly the fault of Obama alone. It wouldn’t exist without the agreement of Republicans in Congress.
Jul 07
Here’s a tip: When governments give investment advice, you should generally do the very opposite. Governments worldwide are gorged on massive debt and teetering from decades of Keynsian economics. There is not a currency on earth that is backed by anything but paper.
Now the government-owned newspapers of China are loudly telling readers not to panic, after a 3-week stock-market decline has wiped THREE TRILLION DOLLARS of value from the market. (This is an amount larger than the GDPs of all but a few countries.) The story is here.
PANIC!
Jul 07
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Analyst Sam Wilkin, who studies the habits of the super-rich, was interviewed for an interesting piece in THE TELEGRAPH. Read it here. Having studied the habits of billionaires and “one percenters” for years, Walkin offers a list of seven general principles for becoming super-wealthy.
The most interesting tip–6th among the 7 appearing near the end of the article–is this tidbit:
Spin complex laws into gold – set up in industries bound by such convoluted regulation – for example agricultural subsidies and banking regulation – that it is easy to bend the rules as nobody understands anyway.
Say that again? We are often lectured by government-trusters that regulation is needed to THWART the mega-rich and redistribute their wealth to the poor. Advocates of government are fond of claiming that DEREGULATION would harm the have-nots.
Now the truth is out. Regulation greatly aids the super-rich; and deregulation would actually help redistribute wealth more equally.
The rapid increase of fortunes of “the one percent” is largely attributable to the growth of government regulation.
Jul 05
Socialism is a curse we should wish only on our enemies. Any society that embraces it will become sick and weak.
You know you are a prisoner—or a slave—when your prison administrators can reach out and rob your savings account to pay for their lavish lifestyles.
It appears that backroom deals being negotiated by bankrupt Greek politicians and the European Union will likely involve a “bail-in” (as opposed to a “bailout”). All Greek banks were closed last week by government order. People with money in banks were told they could only access a small percentage of their funds. Pensioners expecting government “social-security”-style checks were provided with only a small proportion of their expected support checks.
The Financial Times is reporting that Greek banks are preparing contingency plans to raid the accounts of depositors amid fears the country is heading for financial collapse, “bankers and businesspeople with knowledge of the measures said on Friday.”
“The plans, which call for a “haircut” of at least 30 per cent on deposits above €8,000, sketch out an increasingly likely scenario for at least one bank, the sources said.”
The story is here.
Jul 05
If Americans only had the courage to do nothing, and unleash the power of capitalism on health care, prices would come quickly down so that the poorest consumers could afford quality health care.
Hobos, bums and vagabonds could afford quality health care if the government got out of it. Just look at the telecommunications industry (which is largely unregulated). One can find hobos under bridges with Iphones.
Unfortunately, U.S. policymakers (not the least of whom is the current president) have embarked on a policy of vast regulation and subsidies regarding the health care industry. This increases demand without increasing supply, causing prices to rise. The rising prices cause politicians to promise further government “fixes”–which further cause prices to rise.
Now the New York Times–one of the greatest cheerleaders for Obama’s slave-plantation-style “Affordable Care Act”–is reporting that Obamacare is causing annual rate increases of 20 – to 50 percent. The article is here.
The Times article includes a number of details. It is well worth reading, if only for the laughs.
Prior to Obamacare, rate increases were “only” 15 to 20 percent. This was, of course, faster than inflation. For, like 35 years. Due to government regulations such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Never underestimate the incompetence and evil of the state.
Jul 04
Forget what you may have heard from your teacher, your professor, your politician or your pope. Rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere are greening the planet–not desertifying it.
Environmental scientists report in a newly published peer-reviewed study that satellite measurements of global plant life contradict assertions by governments that global warming is causing deserts to expand, along with devastating droughts. The findings, published in Geophysical Research , show that rising carbon dioxide levels appear to have caused a remarkable 11 percent increase in foliage in arid regions since 1982.
Jul 04
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Professor Lawrence Torcello an assistant professor of philosophy at Rochester Institute of Technology, has called for the arrest and prosecution of doubters of the government’s manmade-carbon-dioxide-driven-global-warming hysteria. Torcello says there is “an organised campaign funding misinformation” regarding climate change which “ought to be considered criminally negligent.” See here.
Torcello is not speaking of the well organized, government-funded movement to promote hysteria regarding climate change, and its accompanying calls for more government power, taxation and socialism.
Rather, he writes that questioners and skeptics, especially those who seem to be leading others toward questioning authority regarding climate, should be prosecuted for criminal negligence.
Jul 04
Today’s federal and state government employees are often lavished with luxurious pensions and salaries. In many counties, the largest and most expensive mansions are owned not by business leaders but by government employees.
New York City firefighters are greatly overpaid. And when they retire, a very high percentage (80 percent or more) declare they are “disabled,” meaning they claim they are not able to work in other fields. Many of these “disabled” firefighters can be seen on Long Island golf courses and swimming in pools at elite country clubs.
According to Gavin McInnes, some 80 percent of retiring New York firefighters declare they are disabled and thereby “get their 100k a year tax-free and if they die, their spouses get the money until they die.” “[T]his usually runs the taxpayer about two million dollars per firefighter’s retired lifetime; not bad for getting paid to sleep for twenty years.”
According to McInnes, New York City employees are milking the taxpayers royally. “[I]t’s not unusual in New York to get ten firefighters, five cops, and three EMT for every teen who faints on a field trip to the museum—seriously, my wife works there.” McInnes article is here.
Jul 04
We have previously reported on leading journalists and professors who have called for the arrests and prosecutions of those who question the government’s climate-change messaging. See here and here.
Now a sitting U.S. Senator, Sheldon Whitehouse (D.-R.I.), is calling on the U.S. Justice Department to pursue (apparently civil) charges against those who disagree or question the government regarding the alleged threat of manmade-CO2-driven-global-warming. See here.
