UK Proposal for Banking Reform: Fractional-Reserve Banking versus Deposits and Loans

Anti-Statism, Business Cycles, Finance, Legal System
By / / 15 minutes of reading
Share
Douglas Carswell, M.P.
Douglas Carswell, M.P.

Austrians and others interested in fractional-reserve banking (FRB) will find of interest a banking reform about to be proposed in the UK. Douglas Carswell, an Austrian economsics-informed member of the UK parliament for Clacton, is planning to introduce a so-called “Ten Minute Rule Bill” after Prime Minister’s Questions tomorrow (Wednesday, Sept. 15) that could have significant implications for current centralized FRB practices. The Bill will be supported by Steve Baker, the Member of Parliament for Wycombe, who also serves on the Advisory Board of the Austrian/classical liberal Cobden Centre.

…

UK Proposal for Banking Reform: Fractional-Reserve Banking versus Deposits and LoansRead More »

UK Proposal for Banking Reform: Fractional-Reserve Banking versus Deposits and Loans Read Post »

A Reprieve from Bureaucrats

Nanny Statism
By / / 1 minute of reading
Share

Our friend Fester writes:

The other day a friend on Facebook commented on the show “Hoarders”. In this show they have a psychologist and a junk clean up crew come into a house and clean it up. She was upset because she did not feel as if the crew helped the people they cleaned up because they only spend about a week at the house and she didn’t feel like this was enough time to address the deep psychological issues these people have.

While I agree that these people probably have mental issues that are not being addressed by the show, if you watch the show you will notice that almost all of the people who ask to go on the show have a legal issue surrounding the hoarding. These people are being pursued by code enforcement officers, by child protective services, by fire marshals, etc. They may not be getting the psychological help they need, but they are getting a reprieve from the evil government officials who would kick these people out of their homes, or steal their children away from them, etc. It may only be temporary, but if it gives them another year of peace from the bureaucrats then the show is doing a good service to these people.

You can watch Hoarders on A&E.

A Reprieve from Bureaucrats Read Post »

All You Ever Need to Refute a Paul Krugman Column

(Austrian) Economics, Anti-Statism
By / / 1 minute of reading
Share

Courtesy of Tim Cavanaugh at Reason, we now have a basic template to refute just about anything Nobel Laureate, neo-Keynesian, and regime apologist Paul Krugman ever publishes:

[destroy whatever economic fallacy Krugman promotes this week]

The rest of his column is political speech and unworthy of note. The above is all the intellectual content, and it is very shabby.

All You Ever Need to Refute a Paul Krugman Column Read Post »

Against Political Panglossianism

Anti-Statism, Vulgar Politics
By / / 3 minutes of reading
Share

I offer to readers a term of my coinage: polidicy.

I construct it as “theodicy” was constructed, and I do so in the spirit of the copycat. A theodicy is a vindication of divine goodness in the context of the existence of evil. It is an important theological concept, and you will find theodicies embedded in most understandings of Providence, and nearly everyone who believes in a deity has some sort of theodicy in tow.

Polidicy, then, is a vindication of a state or government body in the context of its own obvious crimes. Most people who are loyal to some state and pretend to possess a moral sense, or conscience, have some polidicy in their head, some set of excuses for why the state’s many crimes do not amount to a moral case against the state as such, and how, even, the state can be said to be “basically good.”

…

Against Political PanglossianismRead More »

Against Political Panglossianism Read Post »

Price Discrimination: An Example

(Austrian) Economics
By / / 2 minutes of reading
Share

The rental rates on iTunes are fairly well established. You pay most for a new HD release, a little less for an older movie, and less yet for non-HD.

But one movie on iTunes rents for more than double the usual, highest established rate. What’s going on here? Should we send in a “rogue economist,” perhaps, like the dudes of Freakonomics fame?

Well, they would know, since it’s their movie. Freakonomics: The Movie, that is being rented on iTunes for more than double the regular rental price. And, though this may be just the kind of puzzle Levitt and Dubner like to fix upon …

Price Discrimination: An ExampleRead More »

Price Discrimination: An Example Read Post »

Scroll to Top