Many times over the years people have demanded proof that liberty is better than the alternative. Sometimes the detail being questioned changes — maybe it’s the concept of human rights or ethics they are objecting to — but the argument is the same. They don’t accept the superiority of liberty over whatever they’d prefer, so they demand proof.
Tag: profits
What the State Really Is
To better understand the nature of government, one can think of it as an agency that sells or, more precisely, rents power to others. The greater the power and the wider its scope, the more opportunities the state’s agents will have to sell access to it in return for favors.
The Biden Administration Wants to Partner with Criminals to Spy on You
“The Biden administration,” CNN reports, “is considering using outside firms to track extremist chatter by Americans online.”
Bust the Conservative “Trust Busters”
When right-wing leader Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) recently declared that “liberty and monopoly do not go together,” I fantasized that he had become a free-market anarchist. When I hear monopoly, I think government because what’s the most literal of monopolies (or source of monopoly power) than the state?
Money as a Geopolitical Weapon
People who seek to rule over and control others learned long ago that controlling money and trade is the best way to do it. On a global level, there are open conspiracies among controlling interests that go about doing just that.
Michele Boldrin: Against Intellectual Monopoly (1h19m)
This episode features an interview of research economist Michele Boldrin from 2009 by Russ Roberts, host of Econtalk. Boldrin argues that copyright and patent are used by the politically powerful to maintain monopoly profits. He argues that the incentive effects that have been used to justify copyright and patents are exaggerated–few examples from history suggest that the temporary and not-so-temporary monopoly power from copyright and patents were necessary to induce innovation. Boldrin reviews some of that evidence and talks about the nature of competition.
That Old Minimum-Wage Magic
You don’t have to actually think that legislating and raising the minimum wage will help low-skilled workers earn more money. That’s not the point. The point is to display your correct political religion.
Arbitrage and Shorting Stocks
When you buy a stock, it is a good price as far as most people are concerned. Maybe the stock will go down or maybe it will go up, but given the information people have today, it is priced highly accurately to what people think it should be priced. This phenomenon is not true with most other assets.
Harvard Study: An Epidemic of Loneliness Is Spreading Across America
Loneliness among Americans has been growing in recent years, but the policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically exacerbated the problem. A new report by Harvard University researchers finds that 36 percent of Americans are experiencing “serious loneliness,” and some groups, such as young adults and mothers with small children, are especially isolated.
Socialism Doesn’t Work
Last week, I reported on two myths about socialism. My new video covers three more.