The Unbroken Window

I was alerted to recent comments by Senator Clinton that seem to demean folks like me:

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday dismissed the “elite opinion” of economists who criticized her gas tax proposal…”I’m not going to put my lot in with economists,” Clinton said when asked to name an economist who backed her proposal.

“We’ve […]

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It is clear that on average, you cannot outperform the market - whatever market you are in. Why? Well, “everyone” IS the market.
If you beat the market one time, you got lucky.
If you beat the market a second time, you got lucky.
If you beat the market a third time, you understand government. 

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 In medieval Europe, manufacturers sold durable goods to anonymous consumers in distant markets, this essay argues, by making products with conspicuous characteristics. Examples of these unique, observable traits included cloth of distinctive colors, fabric with unmistakable weaves, and pewter that resonated at a particular pitch. These attributes identified merchandise because consumers could observe them readily, […]

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“Capitalists” (as if  that was some sort of dirty word - if your grandmother owns any mutual funds she is rightly called a capitalist) are accused of exploiting workers in the sense that firm owners/shareholders receive the bulk of the value that its employees create.

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The daily wages of a mason paid in local currency without board furnished in Massachusetts in 1631: 2 shillings
The daily wages of a mason paid in local currency without board furnished in Massachusetts in 1670: 2 shillings

Two shillings in both 1631 and 1670 would have been worth approximately $12.00 in 2002 $US.

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An Energy Department report showing an unexpectedly large increase in crude oil supplies last week also helped calm investors. If rising inventories help oil prices pull back from record levels, inflation pressures should ease - which would give the Federal Reserve greater opportunity to lower interest rates and boost lending efforts to spur the economy. […]

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In the majority of States, benefit funding is based solely on a tax imposed on employers. (emphasis original)

That is from the Department of Labor discussion of state unemployment insurance programs.  Or they can read this … or this … or this … By a legal definition they might be right, but isn’t that statement fraudulent and […]

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Just about finished with David Cay Johnston’s “Free Lunch.” It is a book that claims to be a tell all about how the wealthiest Americans enrich themselves at government expense and how the little guy gets stuck holding the check at the end of the day. Indeed, there are several chapters that tell eye-popping stories […]

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The “buy local” literature is littered with doozies. Here are two more.

Small business is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term.

Prevent multi-national big box stores from entering your town … because it will extract monopoly rents from us.

You can get a flavor for some of these arguments here and here. […]

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One of the common reasons individuals in certain communities give us to “buy local” is that buying local will cut out the “middleman” (you know, the evil merchants and traders, reviled since biblical times) and enable growers to focus on other things. These same individuals then launch a marketing effort to have us joining Community […]

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