The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. – F.A. Hayek
Posted in Classical Liberalism on Sep 29th, 2009
The thugs with the guns of course. That is what you are if you support the government and its continued confiscation of the productive efforts of individuals.
Chairman Max Baucus’s bill includes the so-called individual mandate, along with what he calls a $1,900 “excise tax” if you don’t buy health insurance. (It had been as much [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism, Economic Illiteracy on Sep 23rd, 2009
Oh yeah, I can’t – you have guns pointed at me.
In what might qualify as the dumbest piece ever published, this writer criticizes folks for arguing that health reform is like socialism. Actually, he is nominally correct. It is not socialism, but some god-awful version of Progressive Corporatism on ‘roids – so it is a [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism on Aug 12th, 2009
Arnold Kling discusses “real freedom”:
The exercise of voice, including the right to vote, is not the ultimate expression of freedom. Rather, it is the last refuge of those who suffer under a monopoly. If we take it as given that the political jurisdiction where I reside is a monopoly, then perhaps I will have more [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism, Regulation on Jul 6th, 2009
What you see below you is a comparison of the size of the federal government that our Founders intended (see that tiny pamphlet on the right, it includes both the Declaration of Independence AND the Constitution) and the one we have today. That ridiculous pile on the left is all the pages of the Federal [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism, Government Thuggery on Jul 4th, 2009
Justice Stephens, in his decision permitting the taking of private property for “economic development purposes” (i.e. giving it to another private party) made a couple of arguments to justify such abusive takings:
So long as the city puts together a “comprehensive” plan, and so long as it allows for proper review then taking for private use [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Jun 7th, 2009
I don’t want to meditate on whether taxation is theft – it is – but rather on a common justification many intellectuals (and citizens) provide for its existence. While, they say, we don’t like taxation, it is the “price” we must pay to have the Democracy we have. And for whatever its flaws, we must [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism on Jun 5th, 2009
How did that old Simon and Garfunkel song go? “Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio …?” Something like that.
Posted in Classical Liberalism on May 24th, 2009
If one needs to find an issue where there is a clear dividing line between classical liberal thought and modern “conservative” thought, there are few better places to look than the military and warfare. Those on the left that listen to soundbites from Keith Olberman or get a thrice forwarded e-mail of a Paul Krugman [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism on May 5th, 2009
To let my readers know just how large the windmills are that I am tilting at, these come from a student paper on the role of government in the financial sector throughout history:
Laissez-faire is the basis for many economy philosophies
I’d like to see the MANY that are based on laissez-faire. Any takers?
This is because in [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism on Mar 28th, 2009
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