The Unbroken Window

Only minutes after I posted a link to Megan McArdle’s good observation on how doing something about millionaires in particular is impossible without violating the rule of law (Hayek wrote extensively on this in the Constitution of Liberty) now we see the truth for what it is in my old state of Taxachusetts: Eventually the [...]

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In which I tick off some friends, but this is a freaking atrocity, a horror show, an embarrassment. I thought by the way that the President was going to change all of this garbage – it would have been a reason for me to vote for him. In the aftermath of my events on Sept. 11, [...]

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Since participating in a year-long seminar on the major works of Hayek I have decided to continue reading some of his less known works. I have been especially intrigued by the more personal of his writings, many of which can be found in the later years of his life. The following is from his speech/essay, [...]

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A student of mine refers me to this conference video from Cornell University. Here is the relevant piece (it’s about at the 3:45 mark): Consistent with his view that the world will soon run out of oil and natural gas, Berman has put himself on record, as recently as this spring, in support of a [...]

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I had a long post lined up for today, then decided to shut up. Happy 4th of July everyone. It’s a day truly worth celebrating. When you take time to read the Declaration today, which I hope you do, be sure to read the entire thing. I’ll leave you the famous second paragraph (actually the [...]

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It is, of course, my favorite “holiday.” I do have one sinking feeling about commemorating the day, however. As much as we glorify the Revolutionary War, it was still a bloody and damaging war for both sides, the day would have been perfect had it led to a peaceful separation. OK, here are the two [...]

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I was asked to give remarks at the annual Colloquium of the Alexander Hamilton Institute in Clinton, NY regarding the establishment of a sister organization here in Rochester. A draft of that talk follows. Forgive me for taking the chance to talk a little bit about economics before I say a few words about our [...]

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Reading through the comments on this post and this post by David Henderson I noticed several comments, including from David Cay Johnston, that assert that folks at the top of the socio-economic latter get the largest benefits from being part of an orderly civil society, while those at the bottom get the smallest benefit. This [...]

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Here is another piece of my platform for when I run for office: I hereby declare that all taxes must be paid explicitly either by check or electronic funds transfer. I hereby declare it illegal to automatically have taxes deducted from paychecks, business activities, profits, or any other income stream that is used to collect [...]

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the classical gold standard. This was an international monetary standard that lasted from roughly 1870 to 1914. Not perhaps coincidentally, this was a time of a vast expansion in trade (the first modern wave of globalization) and a general surge in global prosperity. Without getting into the details, [...]

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