Economics

Ron Paul: The Economics of Disaster

"Sandy raises uncomfortable questions about the extent to which taxpayers should fund the cleanup and the extent to which government programs create moral hazards. For example, FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) are expected to pick up the tab for much of the flood damage caused by the hurricane. Of course, this will mean more federal debt and inflation for the rest of us, since the program only has about $4 billion to work with and is already $18 billion in debt from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We can only hope FEMA has learned this time not to impede and frustrate private efforts as they have in the past." Continue reading →

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Should You Be Forced to Vote?

"To increase voter turnout, some countries require citizens to vote or face a penalty. Prof. Jason Brennan outlines several reasons the United States should not adopt such a law. For example, political scientists have found that most citizens are badly informed and that people tend to make systematic mistakes about the most basic issues in economics, sociology, and political science. Instead of being concerned about improving voter turnout, Brennan thinks we should be worried about whether the people who do vote are making well-informed decisions." Continue reading →

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Poll suggests win for initiative repealing Michigan’s emergency managers law

"Public Act 4 of 2011, pushed by Gov. Rick Snyder (R), allows Michigan to appoint managers to municipalities and school districts facing financial struggles, turning the power of elected local officials over to state bureaucrats. Snyder has said the law is necessary to resolve fiscal crises within the state. The managers have sweeping powers, being able to cut public workers, slash services, sell off public infrastructure, cancel union contracts, overrule and even fire elected officials, and write all contracts as they see fit. Benton Harbor, Flint, Pontiac, and Ecorse are currently being overseen by emergency managers." Continue reading →

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Gas Lines, Gouging, and Hurricane Sandy: Keeping Prices Low Means Nobody Gets Fuel

"So why does it look 1973 all over again at gas stations throughout New York and New Jersey? Hurricane Sandy knocked power out to New Jersey's gas refineries, causing shortages throughout the region. Govs. Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo responded by doing exactly the wrong thing: They threatened to prosecute any station owners caught raising prices, thus removing any incentive to truck more gas in from other parts of the country. Thanks to a cadre of small businessmen, though, Brooklyn residents have an alternative to spending all day in line." Continue reading →

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How to Fix the Gas Shortage: Let ’em Gouge

"A lot of people suppose that the anti-gouging laws are a remnant of some puritan past, like laws that ban buying alcohol on Sundays. But they aren’t. The first one was passed in New York in 1979 in response to rising heating oil prices, according to an essay on the laws by Michael Gibberson published in Regulation last year. Three more states adopted similar laws in the 1980s, eleven more in the 1990s, and 16 in the last decade. These aren’t ancient blue laws—they are a growing legal innovation. Again you’re probably asking: why? As it turns out there is one set of actors who does benefit from these laws—politicians." Continue reading →

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Carlo Ponzi, Alias Uncle Sam

"We are not placing a burden on our children. We are placing a burden on ourselves. The government is borrowing money to pay for the systems. We are therefore raising our level of indebtedness. Our children are not going to be burdened with this; we are going to be burdened with it when the kids get smart enough to pull the plug. They are going to stiff the creditors who have bought Treasury bonds and Treasury bills, and that means the banks that have bought them, the money market funds which have bought them, the retirement funds which have bought them, and anyone else who has bought them, including the central banks of the world." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: An Empire of Debt Leading to a “Crack-up” in the Global Monetary System

"As we head into the last few days of the presidential race, we ask Bill Bonner, bestselling author and founder of Agora financial what he thinks the biggest issues on the electoral agenda should be. Considering the problems facing the country took decades to form, can they be easily resolved by the casting of a vote? And what about the debt and the deficit? Both presidential candidates express some concern about the debt, but are either really going to act on those concerns in meaningful ways?" Continue reading →

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GDP Was Strong in Q3; Why Did That Happen?

"Weaponized Keynesianism happened. Government defense expenditures surged by 13 percent between July and August. The Pentagon spent significantly more on weapons, training, operations, and maintenance. (Ammunition purchases, for instance, doubled.) Had these expenditures not occurred last quarter, the U.S. economy would have grown at a mere 1.36 percent, instead of 2.0 percent." Continue reading →

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Switzerland Will Continue to Thrive and Outperform

"Currency markets have a history of rewarding countries that are free. Why is that? Freer countries have the tendency to avoid over-taxation, over-regulation and support policies that promote freedom and innovation. Freer floating currency regimes allow market forces to play a role in determining value. Market forces and (truly) democratic systems, and particularly the Swiss system of direct democracy, create feedback mechanisms to help keep the excesses of government in check." Continue reading →

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The Recovery Meme and Why It’s Just Talk

"The top people in Britain announce the 'recession' is over ... and then the powers-that-be attribute its ending to the Diamond Jubilee and the English-hosted Olympics. These are fairytales. The world's current downward spiral is the quite deliberate result of money printing that causes first booms and then busts. Too much money always distorts the economic system. It's an old banking trick, from what we can tell, but aided immeasurably by modern monopoly central banking. irst they expand. Then the economic rubber band snaps back, leaving people dazed and bleeding. And then those responsible begin to point fingers." Continue reading →

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