Topic: Capitalism

Should Scott Atlas Sue His Detractors?

– September 20, 2020

” Scott Atlas has a strong case that his old colleagues played fast and loose with his professional reputation for purely political reasons. If the courts get involved and decide against the signers of this document, I won’t shed too many tears for their free speech rights: after all, the upshot of their letter is to lend their professional reputations to violating everyone’s right in the name of disease mitigation, and cover up their political motivations with the veneer of science.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker

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smashcapitalism

A Comment on the New History of Capitalism

– September 18, 2020

“Much of the current debate revolves around an emergent historiographical school. Usually referred to as the ‘New History of Capitalism’ (NHC), this school has produced a sizable body of research contending that the institution of slavery was a central building block of American capitalism. At the same time however, the NHC literature has come under intense criticism from economic historians who have long studied the same subject, and who question both its use of evidence and its conclusions.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

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Celebrate Entrepreneurs, Don’t Guillotine Them

– September 7, 2020

“The key to getting wealthy in a capitalistic society is to produce something so valuable that millions of people want to trade for it.” ~ Raymond C. Niles

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Profit and Loss and Mr. Biden

– September 2, 2020

“Sound bites may be good for political harangues but they are never enough for true understanding. Dissing profits is misleading if no distinction is made between consumer-driven competitive profits and crony-capitalist ones, or if losses are overlooked.” ~ Warren C. Gibson

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Happy Birthday to Libertarian Firebrand Walter Block

– August 21, 2020

“His positions can be very, very off-putting. He strips pretty much everything down to a simple question: ‘Is it voluntary?’ If the answer is ‘yes,’ then he argues that we have no right to interfere no matter how much we might disapprove.” ~ Art Carden

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money burning

Modern Monetary Theory is Playing With Fire

– August 8, 2020

“Stephanie Kelton’s book is well-written and serves as an accessible insight into the world of Modern Monetary Theory. There are parts of the book that are essential pieces of economic knowledge that define the modern state, some that are questionable premises, and some that are blatant political talking points.” ~ Ethan Yang

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obama

On “You Didn’t Build That”

– August 7, 2020

“Unethical redistribution occurs to the extent that the taxes an individual pays are paid without his or her consent, for such ‘payment’ implies that the value of the benefits gotten from government by this taxpayer are less than the cost this taxpayer is forced to pay. Yet these complexities do nothing to justify the claim that provision by government of some goods and services creates among citizens indebtedness to the state.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

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The Latest Investment Fad Is Unsustainable

– July 24, 2020

“Just as Greens can destroy the environment, corporate social responsibility can wreck society while tricking ESG investors to feel good about themselves in the process.” ~ Robert E. Wright

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female business executive

The Epistemic Value of Putting One’s Money Where One’s Mouth Is

– July 21, 2020

“Assertions such as that women as a group are underpaid – should be dismissed out of hand if (as is almost always the case) those who do the asserting refuse to risk their own time and resources on undertaking private-sector activities that would make these individuals rich as they simultaneously correct the alleged failures. If these individuals aren’t getting rich by acting with their own money on what they assert to be true, then they ain’t so smart after all.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

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modern city

Is ‘Capitalism’ Modern?

– July 20, 2020

“Capitalism in this account is not truly modern, inasmuch as something we can describe with that word has existed repeatedly in history. It has usually come to a bad end, because of the way private wealth and fear of losing it has interacted with predatory power, but in the modern world we have avoided that. Only so far however, which is why we must be constantly in campaign mode to keep the show on the road.” ~ Stephen Davies

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hands, tree

On Externalities and Noise

– July 15, 2020

“There is no world where trade-offs don’t apply, where we can have all the nice things we want without anybody, anywhere, getting upset. Externalities are everywhere, but if we want to live prosperous lives, some part of those lives will be impacted by others. Get over it.” ~ Joakim Book

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greta thunberg

What Greta Thunberg Forgets About Climate Change

– July 12, 2020

“Perhaps Greta’s message for politicians to listen to the scientists and take real action has hit home. In one sense, they are already well on the way to following her advice. They read chapter 10 of IPCC’s AR5 report, where they learned that climate change is important – but that other socioeconomic developments matter much more.” ~ Joakim Book

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