This is just a reminder to everyone who did not know, Steve Horwitz will be talking tomorrow at Carleton University. The subject of the talk will be whether Canada needs a central bank. It will be taking place in the
Archive for February, 2012
Mandatory High Overhead
[The following is an excerpt from Kevin Carson’s book, The Homebrew Industrial Revolution: A Low Overhead Manifesto. Read it here.] …. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) is a good illustration of how regulations put a floor under overhead.
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U.S. Housing Prices Back to Their 2002 Levels
Chalk up another failure for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. More than three years after pumping an unprecedented amount of liquidity into the global financial system (read: print money), Bernanke’s wild experimentation in monetary policy has failed to bring the
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George Soros: A “Capitalist” Who Doesn’t Understand Capitalism
Fifteen years ago this month, George Soros wrote a long column in the Atlantic Monthly entitled The Capitalist Threat. His goal was to argue that, though it’s not as bad as totalitarianism, capitalism is now a true threat to the
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Denarius
History repeats itself, so the scholars say. But according to Mark Twain it just rhymes. Literary quips and hair-splitting aside, I’ve found that one of the most valuable things anyone can do to advance their knowledge and understanding of the
Germany Ready to Send Tax Collectors To Greece
It’s been two years since Greece started tilting off the deep end and, despite a deal being reached for a second bailout, problems of social unrest still persist as further austerity is pursued since the first round failed to yield
“Peak Oil” is a Myth
This article was originally posted on the website of Ray Harvey, under the title  Peak Oil? For further reading please consult the following links. http://masterresource.org/ ‘Peak Oil’ is a Waste of Energy The Bottomless Well http://peakoildebunked.blogspot.com/ The Ultimate resource II The Skeptical
The Lorax and Private Property
With Dr. Seuss’ classic book The Lorax making its way to U.S. theaters March 2, 2012, now is a good time to address some of the positions the children’s tale takes in regard to environmentalism and industrial production. The Lorax
$200 oil ahead
A very insightful post at Zerohedge, well worth the read. We have been saying it for weeks, and today even the WSJ jumped on the bandwagon: the sole reason why crude prices are surging (RIP European profit margins: with EUR Brent at a record,
The Culture of Violence in the American West: Myth versus Reality
[Originally published in The Independent Review, Volume 12, Number 2, Fall 2010] The Not-So-Wild, Wild West In a thorough review of the “West was violent†literature, Bruce Benson (1998) discovered that many historians simply assume that violence was pervasive—even more
Carney Once Again Warns on Debt
If you want a good analogy on the various admonishments of Bank of Canada head Mark Carney, think of the bartender who tells the local drunk he should really reconsider getting sloshed every night but is still ready and willing
Equality: The Unknown Ideal
[The following lecture was presented during the Philosophy of Liberty Conference at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, Saturday, September 29, 2001. Posted on mises.org] All men are created equal. When Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence,
Could the U.S. Government Default? It Defaults Everyday!
A few days ago, The Economist asks the big question on whether or not the U.S. government will eventually default on its debt. In highlighting a series of papers out of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, the popular
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Statscan’s Slow Demise
Philip Cross has become the latest causality in a series of losses to Statscan, the nation’s statistical agency. For Cross, the agency’s ex-chief economist, internal debates finally reached the point of no return. With multiple disputes over its storied history
A Dentist Calls Me Out
Yesterday I had a piece published at the Ludwig von Mises Institute entitled “Monopoly Dentistry” which highlighted an ongoing trend by states in the U.S. to adopt occupational licensing for mid level dental practitioners as a means to expand the
Time to Privatize Money - The Future of Civilisation Depends on It
[Originally posted on Martindurkin.com] Giant Meryl Streeps, with hair-dos and pearls, are riding round on London buses, reminding us of the achievements of the Iron Lady. Mrs Thatcher, as we all know, saved Britain by privatising State monopolies. It seems
Chronicle of a break-up foretold
Click on the link to read this article in pdf format:  February 19 2012 Today, we want to follow up on the dynamics of the Euro. We go back to our comments since the beginning of 2012, when we suggested that the
Mises Canada Meets for February
Our last  Mises Canada Meets this month is in Toronto The Toronto meet is being held at Paupers Pub - this time we have booked the space! Join us February 23rd, 2012 At Paupers Pub 539 Bloor St. West, Toronto, ON M5S
The Canadian Housing Bubble: its Cause and Conclusion
Before the financial panic in the United States the Bank of Canada’s target overnight lending rate was 3%. At the height of the financial crisis, by May of 2009 the Bank reduced the target to 0.25%. Today the target sits
Robert “If Only We Had More Unions” Reich
At this point in his career, it’s a safe bet that former Labor Secretary and UC at Berkley public policy professor Robert Reich has never met a union he hasn’t liked. Like Karl Marx and the muddled thinking which preceded
