The social contract question
Granted we are social animals and engaged in a social contract, why does Warren assume that the factory owner isn’t putting forth his part of the bargain? Is it assumed…
Local currencies could reshape Brazilian economy
The Wall Street Journal recently featured a story on a currency called the capivari, a local currency emblazoned with the face of a giant rodent. The capivari is one of…
Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme?
In the last couple of Republican presidential debates, a comment made by candidate Rick Perry on whether Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme has been the center of much discussion….
The United States of America loses its AAA credit rating from S&P
(Reuters) The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor’s on Friday in an unprecedented reversal of fortune for the world’s largest economy. Read the S&P…
Solving the problem by adding to it and making it worse
(The New York Times) There is something you should know about the deal to cut federal spending that President Obama signed into law on Tuesday: It does not actually reduce federal…
The debt debate goes back long before Nov. 2010
(Reuters) – White House and congressional negotiators are racing against the clock to forge a deficit reduction deal that would clear the way for Congress to raise the $14.3 trillion…
The debt ceiling as a perpetual soufflé
As Veronique de Rugy explains, the debt ceiling was initiated in the U.S. in 1917 as a way to ensure responsibility in congress. Since then, government has raised it nearly…
This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this.
President Barack Obama on the negotiations for short term extension of the debt ceiling. (Dow Jones)- President Barack Obama threatened to veto any short- term extension of the debt ceiling,…
What is the difference between the Austrian and Chicago Schools of Economics?
Two of the most influential and comprehensive schools of economic thought, the Austrian and Chicago Schools have much in common, especially in their opposition to Keynesianism. But, as Robert P….
Planned economy or planned destruction?
The more things change, the more they stay the same. This cartoon was published in the Chicago Tribune in 1934.
What will it take to save the American Dream?
(The Heritage Foundation) Saving the American Dream is The Heritage Foundation’s plan to fix the debt, cut spending and, above all, restore prosperity. It balances the nation’s budget within a…
The remedy for Fox and CNN
Beck Bennett charges America’s Youth with the challenge of dissecting the big issues and news and politics.
Freedom: For Whom and From What?
These ideas need to be debated on a regular basis. Watch live streaming video from aynrandcenter at livestream.com
Radically rethinking the way we fight poverty
The authors of Poor Economics have a point: Ideology drives a lot of policies, and even the most well-intentioned ideas can get bogged down by ignorance of ground-level realities and…
A government of Hottentots
(Washington Post) It was billed as President Obama’s big speech on reducing the federal budget deficit. But the Wednesday afternoon address sounded at times like the speech he did not…
Intervention affects the economy even more when the intervention stops
(New York Times) Among the people anxiously waiting to hear if Congress can reach a budget deal are front desk clerks at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, manufacturing…
Perspective on the proposed budget cuts
(Reuters) – Congressional negotiators on Wednesday raced against a looming deadline to craft a budget deal that would cut billions of dollars in spending and keep the government operating beyond…
Is BitCoin the currency of the future?
In this podcast from EconTalk and the Library of Economics and Liberty, Gavin Andresen, Principal of the BitCoin Virtual Currency Project, talks with host Russ Roberts about BitCoin, an innovative…
How does adding debt prevent us from default?
Geithner’s suggestion is to raise the amount of debt the borrower can take in. But that only allows the borrower to get further in the hole, and end up owing more every year. If the borrower can’t pay off the debt as it stands, what is to say that he will be able to do so when the debt is more than his income?
A kindred spirit in effort to slay the Juggernaut
Released in 2009, Chris Martenson’s video seminar ‘Crash Course’ provides an excellent analysis of our predicament. Expanding the talk into what he calls “the Three ‘E’s”, this seminar is comprehensive…