economic and political philosophy
An economics book still popular after 50 years?!?
Robert Wenzel on the collapse of the Soviet Union via What to Watch this Weekend :: The Circle Bastiat. Robert Wenzel (pronounced WenZEL) starts off his Henry Hazlitt Memorial Lecture at the Austrian Economics Research conference with some amazing statistics about Hazlitt’s classic (and most famous) book, Economics in One Lesson (see it on Amazon [...]
Life imitates art – the Marketplace Fairness Act
Which is fact and which is fiction here? Can you tell them apart? A bipartisan group of 53 Democrat and Republican lawmakers have re-introduced a bill – the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 – in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives, which would require online retailers to collect sales tax for state [...]
Short Video: “Keynes as Santa” Spoof on Christmas Spending
Man, you mean, economics is not only fun but also pretty simple?!? Here is a clever video. It takes apart John Maynard Keynes. It shows why the economic problem is not a lack of spending. … If you think that Keynesians regard the federal government as Santa, this shows you why. Read more: http://teapartyeconomist.com/2012/12/07/short-video-keynes-as-santa-spoof-on-christmas-spending/#ixzz2EQKxXYZk via [...]
Empty Seats and Empty Minds at the Olympics :: The Circle Bastiat
Who’d a thunk? The State intervenes in the free market, and screws things up! This must be a first. Here is another example: The British Olympic organizers restricted ticket purchases, rewarded corporate purchases but not corporate use, imposed price controls on tickets available to the public and state violence against the resulting scalpers touts — [...]
More bad news for Japan’s economy
Japan Services PMI™Markit reports Japan Composite data show sharpest decline in business activity since September 2011 Key points: Moderate declines in activity across both manufacturing and services Total new orders fall for first time in six months Service sector optimism the second-highest in 37 months via Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis. But, not to worry. [...]
U.S. Tax Burden: 40 Million Government Workers. Is Japan better off?
Study says US government employs 40 million. Too little, just right, or top-heavy? How about in Japan?
Next contestant Nikkei from Japan, special subject the bleeding obvious
How much sooner would this have happened if Tepco was a genuine private company? Tepco has not gone bankrupt simply because it is being bailed out by the government. Financial aid from the government-backed Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund is expected to reach 3.4 trillion yen. The figure is already far higher than the 350 [...]
Time run out for Japan? “The yen’s looming day of reckoning”
English-speaking observers of Japan’s economy have been sounding warnings since last year (and many before that), but within the world of Wa, there seems to be little sense of panic. Has time run out for Japan? So says MarketWatch, and thanks to MarketingJapan’s Mike Rogers for the links: read Mike’s articles Yen Devaluation Now Imminent? [...]
ECB’s and BoJ’s balance sheet as portion of GDP
The above graphic is from an RT interview with “Tragedy of the Euro” author and economics professor, Philip Bagus (Bagus’ interview begins @ 16:15). Bastiat Circle blog has the transcript and the video. What happens in Europe, of course, impinges on Japan because Europe is one of Japan’s major trading partners, the BoJ’s balance sheet [...]
I Will Gladly Pay You 100 Years From Now, For a Hamburger Today
Mish asks, …please explain the need for government to borrow money in the first place. The same question applies to the US, China, Germany, and the rest of the world. There is no “need”, there is only political expediency of vote-buying promises that cannot be met with money that will never be paid back by [...]
