AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT

Christmas Tree Protectionism, by Scott McPherson, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article:”Chinese companies dominate thee domestic market, and their fake trees are “driving” Christmas tree-growers in Oregon out of business. The number of fake trees sold in the U.S. “more than doubled” from 2010 to 2016….while the number of Christmas trees cut and sold dropped by twenty-six percent.”

Is this good or bad? Looking through the lens of economics it is neither good nor bad. It is just how the free market works. Looking at it from the perspective of the fake or real tree suppliers it is a different story. Each wants the biggest share of the market as it can get. Even if it means going outside of the market and getting Government to torpedo your competition. Unfortunately for suppliers, the subjective value of consumers is what ultimately decides if their business will survive. For the economy as a whole getting rid of non profitable activities stops scarce resources from being wasted, and allows these scarce resources to be channeled toward more productive uses according to consumer’s subjective valuations.

Dudley Dough, Boston ‘Fair Wage’ Pizza Shop, to Close After Two Years, by Jessica Chasmar, at washingtontimes.com. You can’t pay labor more than what it produces for very long. The forces of economics always win. This is good for the economy as a whole. Resources will no longer be wasted on an activity that isn’t profitable.

US Slashes United Nations’ Budget $285 Million Following “Stunning” Jerusalem Rebuke,  at zerohedge.com. The insiders haven’t figured out that Trump isn’t an insider. He isn’t like our four US Presidents. He is not playing the same game. It is as if insiders and the UN are playing baseball and Trump is playing hockey.

“$1MM Per Minute In Salaries, $22 BN Per Year In Vacation Pay” and Other Fun Facts About The Federal Workforce, at zerohedge.com. High pay and benefits for non productive work is what Government is all about. These salaries, benefits and pensions are paid for by your tax dollars. Which means there is no incentive to keep these costs down.

The FCC Needs To Abolish A Lot More Than Net Neutrality, by Sam Estep, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article: “….”so-called net neutrality” isn’t simply a regulation, it is a total reclassification of the Internet from an “information service” to a “telecommunication service.” This may seem like simple semantics, but the latter classification has been around far longer, and has, consequently, accumulated a bevy of regulations and restrictions confining it……..Declassification of common carriers and public utilities, repeal of charters, as well as other government constructed barriers, would allow more regional providers to compete with national ones. Such a deregulation would force companies that have exceeded their ability to function effectively due to their size, but are still being protected fro competition by regulations to fail.”

Why Republicans Need to Self-Deport From Washington DC, by Brad Todd, at thefederalist.com. The ideology of big government central planning is pervasive inside Washington D.C. In D.C. both parties have a incestuous intellectual relationship with other. Government intervention is the answer to every problem. The idea of shrinking government and allowing individuals make decisions is foreign to the insiders. Outside of D.C., Republican party voters want government to get out of their lives. The battle for individual freedom is taking place inside the Republican party, because the Democrat party has become the home of big government socialism. Small government outsiders are trying to take over the Republican party and the D.C. party insiders are trying to stop this from happening.

Weapons Went From The CIA To ISIS In Less Than Two Months, at zerohedge.com. Is what the media called a ‘conspiracy theory’ in 2013 now being reported as fact?

Time To Get Them Off Our Gravy Train, by Greg Walcher, at cfact.org. Environmental organizations are using ‘sue and settle’ tactics against the EPA to get their hands on millions of our tax dollars. This is what happens when government grows to the size it is today. It is easier to hide waste, fraud and corruption inside the bureaucratic maze. EPA director Scott Pruitt is trying to stop this gravy train.

Global Warming: Fake News From The Start, by Tim Ball and Tom Harris, at cfact.org. Is man made global warming climate change ‘crisis’ a scam to get money and power? These two scientists say yes.

CARTOONS from theburningplatform.

This entry was posted on January 1, 2018 at 10:23 am and is filed under Must Reads For The Week. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: against EPA, Cartoons from The Burning Platform, Christmas Tree Protectionism, Dudley Dough Closes, Fair Wage Pizza Shop, FCC Abolish Net Neutrality, Federal Workforce Salaries Out of Control, Global Warming Fake News, Republicans Should Self-Deport From D.C., Sue and Settle Tactics, UN Jerusalem Rebuke, US Slashes UN Budget, Weapions Went From CIA to ISIS