We’re All Born In The Middle Of The Story.

Posted November 30, 2012 by austrianaddict
Categories: Econ. 101, Government and Politics, Hall of Fame

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The Passage of Time

The Passage of Time (Photo credit: ToniVC)

Each of us was born at a specific time on a specific day of a specific month in a specific year of a specific decade in a specific era of history. Having lived for fifty plus years, I look back at the numerous days, or five decades, or the few eras of history in which I have lived, and realize that you can’t break up time into these convenient measurements and look at them separately. They do not stand on their own. As Thomas Sowell said, “results observed at a given point in time may be part of a process that stretches far back in time.”

Most people think history started the day they were born. They give little thought, or have no understanding of how the world that existed the day they were born came to exist as it did. Where each person is, and what they are doing today, is the result of decisions made by them and other people, in the recent past and the distant past. An example of this is, Read the rest of this post »

Walter E. Williams Talks About Central Planners.

Posted November 29, 2012 by austrianaddict
Categories: Government and Politics

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Read more by Walter E. Williams in this article titled, “Tyrants and Human Nature”, at jewishworldreview.com.

Economic Reality Will Prevail, Even If The Debt Ceiling Is Raised.

Posted November 27, 2012 by austrianaddict
Categories: Econ. 101, Government and Politics

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English: Chart of the United States' debt ceil...

English: Chart of the United States’ debt ceiling from 1981 to 2010 in $ trillion. This chart tracks the debt ceiling at the end of each calendar year. Years are color coded by congressional control and presidential terms highlighted. Data source: http://www.treasurydirect.gov (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The debt ceiling will go up in one form or another. But the economic reality, which we discussed in a previous post What Comes First Production Or Consumption, will eventually make it impossible to climb out of the debt hole we have allowed our politicians to dig us into.

The only way the Government fund’s itself is through the multi-layered process of taking from the production of private individuals in the free market. Taxing, borrowing, and counterfeiting money, are the three ways Government takes production from the private sector. Taxing is the direct taking of what we produce. Borrowing is a Government promise to pay back with interest, what individuals freely give to them in exchange for this promise. The only way this promise can be kept is through Read the rest of this post »

Thomas Sowell’s Vision of the Anointed.

Posted November 26, 2012 by austrianaddict
Categories: Econ. 101, Hall of Fame

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The first book I read by Thomas Sowell was, “The Vision Of The Anointed”. Nobody explains complexity more understandably than Thomas Sowell. This book helps pour a mental foundation on which to build your future thinking and understand about how to analyse everything. If I had not  stumbled upon Thomas Sowell being interviewed about this book on the radio one day, I would probably be blissfully ignorant of Read the rest of this post »

What Comes First, Production Or Consumption.

Posted November 20, 2012 by austrianaddict
Categories: Econ. 101

Tags: , , , , ,
Kindof a visual pun that I've illustrated...

Kindof a visual pun. Which came first?  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What drives the economy, supply of or demand for goods and services. Does the economy grow because we consume more or can we consume more because the economy grows. This article by Mark Skousen title, “Consumer Spending Doesn’t Drive The Economy, Investment Does”,   explains the public’s perceived chicken or egg conundrum about production or consumption. This is not a puzzling question at all, the answer is very logical and easy to understand. Consumption happens at the end of the production process. You can’t consume something that does not yet exist, and the only way a consumer’s good can exist is if someone produces it. Production is the act of creating wealth, while consumption is Read the rest of this post »

Keynes vs. Hayek Round II, The Fight Of The Century.

Posted November 19, 2012 by austrianaddict
Categories: Econ. 101, Econ. 201, Hall of Fame

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Mises states, “The issue is always the same: the Government or the market, there is no third solution.” This has been the fight of the century, and will be the fight of the next century. Top down central planning by the state vs, bottom up voluntary cooperation in the market.

Central planning by the State sounds so logical and reasonable if analysed on the surface. Spending creates demand and people will produce to supply this demand. That’s simple and easy to understand on the surface, but a deeper analysis reveals that the structure of production is a very complex process. This complex structure of production was created by the spontaneous ordering processes in the free market not Read the rest of this post »

Why Would We Ever Believe Oily Politicians And Bureaucrats.

Posted November 16, 2012 by austrianaddict
Categories: Government and Politics

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These are some short videos of the administration talking about energy.

Three days after the election the administration closes 1.6 million acres of land previously opened for shale oil development. Read here at The Hill.

Tell me that this Charlie Brown cartoon about Lucy pulling the football away after promising not to, isn’t exactly our situation with all Politicians and Government agents. Never trust them, even if you have verification.

The Result of The Break Down of The Rule of Law.

Posted November 15, 2012 by austrianaddict
Categories: Government and Politics

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If the rule of law is defined as “general rules, known in advance, and applying to the rulers as well as the ruled”, than the breakdown of the rule of law is caused by government making laws that are micro managing, so numerous we can’t possibly know them in advance, and not applying to the rulers, only to the ruled. The expansion of Government regulations and mandates into every aspect of our lives has led to a push back. This video shows how a truck driver deals with Government agents at a check point twenty miles inside the border of the state of Texas. You can watch videos like this all day. Citizens are starting to assert their fourth and fifth amendment rights when they are stopped by police or other Government agents.

Citizens are not complying with what seem like simple and reasonable requests by police and Government agents. Go to youtube and type in “police abuse of power”, and watch videos of police and Government agents bullying, intimidating, and abusing the very citizens they are supposed to protect. This escalation of force is going to be met with an equal escalation of resistance. Read the rest of this post »

Thomas Sowell’s Take On The Federal Reserve.

Posted November 13, 2012 by austrianaddict
Categories: Government and Politics

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When asked, “if you get rid of the Federal Reserve, what do you replace it with?”. Thomas Sowell answers, “When someone removes a cancer, what do you replace it with?”

You can read more about the Fed in this short article titled “Fed Up With The Fed?” by Thomas Sowell at jewishworleview.com.

This is a quote from  the article, “It is not politically possible for either the Federal Reserve or the Obama administration to leave the economy alone and let it recover on its own. Both are under pressure to “do something.” If one thing doesn’t work, then they have to try something else. And if that doesn’t work, they have to come up with yet another gimmick.”

 

Detlev Schlichter Talks About The Results When Governments Counterfeit Paper Money.

Posted November 12, 2012 by austrianaddict
Categories: Econ. 201

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Detlev Schlichter author of “Paper Money Collapse”, talks about the present state of our paper money system in this interview by Jeff Randall on Sky News.

For a more in-depth analysis on what happens when the State, through Central Banking policy, continually props up the results of previous counterfeiting with even more currency debasement, read this article titled “We Are On The Road to Serfdom” by Detlev Schlichter. Then read this article titled “But There is no Inflation- Misconceptions About the Debasement of Money” also by Detlev Schlichter. Warning: You have to be mentally “all in” if you are going to tackle these articles.