“The coordination of men’s activities through central planning or through voluntary cooperation are roads going in very different directions, the first to serfdom and poverty, the second to freedom and plenty.” – F. A. Hayek
ECON STUFF
Putting American’s Huge $20.5 Trillion economy Into Perspective By Comparing US State GDPs To Entire Countries, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Even with all the government intervention, our free market economy is the most productive in the world. Or put another way, what is left of our free market economy is the most productive in the world. How much more wealth and prosperity could our hampered market produce if Government taxes, regulation and debt were reduced?
Why The Boom-Bust Cycle Keeps Repeating, by Frank Shostak, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article: “The boom-bust cycle phenomenon is somehow linked to the modern world. But what is the link? The source of the recurring boom-bust cycles turns out to be the alleged “protector” of the economy — the central banks themselves.”
“A loose central bank monetary policy, which results in an expansion of money out of “thin air” sets in motion an exchange of nothing for something, which amounts to a diversion of real wealth from wealth-generating activities to non-wealth-generating activities.”
The Green New Deal Plus Modern Monetary Theory = Socialism, by Mark Hendrickson, at mises.org. Excerpt from thee article: “Thank you, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Green New Deal (GND) she has unveiled is most illuminating. It is now unmistakably clear that AOC, Bernie Sanders, and other democratic socialists in the Democratic Party don’t want “socialism lite” but rather they want the federal government to take control of the “commanding heights” of the economy. Although they may settle for the variant of socialism in which businesses remain nominally private, even as the government dictates what they must do, they plainly want central economic planning, albeit with a 10-year rather than five-year plan.”
“This is no exaggeration. The GND essentially calls for conscripting the American workforce and putting us to work in accordance with what the elite government planners want instead of what “we, the people” want. They propose to replace our market economy, in which privately owned businesses compete to see who can best supply the needs and wants of the people, with a command economy in which government is the master and citizens build what the planners say must be built.”
Government Spending Isn’t Always Inflationary, by Frank Shostak, at mises.org. Government spending what it steals from citizens in taxes is not inflationary. But it is an exchange of how the individual tax payer would have used the money (his production) for how a group of bureaucrats and politicians spend the money. The problem arises when our government spends more than it steals in taxes. The excess spending above what is stolen via taxes is funded by selling debt in the financial market. Inflation is caused when the Federal Reserve uses electronically printed counterfeit money to purchase government debt. It is an exchange of something for nothing.
China’t Slowdown Is Exposing The Cracks In The Global Economy, by Claudio Grass, at mises.org. China’s growth rate has been slowing because it was fake in the first place. China’s prosperity is a debt fueled bubble caused by the money printing of China’s central bank.
Excerpt from the article: “Overall, the problems faced by China were largely predictable. A nation buried under such mountains of debt would eventually have to confront the elephant in the room. Growth based on and fueled by credit is only an illusion and cannot be sustained. As reality comes knocking, China’s gloomy outlook should serve as a warning to investors in the West, where governments also attempted to use the very same methods to prop up their economies.”
The Brexit Betrayal: Democracy On The Brink, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article:
“As the official deadline for leaving this European Superstate approaches, it seems that elected members of Parliament are determined to override the will of the British people in a capitulation that will mark the death knell of their freedom.”
“Will the U.K. forever be trapped in a political union with no hope of escape? Will the British Deplorables take to the streets to demand democracy be served? And is there any doubt remaining in the minds of the electorate that the government has its own agenda that must be served out as thin gruel in this ongoing saga?”
People Trade Nations Don’t, by Patrick Barron, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article:
“A world of peace and increasing prosperity depends upon strictly limiting the ability of governments to interfere in international trade through their central banks and legal tender laws. Eliminating both would expose many economic fallacies that purport to characterize international trade as a competition between nations with their own citizens either winners or losers depending upon whether they are net exporters (winners) or net importers (losers). Central banks not only are barriers to trade and prosperity, they are fomented of international tension and even war. Time to scrap them. Remember, the US did not have a central bank between the Age of Jackson–after President Andrew Jackson was successful in preventing the renewal of the charter of the Second Bank of the United States in 1837–and just prior to the Great War in 1913 when the Federal Reserve System was founded. During this era, despite fighting a civil war, the US economy grew probably at the greatest rate of any economy in the history of the world.”
Which Degrees Will Earn You The Most (And The Least)? at zerohedge.com. Don’t become a debt serf by going into hock up to your neck for a worthless college degree. Check out the degrees that are worth the price of going to college.
Whole Foods Slashes Worker Hours Four Months After $15 Minimum Wage Increase, at zerohedge.com. Is anyone shocked by this. A businessman can only afford to pay labor more than what it produces for so long before he has to cut employees or reduce hours.
POLITICAL STUFF
House Passes Anti-Bigotry Resolution After Anti-Semitism Push Splits Party, at zerohedge.com. What? The Democrat party is split over the issue of Anti-Semitism? This should have been a no-brainer, shouldn’t it? Trying to juggle three balls is difficult. Trying to juggle four balls is exponentially more difficult than three. How difficult do you think it is to juggle all of the identity groups that the Democrat party has split us into?
National Association Of Black Journalists Elevates CNN To Special Media Monitoring List, by Kanya Stewart, at NABJ.org. The NABJ is concerned about CNN’s lack of black representation in the ranks of its executive news managers. Looks like the left is being hoisted on its own petard of social justice.
After Anti-Christian Animus, Colorado Stops Harassing Cake Baker, Joy Pullmann, at thefederalist.com. Here is an example of government using its power to force an individual to comply with the political correct way of thinking. Who has the resources to fight government when individuals in government are determined to get you? Ask Michael Flynn?
Mayor Claims She Was Hate Crime Victim After ‘Yellow, Sticky Substance’ Found On Car. Cops Have Simpler Explanation, by Dave Urbanski, at theblaze.com. When all you hear from the main stream media and leftist politicians is that racism exists around every corner, you would naturally jump to the conclusions that pollen covering your car would be a hate crime because it fits the politically correct narrative. You wouldn’t want to try to figure out what the sticky substance was before you made a claim of racism, would you?
Popular Defiance Will Kneecap Gun Laws In New Mexico, As It Has In Other States, by J.C. Tuccille, at reason.com. This is the real resistance against government tyranny.
Construction Begins On 30-Foot-High San Diego Border Wall, at zerohedge.com. We should ask Nancy Pelosi if it’s immoral to replace an existing wall with a wall that works better?
Forced Blood Draws & Implied Consent Laws Make A Mockery Of The Fourth Amendment, at zerohedge.com. This is another example of the break down of the rule of law. The break down starts with individuals in government who use its force to trample on individual rights. That is law breaking that citizens will eventually not accept. Excerpt from the article:”All of those freedoms we cherish—the ones enshrined in the Constitution, the ones that affirm our right to free speech and assembly, due process, privacy, bodily integrity, the right to not have police seize our property without a warrant, or search and detain us without probable cause—amount to nothing when the government and its agents are allowed to disregard those prohibitions on government overreach at will.”
In Editor’s Note, The Washington Post Admits Early Covington Reporting Was Flawed. Sandmann’s Attorney Says That’s Not Good Enough, by Robbie Soave, at reason.com. The pattern of the main stream media is to jump to conclusions on stories without getting all the facts. Why do they do this? Because when something confirms their bias, they go with it because they don’t fear any consequences for their actions. I hope this kid wins this law suit.
Ocasio-Cortez Chief Of Staff Saikat Chakrabarti Hit With FEC Complaint, by S.A. Miller, at washingtontimes.com. Where ever there is a pile of money there is no limit to the number of people who are going to try to procure a portion of it. Nothing will happen to this guy. He will probably have to return the money and receive a slap on the wrist. Laws that are not enforced are not laws. Incentives matter.
Obama Wants To Train ‘A Million Barack And Michelles to Create Progressive Utopia, at zerohedge.com. Who is going to produce all the stuff in this progressive utopian world that exists in the minds of Barack and Michelle? As Walter E. Williams would say; “If you said tax payers, go to the head of the class”.
GLOBAL WARMING STUFF
Our Planet Is Not Fragile, by Walter E. Williams at jewishworldreview.com. Excerpt from the article:
“The people at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change agree, saying that to avoid some of the most devastating impacts of climate change, the world must slash carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and completely decarbonize by 2050.”
“Such dire warnings are not new. In 1970, Harvard University biology professor George Wald, a Nobel laureate, predicted, “Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” Also in 1970, Paul Ehrlich, a Stanford University biologist, predicted in an article for The Progressive, “The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.”
“The year before, he had warned, “If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000.” Despite such harebrained predictions, Ehrlich has won no fewer than 16 awards, including the 1990 Crafoord Prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ highest award.”
Science Magazine Goes Nuts Over Happer Committee, by David Wojick, at cfact.org. Excerpt from the article:
“In case you missed it, the US National Security Council has floated a proposal to form a Presidential Committee that will take a hard look at some of the climate change alarmist reports coming out of the federal agencies. The effort is being led by physicist Will Happer, a well-known skeptic.”
“Not surprisingly, the climate alarmists are apoplectic at the very thought that a group of scientists might examine their cherished alarms. The prestigious magazine/journal “Science” has been a leader in expressing outrage, in a way that clearly shows that they have no idea what is going on.”
“When a supposedly great scientific publication cannot understand the situation it is worth a closer look. It turns out Science Mag is operating under a simple fallacy. We might even call it the “alarmist fallacy” since most alarmists fall for it……”
“The fallacy is obvious — alarmism is equated with climate science. The committee is not questioning climate science, whatever that might mean; it is questioning climate alarmism. The two are very different.”
“The fact is that alarmism is one interpretation of the vast body of research that climate scientists report, while skepticism is a contrary interpretation. In short there is a scientific debate. Skeptical scientists like Happer have a very good grasp of the actual science. What they object to is alarmism’s interpretation.”
When Bubbles Burst – Tesla, The Everything Cycle And The End Of Global Warming, by Tom Luongo, at tomluongo.me. Excerpt from the article:
“Religions die hard. It takes an orgy of evidence to change a person’s mind on a subject that is integral to their moral and ethical structure.”
“In the case of Tesla, the mania surrounding it over the past decade has been inextricably bound up with the hysteria of global warming.”
“……There’s is a religion based around basic human hubris — that we are far more impactful on the world than we actually are and our activities need to be reined in.”
“This comes from worshiping the environment as a substitute for traditional religions. Marx preached organized religion is the ‘opiate of the masses’ but people need religion of some form or another to bring meaning to their lives and guide their behavior.”
“So if they reject Christianity, for example, they will seek out a new thing to elevate and substitute for it.”
“The environment is definitely one of these substitute religions. In fact, modern environmentalism has all the trappings of a classic human religion.”
“We have our Satan, consumerism. It is the bastard child of capitalism since this version of environment-worship is rooted in Marxism.”
“We have the apocalypse story, Global Warming. We will literally destroy all life on the planet turning it into Venus. It’s the rapture for Gaia worshipers.”
“And we have the High Priest of Technocracy who will save us from ourselves, Elon Musk. He will put a solar panel on every roof, take us to Mars while we drive around, guilt-free in our luxury Teslas.”
“The problem with all of it, of course, is that it was all bought with debt and government largesse, itself a consumerist fantasy created out of the opulence that capitalism provided.”
U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Long-Term Decline While Oil And Gas Production Increases, at instituteforenergyresearch.org. The little known secret is the fracking industry has reduced the cost of producing natural gas to a point that coal-fired power plants are being turned into natural gas power plants. Since natural gas burns cleaner than coal, our greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced. At the same time we have become the world leader in oil and natural gas production. This was all accomplished by the free market, without any help of government. In fact Obama tried to put as many chains as he could on the fracking industry but even the Great Barack couldn’t stop what happened.
California’s San Bernardino County Slams The Brakes On Big Solar Projects, at wind-watch.org. The fight is on. The people in San Bernardino County won this initial battle. But these environmentalists will never stop in their religious crusade to save the planet.
The Green New Deal Continues The War On Meat, by Jose Nino, at mises.org. Who should decide if I should eat meat? Me or a politician/bureaucrat? These petty tyrants are trying to force their religious beliefs on us. Not going to happen.
Wind Turbine Noise: Real Impacts On Neighbors, by Lisa Linowes, at masterresource.org. Interesting article about how the noise from these wind turbines affects people.
SATIRICAL HEADLINES
Ilhan Omar Withdraws Support From Bill To Save The Earth After Learning That’s Where Israel Is, at babylonbee.com.
Border Patrol Agent Calls Up Planned Parenthood To Get Helpful Pointers On Separating Children From Their Mothers, at babylonbee.com.
Joseph Stalin Posthumously Identifies As Strong Woman Of Color To Deflect Criticism Of Socialist Policies, at babylonbee.com.
Weird: All Of Google’s Self-Driving Cars Are Veering To The Left For Some Reason, at babylonbee.com
CARTOONS
From theburnngplatform.com.
AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT 