Posted tagged ‘Gun Control’

« AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT home page

Must Reads For The Week 8/6/19

August 7, 2019

“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

 

PEOPLE ARE PUSHING BACK AGAINST THE RULING ELITE

Moscow Police Use Force To End Election Protest, Arrest 600, at politico.com.    Excerpt from the article: “Police cracked down hard on an unsanctioned demonstration in Moscow for a second weekend in a row, detaining about 600 people protesting the exclusion of some independent and opposition candidates from September city council elections.”

“The issue taps growing dissatisfaction with a political environment dominated by the Kremlin-aligned United Russia party, in which dissenting voices are marginalized, ignored or repressed.”

Hong Kong Protesters, Police Clash As Demonstrations Target Chinese Traders, at reuters.com.    Excerpt from the article: “Sometimes violent, the protests have drawn in millions of people, with hundreds even storming the legislature on July 1 to oppose a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects in Hong Kong to be sent to China to face trial in courts under ruling Communist Party control.”

“Critics see the bill as a threat to Hong Kong’s rule of law. Chief Executive Carrie Lam this week said the bill was “dead” after having suspended it last month, but opponents vow to settle for nothing short of its formal withdrawal.”

Iranians Manage To Surf The Web Despite Tide Of Censorship, by Mehdi Fattahi, at apnews.com.    Excerpt from the article: “Before Nazilla Akbari can check out the latest offerings on Twitter or YouTube, she scrolls through an array of icons on her smartphone, searching for the right workaround to bypass state censors.”

“It’s a cat-and-mouse game that has become second nature in Iran, where the clerically-led government restricts access to popular social media sites and where U.S. sanctions create other barriers.”

“Every day I struggle for 40 minutes just to get connected to uncensored internet,” Akbari, a 30-year-old software developer, told The Associated Press. “Even after I do, the internet is so slow that I have difficulty even watching a short video.”

Can Boris Turn A Hard Brexit Into A Tax Cut? by Alasdair Macleod, at mises.org. The people who voted for Brexit are going to win. UK bureaucrats who want to remain in the EU, and EU bureaucrats in Brussels don’t realize it yet but they have lost.

Our Ruling Elites Have No Idea How Much We Want To See Them All In Prison Jumpsuits, by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com.    Excerpt from the article: “Our Ruling Elites have no idea how many of us already want to see them all in prison jumpsuits, and they also have no idea how fast the moral revulsion with their corrupt “leadership” might spread. Scanning the distracted, consumerist rabble from the great heights of their wealth and power, they reckon the capacity for moral outrage is limited, leaving them safe from any domestic crusade.”

“They also trust that the citizenry can be further fragmented, further distracted, and so they will continue to be invulnerable. Or worst case scenario, a few especially venal villains will need to be sacrificed, and then all will return to the bliss of Neofeudal exploitation.”

“But they may have misread the American citizenry, just as they’ve misread history.”

 

THE POLITICS OF GUN CONTROL

Media Focus On Mass Shootings Shows Disconnect From Actual Crime Trends, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org.    Excerpt from the article: “…mass shootings are but a very small part of larger crime trends. And, the overall trend has been downward for decades.”

The Myth Of Political Inaction On Gun Control, by Tho Bishop, at mises.org. We don’t want one size fits all Federal laws related to guns. Let each state decide how it wants to deal with gun violence. The Roe v. Wade one size fits all decision didn’t solve anything. It just helped erode civility.

Excerpt from the article: “If half the country views the right to bear arms as a natural right that serves as a vital bulwark against government tyranny, and the other views it as an immoral defense of normalizing weapons of war, there is very little room for compromise. Instead, these political disagreements become a battle of the politically powerful vs. the politically vanquished, with the sides being determined every two years. Control over the senate or the judicial system becomes a matter of self-defense. The result is the saying of “politics as war through other means” taking on a very literal reading.”

Why Red Flag Laws Are Not A Good Solution To Mass Shootings, by Dana Loesch, at thefederalist.com.   Excerpt from the article: “The people who report your Twitter account and your Facebook pages because they dislike your opinion want you to trust a government-run system where people can, without serious penalty of law, report you and have your property confiscated before you’re allowed to defend yourself in court weeks, even months, later.”

“Politicians refer to law-abiding, gun-owning Americans as “domestic security threats,” yet want you to trust them with implementing such a system. I’m talking about red flag laws and the risk they pose to due process—you know, those other rights after the Second Amendment in the Constitution.”

Chicago Sees Most Violent Weekend Of The Year With 55 People Shot, by Tristan Justice, at thefederalist.com.   Why does the media ignore the 1600 shot this year in Chicago? The answer obvious?

The Dirty Secret About Gun Control In Latin America, by Jose Nino, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article:   “By just glancing at Latin America’s current gun policies, we see a region that is in desperate need of more pro-gun laws. Countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela offer lurid accounts of what happens when most of the population is effectively disarmed when facing real criminal threats.”

“Although the U.S. has work to do in restoring gun rights, Americans take their right to self-defense for granted when we look at other countries like Mexico, which have prohibitive gun restrictions in comparison.”

“Gun control laws only keep the law-abiding from defending themselves against criminals. If we’re being honest, these types of laws should be viewed as criminal empowerment schemes. No amount of virtue signaling, or demagoguery will change that.”

Mexicans Are Safer In El Paso Than In Mexico, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. The Mexican government has stated it may take action against the US because Mexican nationals weren’t protected in the recent shootings in El Paso. We know this is a political play.      Excerpt from the article: “…it’s hard to believe that Mexican politicians are truly indignant about the deaths of Mexican nationals in the US when Mexico’s homicide rate is nearly five times that of the US, and among the worst in the world. Moreover, Mexico’s homicide rate in 2017 rose to the highest level ever recorded, climbing to 24.8 per 100,000. Preliminary data suggests 2018 may be even worse.”

“More than 30,000 homicide investigations were opened in Mexico in 2017. In the US, which has 200 million more residents than Mexico, homicides total around 17,000.”

“You Never Let A Serious Crisis Go To Waste.” at austrianaddict.com. I wrote this article in 2012 after the Sandy Hook shootings. Since then whenever there is a “mass” shooting in the US, this article always gets a lot of hits.

Always remember politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists and activists operate in the political world. Politics is the lens through which they view everything. Lobbyists and activists are paid to influence politicians and bureaucrats who have the power of Government behind them enforcing their edicts. Because of this underlying reality, you should never trust what these people say or do, and always question their motives.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL STUFF

Plastic Bans: Imaginary Benefits, Real Costs, by Robert P. Murphy, at mises.org.   Excerpt from the article:     “The Canadian proposal to ban single-use plastics is yet another triumph of symbolism over substance: The measure will do virtually nothing to reduce plastic waste in the ocean and it won’t “help the economy.” However, what it will do, if enacted, is increase greenhouse gas emissions, increase the spread of disease, and greatly inconvenience consumers.”

Recycling: Wasting Resources While Claiming To Conserve Them, by Lee Friday, at mises.org.   Excerpt from the article:      “Profits tell us that a firm has taken various factors of production (labor, raw materials, land, buildings, machines etc.) and combined them to produce products that are valued by consumers, i.e., the products are worth more than the sum of their parts, which means these resources have not been wasted. In contrast, losses tell us that a firm has taken various factors of production and combined them to produce products that are worth less than the sum of their parts, which means these resources have been wasted!”

“Therefore, in order to determine the viability of a recycling enterprise, a free market firm must estimate the cost of committing resources (labor, trucks, machines, recycling plants, fuel etc.) to the task of collecting and processing recyclable materials. It must then estimate the revenue it expects to receive for its recycled products. If it believes the enterprise will be profitable, it will proceed. The firm will have decided that it is cheaper to make certain products from recycled materials than to make the same products from raw materials. In this way, resources in the ground are conserved.”

“However, if the firm does not believe the enterprise would be profitable, it will not proceed with recycling. But resources in the ground are still conserved, because a determination has been made that it is uneconomical to extract resources from the ground to build and maintain the trucks, plants, and machinery necessary for recycling.”

“This is the point constantly overlooked by the public when governments involve themselves in recycling. In our rush to conserve resources, we forget that resources are required for the task of recycling, and we just assume the government is doing the right thing. We must remember that the government operates outside the marketplace, and therefore does not concern itself with profits and losses. When it wants more revenue, it simply takes it from us. Thus, the government has little incentive to minimize costs, which means it has little incentive to conserve resources.”

Non-Renewable Resources Never Really Run Out, by Joakim Book, at mises.org.   Excerpt from the article:     “In 1944 the world’s amount of proven oil reserves were 51bn barrels of oil. In 2018 the world’s proven oil reserves were almost 1,500 bn (BP estimates 1,730bn), i.e., about thirty times that of 1944 — and this despite humanity’s pretty voracious appetite for oil during the seven-odd decades in between. Anyone immersed in the naïve resource depletion theory has to incredulously ask himself — how can this be?”

“Simply put: we found more of it.”

“Markets with well-defined property rights use prices and profit motives to guide the allocation of resources — including, in this case, the investment resources that go into prospecting for oil or digging up metals in the ground. Markets use prices to convey information about the present and future availability of raw materials — with innovation allowing us to find, extract, and use them more efficiently and substitution regulating our want for them.”

 

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

New Legislation Outlawing Violent Gun-Wielding Groups Accidentally Bans Federal Government, at babylonbee.com.

Study Shows Leading Cause Of Gun Violence Is Those You Disagree With Politically, at babylonbee.com.

‘Trump Is Being Influenced By The Russians!’ Screams Communist, at babylonbee.com.

Woke Polar Bear Apologizes For Being White, at babylonbee.com.

Experts Warn We Have Only 12 Years Left Until They Change The Timeline On Global Warming Again, at babylonbee.com.

Sure, Women Can Do Anything A Man Can Do, at daviddrakesplace.blogspot.com. This is funny. But, it also reveals a reality that many want to deny.

Advertisement

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 5/25/19

May 27, 2019

“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

So Many dollars And So Much Time Has Been Wasted On Politics, Let’s Turn Our Efforts 100% Towards Economics, by Hunter Hastings, at centerforindividualism.org. Excerpt from the article:

“So much money and energy have been poured into politics in the last years and decades. What has it achieved? Dysfunction, debt, deficits, disrespect for America and its institutions, disdain for its politicians, and division between Americans.”

“Politics is poison. It is corrosive acid persistently poured onto the faces of a prostrate and powerless citizenry. It is evil, and it corrupts all the people who practice it.”

“Our proposal is for an end to politics and a replacement with the thought processes and science of economics. We’d prefer everyone to stop thinking in political terms and start thinking in economic terms. Here are five principles to begin with.”

1)Economics is about creating value for others. Politics is the destruction of value.

2)Economics operates on empathy. Politics operates on disagreement and antagonism.

3)Economics succeeds through the natural collaboration of people. Politics succeeds by exercising power over people.

4)Production is the economic measure of success. Politics is consumption without production.

5)Prices and profits are the information signals of the free market. Politicians suppress both.

Only 52 US Companies Have Been On The fortune 500 since 1955, Thanks To The Creative Destruction That Fuels Economic Prosperity, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. This shows that if companies don’t satisfy the desires of consumers with quality and price, they will either go out of business or lose market share to competitors. And this is a good thing. Which of these fortune 500 companies, Amazon, Facebook, eBay, Home Depot, Microsoft, Google, Netflix, Office Depot and Target will not be in the top 500 in 55 years?

The Subsistence Fund Is The Heart Of Economic Growth, by Frank Shostak, at mises.org. A subsistence fund is savings. Savings is what you produce above what you consume. It doesn’t matter if you save the actual good, or sell it and save the money. Here is an excerpt from the article:

“What characterizes the modern economy is its complex structure of production that seemingly generates an endless amount, and an endless variety, of goods. It seems that the production structure has, as it were, a self-generating mechanism. Careful examination, however, shows that without a key ingredient, the entire infrastructure could not have emerged. The ingredient that makes it all possible is the subsistence fund.”

Envy, Inc. by Jeff Deist, at mises.org. I am going to quote the great Thomas Sowell concerning this article: “Envy used to be considered one of the seven deadly sins, before it became one of the most admired qualities under it’s new name “Social Justice.”

The Balance Of Payments Myth, by Frank Shostak, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article:

“In a market economy, each individual sells goods and services for money and uses money to buy desired goods and services. The goods and services sold by an individual could be termed “export,” while the goods and services bought could be termed “import.” The record of such monetary exchanges for any period could be labeled as the trade account balance.”

“In a free market economy, individuals’ decisions regarding the selling and the buying of goods and services i.e. export and import is made voluntarily, otherwise it would not be undertaken. The emergence of an exchange between individuals implies that they expect to benefit.”

“Whenever an individual plans to import more than he exports, the shortfall will be balanced either by running down existing savings or by borrowing. The creditor who supplies the required funds does so because he expects to profit from that.”

“The current practice of lumping individual’s trade account balances into a national trade account balance is of little relevance to businesses.”

What Is The Proper Way To Study Man? by Murray N. Rothbard, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article:

“If the proper study of mankind is man, the question immediately arises: what is the proper way to study man? In recent generations, the enormous prestige gained by physics in advancing our knowledge of the material world has led to the uncritical transfer of the methods appropriate in the natural sciences to the study of actions of men………… the differences between the nature of human action and the behavior of unmotivated physical objects require different methodologies of scientific study.”

“…..the laws of human action (economics and, more widely, “praxeology”) cannot be “tested” by reference to statistical or historical “data.” In the behavior of physical objects, science begins by empirical observation of constant relations, and then frames tentative hypotheses of explanatory laws, these hypotheses being always subject to testing and revision by referring their deduced consequents to controlled experiments, where all but the relevant, isolated factors are held constant. This is the “scientific method” of physics. But in the study of human action, as Mises shows, the reverse is true; here, we begin by knowing the causal laws: by knowing the fact of human consciousness, of free will, of motivated, purposeful action of human beings in using given means for the attainment of desired ends. On the other hand, the facts of human history are not, as in physics, controllable and subject to testing; they are the complex and changing resultants of the interplay of human motives and actions, impinging on the natural environment and on each other. The laws of economic science, therefore, can only be constructed by starting with apodictically known axioms and deducing from them a body of necessarily true laws.”

Hazlitt Predicted Economics In Two Lessons, by Jorge Besada, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article:

“Mr. Quiggin’s recent book, Economics in Two Lessons, is the latest intellectual salvo fired by a member of the mainstream economics establishment towards the legendary unabashed defenders of capitalism like Ludwig von Mises, 1974 Nobel Laureate in Economics F.A. Hayek, and of course, Henry Hazlitt himself, who von Mises once referred to as “our leader…the economic conscience of our country and of our nation.” Yet in this book he simply reveals himself to be exactly as Hazlitt predicted, as part of the usual crop of “men regarded today as brilliant economists, who deprecate saving and recommend squandering on a national scale as a way of economic salvation” and whose “ ideas which now pass for brilliant innovations and advances are in fact mere revivals of ancient errors, and a further proof of the dictum that those who are ignorant of the past are condemned to repeat it.”

 

MISCELLANEOUS STUFF

There Are A Record 1,7 Million More Job Openings Than Unemployed Workers, at zerohedge.com. My favorite stat is that job openings decreased in the federal government (-15,000).   Excerpt from the article:  “According to the BLS, the number of job openings increased for total private (+363,000) and was little changed for government. Job openings increased in a number of industries, with the largest increases in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+87,000), construction (+73,000), and real estate and rental and leasing (+57,000). Job openings decreased in federal government (-15,000).”

Mike ‘Dirty Jobs’ Rowe Routs America’s School System: “We’re Obsessed With Credentialing, Not Education, at zerohedge.com. The great Thomas Sowell considers many college degrees to be nothing more than, “Credentialed Ignorance.”

“Dystopian Approach”: SEC Blesses  Master Card’s Idea Of Cutting Off Customers With Right-Wing Views, at zerohedge.com.  Excerpt from the article:

“Mastercard is not the only holder of purse-strings that is mulling the selective banning of individuals from their services ad funds.”

“Patreon and PayPal have previously barred individuals from receiving payments using their platforms, due to their extreme views.”

“But unlike crowdfunding platforms, being cut off from one of the leading American multinational financial services corporations will, most likely, have a much greater impact on the financial stability of an individual of a group, especially after the US Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly blessed MasterCard’s undertaking.”

“By doing this, Swann believes the government granted “big corporations the ability to control what voices are heard.”

“The issue with such an approach, the investigative journalist argues, would lead to a wider crackdown on financial payments to anyone who the government would see as unfavorable.”

California Mulls Tax Breaks For Movie Studios That Leave Strict Pro-Life States, at zerohedge.com. The Roe decision in 1973 was a solution in search of a problem. Back then their wasn’t conflict because each state had it’s own abortion law, and if you didn’t like it, you could try to change the law inside that particular state or you could vote with you feet and move. The only thing the one size fits all Roe decision has done is create more conflict where it didn’t exist.

Socialists Set To Take-Over California Democratic Party, at targetliberty.com. The incremental movement toward socialist central planning in California is almost complete. Lets not let this disease spread any farther in our country than it already has.

Body Cam Video They Don’t Want You To See: Arizona Cop Takes Down Knife-Wielding Jihadist, at zerohedge.com. Have you seen this one in the main stream media? I didn’t think so. It doesn’t fit the media narrative.

Children At Philadelphia Muslim Society Say They Will: Chop Off Heads” For Allah, at zerohedge.com. Have you seen this one in the MSM? If it doesn’t fit, you must ignore it.

 

GUN CONTROL?

With Gun Ban Not Working, Politicians In Britain Want To Ban Knives Nationwide, at zerohedge.com. Maybe they should pass a law banning murder! Oh! They already have that law.

Underwear-Clad Florida Man Tries To Break Into Elderly Woman’s Car, then Meets Her Baseball Bat: by Nate Madden, at theblaze.com. The perpetrator wants assault bats banned.

Operation Choke-Point 2.0? Gun Control Advocates Urge Banks To Refuse Service To Gun Companies, at zerohedge.com. Gun grabbers will use every angle to undermine the Second Amendment.

Armed Women Calls 911, Locks Herself In Closet After Intruder Kicks Down Back Door. He Shouldn’t have Taken Another Step, by Dave Urbanski, at theblaze.com. She did everything possible to not have to shoot this guy.

FEEL GOOD VIDEO OF THE DAY: Crazy Man Attempts To Attack A Lady But She Happened To Have A Gun And Shot Him, at theburningplatform.com. The guy thought he had an easy mark. OOPS

Armed Man Kicks Down Front Door Of House In Broad Daylight. Armed Homeowner Makes Intruder Pay Ultimate Price. by Dave Urbanski, at theblaze.com. Actions have consequences.

Meanwhile In Chicago: Armed Man Pulls Out His Handgun To Ward Off Two Younger Men Who Appear To Attack Him, at theburningplatform.com. He didn’t shoot either of these attackers. Do you think a cop would have shot both of them?

Store Clerk Fired After Pulling Gun In Self-Defense Against Hatchet-Wielding Robber, by Caleb Howe, at theblaze.com. This is not a satirical story from the Onion of The Babylon Bee. The clerk got fired for having a weapon.

Here is what the president of Plaid Pantry In Oak Grove said: “…the stores have “a zero tolerance for weapons and the clerk is no longer employed there. He said employees are trained to de-escalate robbery situations to avoid injury.”

I’m not kidding. He really said that. Did the president’s statement unknowingly increase the incentive for criminals to rob Plaid Pantries? What kind of individuals will now be incentivized to work for the Plaid Pantry in the future?

 

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

Long-Running Political Lecture Show ‘Saturday Night Live’ Will Shift To Comedy Next Season, at thebabylonbee.com.

Trump Announces More Aid For Farmers Hurt By Tariffs Passed To Raise Money For Aid Used For Farmers Hurt By Previous Tariffs, at thebabylonbee.com.

Gay Man Miraculously Turned Straight By Single Bite Of Chick-Fil-A, at thebabylonbee.com.

Evangelical Mistaken For Mormon After Treating Everyone With Kindness And Respect, at thebabylonbee.com.

Elizabeth Warren Surprises Grads By Announcing She Will Sharply Increase Their Taxes To Pay For Their Student Loans, at babylonbee.com.

In Move To Ban Charter Schools, Bernie Sanders Introduces ‘No Child Left Ahead Act’, at thebabylonbee.com.

 

CARTOONS

 

225344.png

TtyYFA7.gif

kzBnqBr.png

agiRl61.jpg

S2fToU4.jpg

254669_image.jpg

 

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 3/31/18

April 1, 2018

GUN CONTROL?

Armed Resource Officer Stops Maryland High School Gunman, at zerohedge.com. I have talked to people, who did not know that this happened. Here is an example of a good person with a gun taking out a bad person with a gun. The main stream media barely covered this. Why? It didn’t fit their narrative on the gun debate. These situations can be stopped when you have the resources in place at the moment the s#!+ hits the fan. If you wait for police or SWAT to arrive, it is too late.

Superintendent Says Students Are Armed With Rocks In Case Of A School Shooting, by Peggy Lee, at wnep.com. We know a picture of a gun inside a red circle with line through it doesn’t stop shootings. So having rocks to throw at a shooter is better than having nothing when you are operating under the constraint of a gun free zone. A gun free zone takes a gun out of the hands of a law-abiding persons. But it does nothing to constrain a person with bad intent. At least this school accepts the fact that some sort of weapon is needed to fight against a bad guy with a gun. But it is not wise to take a rock to a gun fight.

There Is No ‘Epidemic Of Mass School Shootings’ – Children Are More At Risk When They Ride In A Car, Swim In A Pool, Or Put Food In Their Mouths, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. You have a .2% or 1 in 491 chance of dying in a car accident, a .1% or 1 in 1,133 chance of drowning, a .03% or 1 in 3,461 chance of dying by choking on food, and a .01% or 1 in 11,125 chance of dying by mass shooting. Which has more press coverage by the main stream media? Perception is not reality. Perception is a tool used for political purposes.

Protesters Say Ban Assault Weapons ….Whatever They Are.

You can’t take anyone seriously who has no idea what they are talking about. Their opinions are tied to emotion and not facts and logic. People like this become useful idiots for politicians and tyrants.

Protesters Talk Gun Control At March For Our Lives.

Are these people ignorant or stupid? Being ruled by emotions makes you stupid.

Actors Cold Read Gun Facts Off Of A Teleprompter.

You can educate ignorance, but you can’t do anything about stupidity.

Police Seize First Firearms Under Florida’s New Gun-Control Laws, at theorlandosentinel.com. The question is who determines whether a person is a potential risk to himself or others? In the case of the Florida school shooter, there  were enough facts that the FBI said they made a mistake by not going after this kid. But what happens when tyrants in government have the discretion to determine potential risk to self or others? Where is the line to be drawn? More importantly, who decides where the line is drawn?

Do The Kids Know This? at targetliberty.com. Hitler, Stalin and Mao all confiscated guns before they killed multiple millions of their citizens. And Stalin and Mao were the darlings of the left.

You Can Try To Repeal The 2nd Amendment, But You Can’t Repeal History, by David Harsanyi, at thefederalist.com.   The 2nd Amendment protects the right of the people to protect themselves from their own government when it becomes tyrannical. Excerpt from the article: “Noah Webster reasoned that, “The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any bands of regular troops….” His only mistake was trusting the whole body of the people would always uphold the Constitution. “

Contemporary liberals often view this form of rhetoric against the government as an endorsement of sedition……What contemporary critics fail to comprehend, however, is that founding generation believed those who would undermine the inalienable liberties explicitly laid out in the Bill of Rights were the ones committing sedition.”

TRUMP TARIFFS HARM ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Against The Whole Concept Of The ‘Balance Of International Payments’, by Robert Higgs, at economicpolicyjournal.com. When you trade with (purchase something from) another person, each person receives more in value than what they gave up. The exchange would never take place otherwise. When you purchase a candy bar for $2 dollars. You value the candy bar more than the $2 and the store values the $2 more than the candy bar. The store owner doesn’t have to purchase something from for  $2 to “balance the payment”. The account is balanced when a trade (or exchange) is made. It doesn’t matter if the trade is $2 for a candy bar, or if a car company in America purchases steel from a steel company in China.

Trump’s Steel And Aluminum Tariffs, by Walter Williams, at jewishworldreview.com.    That which is seen and that which is unseen. Excerpt from the article: “Last Week, President Trump enacted high tariffs on imports of steel ad aluminum. Why in the world would the U.S. steel and aluminum industries press the president to levy heavy tariffs?”

“The answer is simple. Reducing the amounts of steel and aluminum that hit our shores enables American producers to charge higher prices. Thus U.S. steel adn aluminum producers will earn higher profits, hire more workers and pay them higher wages. They are the visible beneficiaries of Trump’s tariffs.

But when the government creates a benefit for one American, it is a virtual guarantee that it will come at the expense of another American – an unseen victim. The victims of steel and aluminum tariffs are the companies that use steel and aluminum. Faced with higher input costs, they become less competitive on the world market……To become more competitive in the world market, some firms may move their production facilities to foreign countries that do not have tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum.”

Politicians love having seen beneficiaries and unseen victims….In the cases of the steel and aluminum industries, company executives will know whom to give political campaign contributions. Workers in those industries will know for whom to cast their votes. The people in the steel and aluminum using industries may not know whom to blame for declining profits, lack of competitiveness and job loss. There’s no better scenario for politicians. It’s heads politicians win and tails somebody else loses.”

Trade War: What Is It Good For?

Why We Learn Nothing About Trade, by Carmen Elena Dorobat, at mises.org. The ideology of 17 century mercantilism was destroyed by the ideas on free trade by the classical liberals of the 19 century. Unfortunately these protectionist ideas keep rising from the dead. It is time to drive a stake through the heart of this failed ideology once and for all.

VENEZUELA = SOCIALIST PARADISE

Socialist Utopia: Child Gangs Fight For “Quality Garbage” With Machetes In Venezuela, at zerohedge.com. How bad is it when your best option for getting food is to fight others for the possibility of finding it in the garbage?

Venezuela Faces A Terrible New Crisis: A Shortage Of Blood, by Rachelle Krygier, at washingtonpost.com. There is a shortage of medical supplies and blood in this socialist utopia. Economic systems produce different standards of living.

Venezuelans Report Big Weight Losses in 2017 As Hunger Hits, by Vivian Sequera, at reuters.com. Venezuelans have lost an average of 24 pounds over the last year. There are consequences of choosing socialist central planning over free market capitalism.

The Venezuela Diet – Remy

 

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Observations From The Margin

December 18, 2015

Observation Tower

-People on the left are citing the constitution for their outrage to Trump wanting to temporarily stop Muslim immigration. This is curious at best considering the left has traditionally used the constitution for toilet paper. Now they want to wrap themselves in the very document that stands in the way of everything these central planners want to do.

-The left brands certain groups of people as bigoted toward another group simply because they are not a member of that group. But isn’t the left just as guilty of bigotry against the non favored groups by simply choosing a favored group?

-Politicians place each of us into groups that can be labeled by race, sex, religion, profession etc. Since we are looked at as members of groups. I have a question? When is an activity by a few members of a group considered an outlier? And when does an increased number of people engaged in the activity cross the line and become a discernible profile of the group?

-When Romney ran for President in 2012, I heard conservatives say that we need a businessman to “run the country”. Now we have Trump leading in the polls and conservatives are saying, and he is saying, that we need a businessman who knows how to make deals. We don’t need a businessman. We need someone in the Presidency who understands how the free market works. Businessmen don’t need to know how a free market works to be successful in a free market economy. In fact businessmen like Trump donate to and lobby politicians so they can use the power of government to help their businesses and at the same time hurt their competitors. This is why Trump has donated to both parties. He is playing the political game. So when he says he’s “not a politician”, he is wrong from the standpoint of dealing with bureaucrats. But when it comes torpedoing political correctness, he is correct. This is the basis of his support. I like this part of him because it upsets the big government political class of both parties. But I wish his supporters would understand that he is not a free market guy. He is for government solutions to economic problems.

-After the recent terrorist attacks in San Bernardino the President came out and spoke about gun control before the bodies were even cold. Does he realize he is driving even more nails into the coffin of gun control. Humans have a natural instinct for self-preservation. When we see people shot dead by terrorists,who are willing to fight to their death, our natural instinct tells us we need to protect ourselves against these types of situations. Since cops can’t arrive in time to stop terrorist attacks, people are deciding to arm themselves. It’s our natural instinct for self-preservation, and Presidential pontifications about gun control are seen as either ignorant, stupid, or political.

-The Republicans pusillanimous (click here) behavior in standing up to the left, as was just demonstrated by speaker Ryan caving in on the recent budget ‘deal’, is the reason that Trump, Cruz, and Carson are the leading Republican candidates. The beltway establishment hasn’t figured out that the huddled masses don’t want another political insider in a position of power.

CARTOONS from the burningplatform.com.

Political Cartoons by Gary Varvel

Political Cartoons by Gary Varvel

Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

 

Categories: Observations From The Margin
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

The Gun Debate

October 13, 2015

This video from Reason.com shows the anti-gun crowd the secret on How To Create A Gun-Free America In 5 Easy Steps. I can’t believe Austin Bragg from Reason is helping the gunphobes in their quest to rid us of gun violence.

1) Elect 2/3rds of Congress who agree with you

2) Have them vote a proposed constitutional amendment that repeals the 2nd amendment.

3) Convince 38 State legislatures to ratify your amendment.

4) Have congress pass a law signed by the President that outlaws guns.

5) Have the police, the FBI, and the ATF confiscate 350 million guns from citizens who would probably not be willing to comply with the new law.

The cost of implementing the 5 steps is very high. This is why the anti-gun people will use political means, executive orders, and friendly courts to try to implement there anti-gun ideology.

GUN CONTROL MYTHS

Here is an article titled 7 Gun Control Myths That Just Won’t Die, by Sean Davis, at thefedralist.com. Mr. Davis takes apart some myths that the anti-gun crowd likes to assert when attempting to convince people their side is right. Here are a few myths from the article.

4) CONCEALED CARRIES DON’T PREVENT MASS SHOOTINGS

“Do armed civilians stop mass shooters?” the liberal magazine Mother Jones asked in 2012. “Actually, no.”

“Mother Jones justified its assertion by citing its own analysis that of the 62 mass shootings between 1982 and 2012, not one was stopped by a civilian with a gun. Shocking, right? Not really, once you consider the logical fallacy underlying the Mother Jones claim.”

“The fact of the matter is that shootings that happen in an area where concealed carriers can immediately respond don’t generally become mass shootings. It’s a bit like saying locked doors and alarms don’t prevent burglaries by only citing burglaries that happened in buildings with no locked doors or alarms as proof of your thesis. It’s no coincidence that so many mass shootings happen in areas declared to be “gun-free zones” by authorities.”

“Instances of concealed carriers stopping shooters in their tracks are too numerous to count. Here are just a few examples found from a few seconds of Googling.”

July 27, 2015:

April 20, 2015:

September 22, 2015:

“Concealed carriers can’t be expected to stop every shooting, just as police can’t be expected to prevent all crime. It is a fact, though, that concealed carriers regularly put an end to violent shootings”

5) THE SECOND AMENDMENT ONLY APPLIES TO MUSKETS

“This trope is a popular one among gun control advocates who imagine themselves as strict constructionists when it comes to Constitutional interpretation. Piers Morgan, the failed CNN host and British tabloid editor accused of hacking into celebrity voicemails in search of tabloid gossip, is the foremost advocate of the notion that the Second Amendment protects only the rights of Americans to carry muskets:”

“As Carol Roth noted, the refusal of the Founding Fathers to precisely name the types of arms which citizens have a right to keep and bear was intentional. The same can be said of their refusal to constrain our right of free expression to quill pens and bulky printing presses. The Second Amendment protects our right to own handguns just like the First Amendment protects our right to criticize the government using the Internet.”

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Politicians on the left will use every crisis to advance their anti-gun ideology, and politicians on the right will defend their pro-gun ideology against the attacks of the anti-gun left.

The one side is attacking a right that each individual has to protect himself. This right was not given by our Government, it predated our Constitutional Republic. Our Constitution puts shackles on our Government, when it comes to Government infringing on the right of each individual to keep and bear arms. Our founders gave individuals this right so they could protect themselves from Government force. Our founders were going to be the people who were in these seats of power. They didn’t trust themselves, why would we trust our present day politicians who are so far removed from our founders understanding of tyranny.

This political dance will continue with no ground being won or conceded by either side. Nothing will happen until the first four steps in the video above are accomplished. Then the s+*# will hit the fan when Government tries to implement step 5.

Related Article – Anti vs. Pro-Gun Visions Of The World, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – “You Never Let A Serious Crisis Go To Waste“, at austrianaddict.com.

 

Categories: Government and Politics
Tags: , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Must Reads For The Week 10/10/15

October 10, 2015

French Workers Attack Air France Executives Rip Off Their Clothes, at economicpolicyjuornal.com. How can businesses survive the costs of the benefits mandated by government? Compensation for working more than 35 hours a week, subsidized travel, restaurant lunch vouchers, paid days off for weddings and funerals, subsidized healthcare, guaranteed maternity and paternity leave, thirteenth month bonus pay, and minimum wage are just a few. Politicians who mandated all these benefits employers have to provide are the ones who caused these layoffs. These protesters are attacking the wrong people, they should be attacking the politicians for losing their jobs. We are not far behind France. Just look at the mandated benefits listed in the article; do they sound familiar?

Politicians Keep Chasing The Green Jobs Fantasy, at freedomandprosperity.com. Green energy is nothing more than a money and power grab. Green energy is not a viable alternative to fossil fuels. It can only become an alternative if its unsubsidized cost per kilowatt-hour is lower than the cost per kilowatt-hour from fossil fuels. Fracking has pushed the green dream farther into the future.

Michigan’s Wind Energy Mandate Costs Each Family $4,000, at michigancapitalconfidential.com. Because of the higher cost 24,000 jobs went away. When will we learn that central planning doesn’t work? Markets don’t necessarily pick winners. Markets allow the winners to be revealed. And it puts pressure on them to continue to please the consumer or another winner will take its place.

Recycling Was ‘Garbage’ In 1996, It’s Still That Way Today, And The Future Looks Even Worse, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Recycling is now seen as a moral imperative, when in reality it is a waste of resources, time and money. Quote from John Tierney: “We’re not just reusing our garbage, we’re performing a rite of atonement for the sin of excess.”

Adidas 3D Printing Is A Sneaker Industry Game Changer, at esquire.com.

Swash 10-Minute Clothing Care, at swash.com. Swash is like having a dry cleaner at home.

Chile’s Private Social Security System Should Be Globally Emulated, Not Locally Emasculated, by Dan Mitchell, at freedomandprosperity.com. Chili privatized its social security system in the 80’s. Its success speaks for itself. The governments recent drift toward socialism puts the pension money in the cross hairs of the central planners.

Government Planted Questions For ’60 Minutes’ Interview With Snowden, at economicpolicyjournal.com. What about the separation of press and state. Does this surprise anyone?

Two Journalists Banned From Debate On Whether Feminism Stifles Free Speech, at tamybruce.com. The headline says it all.

Why America’s Oil Output Refuses To Collapse, at bloomberg.com. Fracking comes with new ways to extract more oil from existing wells at a lower cost. Cooperation in a market produces better results than top down decision-making from central planners. If President Obama had his way he would have shut down fracking. He is trying to do it through EPA regulations like he crippled the coal industry.

TIME TO LAUGH

Bear Reacts Logically To Mixed Signals Given By Insane Lady

Video starts with insane lady talking to a bear.

Lady: “Thank you for leaving my kayak alone.”

Bear: No response

Lady: “I’m going to pepper spray you in the face, that’s what I’m going to do to you.”

Bear: “You insane b*$@#! Now watch what I do to your kayak.”

Her voice is like finger nails on a chalk board (click here).

 

PICTORIAL ESSAY: 18 Things I Did That My Grand-Kids Can’t Do Without Someone Getting Arrested, at theburningplatform.com.

Here are a few.

Guns!

We played Cops and Robbers! People DIED! We used ketchup as blood to make it look real. We took cap pistols to school …so we could play Cops and Robbers during Recess. I believe that in rural areas kids could even take bb-guns to school. No one gave a rats ass. Ever.

Sensible Punishment

Practically the only way to get expelled was if you actually put someone’s eye out. They didn’t expel kids willy-nilly for every imaginable offense.

Baths Were For Wimps

Even today, at age 81, my mom’s house is so clean you could perform open-heart surgery in any room. After playing outside all day, the chances of me walking in the house were exactly zero. I’d strip to my underwear, and mom would hose me down. She had a big heart though. In the winter time she’d use a warm bucket of water.

CARTOONS

Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

which-one-of-these-signs-will-prevent-an

Politicize-600-LI.jpg

Categories: Must Reads For The Week
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

On The Gun Issue: Can We Survive The Arrogance And Ignorance Of People In Power?

March 14, 2013
Loading up the Nerf gun

Loading up the Nerf gun (Photo credit: Rob, Joyce, Alex & Nova)

These are just a few recent examples of…….., well I really don’t know what to call it. Make up your own mind, after you read some of these stories.

Cupcakes decorated with army men confiscated from boy,9, by school.

Boy,7, suspended from school after eating his pastry into shape of a gun.

Fifth grade girl suspended for having piece of paper resembling a gun.

Teacher threatens police action after boy shows picture of new air soft bb gun.

Biden, “no need for an “assault weapon”, get a shotgun”.

Colorado rep, Salazar tells women to use a whistle instead of a gun for protection.

Some of these are examples of people with an irrational fear of guns, who don’t understand that other people don’t share this irrational fear. (more…)

Categories: Government and Politics
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment