“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
AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT 