Sep 012010

THIS POST IS :”STICKY.” It will remain at the top of the page for a few days. New posts will appear under it.

Below is a response I received to my article on American Thinker:  http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/08/keynes_as_useful_idiot.html (also posted on this site on August 31. It should be near the bottom of this page for as long as this sticky post is up ).

The commentator sent the remarks directly, so I assume he desires anonymity. He is sincere, but has some erroneous economic thinking included in his commentary.

I post his comments to encourage reader responses on his thoughts.

The subject of economics is often misunderstood (even by many professional economists). It sometimes helps to have a kind of “college bull session” on some topics. That is what I hope might start. The world is filled with diverse people and diverse backgrounds. We can learn from each other’s experiences and opinions.

If enough participation occurs on this topic, I will start a Forum whereby this community can pose topics and questions they want discussed. It has always been my intent to make this site a two-way communication, and I hope there is enough interest to consider that now.

Send your comments/questions regarding the commentary below.  Also comment on your interest in a forum and what topics you would like to learn more about.

All readers are welcome to participate. I will also.

The point of this exercise is not to embarrass anyone, nor “show off” your knowledge.  It is to start a respectful dialogue amongst the readers of this blog, assess the general level of economic knowledge of the readership and identify other areas/topics you might like to explore.

I look forward to your input.

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I read the whole thing.  I believe that you misrepresent Keynesian economics.  You misrepresent the results of “the stimulus.”  You misrepresent the rationale for allowing the Bush tax cuts to sunset.
Let’s go through this, step by step.
Although a registered Democrat, I’m basically an economic conservative. In the true sense of the word.  I’ve never had any credit card debt.  I did take out second mortgages on my house, but this was to pay Continue reading »
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Terrifying headline? Certainly so if you work for the Fed, or ever worked for the Fed. Yet, it is what is called for according to law.

Having experienced the harmful results of a paper currency manufactured at will, early US statesmen tried to forbid it from ever happening again. Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution specified that no state shall “make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts,” while the US Coinage Act of 1792, consistent with the Constitution, provided for a US Mint, which stamped silver and gold coins. One dollar was defined by statute as a specific weight of gold. The Act also invoked the death penalty for anyone found to be debasing money.[2]

So, how is it that we have live Fed officials and a central bank? For these answers and most of what else you need to know about the horror known as the Federal Reserve, read George Smith’s essay here .

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Austrian Economics continues to gain in influence despite the ruling elite’s attempts to marginalize it. The latest example was the Wall Street Journal’s recent coverage of Peter Boettke.

The Daily Bell deals with the WSJ article in Mises Shakes the World?

The consensus seems to be that editors at the Journal conspired to leave out the “harder” and more uncompromising Misesian school. Meanwhile feedback conversations with such estimable GMU commentators as David Horowitz reveal that the author of the WSJ article had set out to write a profile of Austrian academics. The confusion is then seemingly the Journal’s fault as nowhere in the lead of the article does the Journal make clear what the article is about. Thus, the entire article becomes confusing. It leaves out Mises with a seeming arbitrariness.

The Daily Bell deals with more than just the Journal piece. Specifically, it discusses why key individuals of the school are rarely addressed and the amazing comeback that Austrian Economics has enjoyed.

Ludwig von Mises was a giant. No proper discussion of the Austrian school can ignore him or his contributions. No proper discussion of economics should ignore him. Mises was Friedrich von Hayek’s mentor. Mises was responsible for Hayek abandoning his youthful Marxist tendencies.

Murray Rothbard was another Austrian of note ignored by the Journal. He was a student of Mises and a most prolific writer on economics and a range of other interests. He was brilliant, a bit eccentric and “hard-core.” He took libertarianism to its extreme — anarchy, a world without government.

While Hayek was brilliant and deserving of his Nobel Prize (so cheapened by others that have received one), his economics was more malleable than that of either Mises or Rothbard. He allowed for a greater role for government than many other Austrians. As such, if non-Austrians have  to deal with this school of economics, Hayek is more amenable as an opponent than trying to refute the more definitive positions of a Mises or a Rothbard.

For those interested in Austrian Economics, the Daily Bell provides a good read, including why Austrianism is such a threat to the Statist establishment:

Lew Rockwell and his colleagues have done what few others in the history of the world have accomplished. They have led a modern thought revolution that has stabbed a vital empire. If Leviathan groans and gropes in response, it is no trivial matter. What began in a room now shakes the world.

Despite the best efforts of the statist-controlled media to ignore facts and theories they don’t like, the Internet has proven an effective alternative for news of all kinds. The Mises Institute has one of the best sites on the Web, filled with original content made available on line for free. It is truly a Statist’s nightmare.

As a final comment, the economics that had to be buried because it could not be refuted was effectively Austrian Economics. Prior to Keynes, there was just classical economics. Most of that was based on Austrian principles. See Keynes as “Useful Idiot” for more information on how Keynesianism displaced good economics.

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Sep 032010

Another email from a reader. This one is instructive because of the micro versus macro aspects.

Remember, it is only individuals that make decisions. If these decisions are not made in a favorable climate, with respect to expectations, incentives, etc., it doesn’t matter what nonsensical monies are wasted in stimulus. Just another example of how macroeconomics misses all the critical details that make economies thrive.

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NII COMMENT: Long term commitments like having a child (100 year low), buying a house (47 year low) or car (27 year low) are influenced by the “recovery” not recovering after 3 years. The below is just another example of the concern for the long term.
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  • AUGUST 27, 2010, 2:04 P.M. ET U.S. Birth Rate Drops Again Associated Press
  • The U.S. birth rate has dropped for the second year in a row, and experts think the wrenching recession led many people to put off having children. The 2009 birth rate also set a record: lowest in a century.
  • “When the economy is bad and people are uncomfortable about their financial future, they tend to postpone having children. We saw that in the Great Depression the 1930s and we’re seeing that in the Great Recession today,” said Andrew Cherlin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University. “It could take a few years to turn this around,” he added, noting that the birth rate stayed low throughout the 1
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    Dr. Seuss on Government

    Dr. Seuss on Government

    Email received. Not likely from the real Dr. Seuss. Author unknown. I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like his health care scam … I do not like these dirty crooks, or how they lie and cook the books. I do not like when Congress steals, I [...]

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    fourthturning0000128070_s4

    The Nation at The Bat

    Cyclic views of history are generally deterministic, simplistic and wrong. The nonsense spouted by Karl Marx is probably the most famous example. History is created by people, not external or mysterious forces. Individual behavior, not some pre-ordained script, creates history. As expressed in Lawrence of Arabia by T. E. Lawrence: [...]

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    A Government-managed Economy

    A Government-managed Economy

    A very well written description by Lew Rockwell of what has happened: Two years ago, the economy was seriously dragged down amidst an amazing banking crisis that spread throughout the world. The illusion created by loose credit — that housing could go up in price forever and we could enjoy [...]

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    quotes

    Today’s Wisdom

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    Keynes as “Useful Idiot”

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    The milk of American politics may be money, but the fuel for American socialism is Keynesian economics. Keynesianism’s inherent bias toward bigger government has made it the indispensable tool for statists around the globe. Politicians’ natural wont to spend and control benefited immensely when John Maynard Keynes published the General [...]

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    Bernanke Bears the Brunt of the Jokes This Week

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    Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is out of options and luck. Of course, he couldn’t say that at Jackson Hole. Instead, he had to pretend that his magic was still strong and would be used, if necessary. By customizing mixtures of various powders (some apparently never used before), he would produce [...]

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    Failed Economics

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    This blog consistently emphasizes the importance of microeconomics over macroeconomics. Indeed, I argue that macroeconomics is not economics but rather a part of either history or statistics or some other field. It is merely the summary of past aggregates. In that sense it is both history and statistics. It summarizes [...]

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    How Will the West End?

    An outstanding article from American Thinker: Hard Endings: Rome, China and the Modern West By Jack Curtis Roman government broke the economy; the people abandoned their myths and outreach became an inward collapse. China went from wealth, developing technology and trade to stagnation and decline at the hands of an ossified [...]

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    Math as Taught over the years

    Math as Taught over the years

    Email received. Original author unknown. 1. Teaching Math In 1950s – A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit ? 2. Teaching Math In 1960s – A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His [...]

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    Some mostly political reading/watching for a Sunday morning: “So, you think President Obama had a tough week? Wait’ll you get a load of what happened to the Congressional Democrats.”  http://pajamasmedia.com/vodkapundit/2010/08/25/handicapping-the-house-5/ From Politico “Bailouts, Bailouts, Bailouts. No investigation poses a more significant political danger to Obama than a no-holds-barred GOP probe [...]

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    A Personal Look at Hyperinflation

    A Personal Look at Hyperinflation

    Recent comments by readers on hyperinflation that were prompted by the previous post, Williams on Hyperinflation, make me believe that the following link might be useful. It discusses inflation from a personal experience perspective and makes an argument for why financial assets will not do well in such a scenario. [...]

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    John Williams of ShadowStats concisely summarizes all you need to know in his reaction to the recently revised GDP data: Economic Data Will Get Much Worse. The kindest thing I can say about a stock market that rallies on the “stronger than expected” news that annualized growth in second-quarter GDP [...]

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    Government Defaults Coming

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    Below is a guest post I wrote for 20smoney.com. It discusses why the government will have to default on many of its promises/obligations. It is simply not mathematically possible to service what has been promised. Investing In A Difficult World Investing and life are both wonderful challenges. Often they are [...]

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    Email received. Author unknown. Let me get this straight. We’re going to be “gifted” with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don’t, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn’t read it but exempts themselves from [...]

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    Here is an interesting piece of information about the US housing market: The high-end market, in particular, is under tremendous pressure. In fact, it is becoming non-existent. Guess how many homes prices above $750k managed to sell in July. Answer — zero, nada, rien; and for the second month in [...]

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