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Book review: Mises, The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science

Remember the issue of The Economist with a textbook of “Modern Economic Theory” melting away? And HM the Queen asking why economists didn’t see this crisis coming? She might now ask why most economists have also demonstrated their inability to predict even the general pattern of events. Ludwig von Mises’ 1962 essay, The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science: An Essay on Method is never going to top the best seller lists but it does indicate why so many highly-trained professionals [...]

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Why do we exchange things? Because it makes us happier.

Via LearnLiberty, Why Do We Exchange Things? The answer is simple. In voluntary exchange, both parties benefit. We exchange things because it makes us happier. Gifts are often wonderful but the giver’s reward is the warm glow of altruism. Only the recipient is better off and only if they received something they wanted. In voluntary exchange, both people swap something they want less for something they want more: they are both better off.

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Book review: The Invisible Hook – The Hidden Economics of Pirates

Peter Leeson’s study of “The Hidden Economics of Pirates”, The Invisible Hook, is theoretically correct, thoroughly grounded in historical research and fun to read. From the jacket: Pack your cutlass and blunderbuss–it’s time to go a-pirating! The Invisible Hook takes readers inside the wily world of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century pirates. With swashbuckling irreverence and devilish wit, Peter Leeson uncovers the hidden economics behind pirates’ notorious, entertaining, and sometimes downright shocking behavior. Why did pirates fly flags of Skull & [...]

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The pressure on school places and incentives to solve the problem

For the Telegraph, Fraser Nelson asks, Will Michael Gove’s schools revolution be just another false start? He sets out a crucial problem in education: David Cameron’s problem is not that Michael Gove might be run over by a bus. His problem is, this weekend, that quite a few mothers wouldn’t mind if he were. By the time tomorrow’s post is opened another 50,000 female voters will have good reason to curse the Education Secretary. The last of the primary school admissions letters will [...]

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Book review: Ouch! Ignorance is bliss, except when it hurts…

Once I saw George Selgin referenced on page 7, the paper dollar criticised on page 8 and a Zim$100 trillion note on page 12, I knew I would enjoy Ouch!: Ignorance is Bliss, Except when It Hurts- What You Don’t Know About Money and Why It Matters (More Than You Think). It’s a wonderful read. From the jacket: We live in a world dominated by a system that most of us aren’t aware of, never mind understand. When it comes [...]

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Does Government Create Jobs?

Another superb video from LearnLiberty, Does Government Create Jobs: Related reading: Kirzner, How Markets Work

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The moon landings and the trajectory of public spending

Ahead of the budget, the TaxPayers’ Alliance reports, More Britons believe the moon landings were faked than think that taxes are too low. Headlines include: People underestimate the real rate of tax on their income. Fewer than one in seven people realise the Government plans to increase the debt, not reduce it. Most do not understand the impact of Employers’ National Insurance. Most people have no idea how much money the Government is spending on their behalf. And, earning the [...]

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Presentation to Windsor Conservatives

After this morning’s advice bureau, I had the pleasure of visiting Windsor Conservative Association Women’s Group, where I explained what I think are the long term causes of this crisis and what we should do about it. Here are the slides: I was delighted students from a local school joined us and were able to take away copies of Dr Nigel Ashford’s Principles for a Free Society, commissioned by the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation. As we were mostly discussing the problems of state-direction in [...]

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Ayn Rand vs the Whips?

Ayn Rand’s Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal is a collection of fascinating essays, including Alan Greenspan’s famous defence of free banking, Gold and Economic Freedom, which I believe he has never repudiated. Today, I found in it a section of Rand’s critique of the student rebellions of the 1960s which put me in mind of the Whips’ office: If there is any one way to confess one’s own mediocrity, it is the willingness to place one’s work in the absolute power of [...]

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Of course shareholders should control executive pay

Via the BBC: Swiss voters have overwhelmingly backed proposals to impose some of the world’s strictest controls on executive pay, final referendum results show. The measure has two important strands: shareholders will have a veto on executive remuneration and golden hellos and goodbyes will be banned. The former is a sensible, pro-market reform, the latter is not. Both are a response to what has gone wrong with capitalism. It is entirely right that the owners of firms should control the [...]

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