Fall of the Berlin Wall: November 9, 1989

See more on Landmark of Liberty…

E. Wesley – Mackinac Center Intern

NASA FAQ 2012

Kurt Bouwhuis, Mackinac Center Intern

Here is some content from a funny blog post at Marginal Revolution.

NASA has dedicated a portion of there website to answering questions about doomsday 2012.  Here is a sample:

Q: How do NASA scientists feel about claims of pending doomsday?
A: For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and for all the fictional assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, we cannot change that simple fact. There is no credible evidence for any of the assertions made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.

I love the way Alex Tabarrok ends the blog post: “I too fear for our planet”

Hayek on Socialism

Kurt Bouwhuis, Mackinac Center intern

My favorite quote: “Profit is the signal which tells us what we must do in order to serve people whom we do not know.”

On the Origins of Money

Kurt Bouwhuis, Mackinac Center Intern

Carl Menger, the founder of the Austrian School of economics wrote a very important article in 1892 that explained the origins of money for the first time.  Many believed money was a grand scheme planned out and created by the powerful rulers of empires. 

Menger’s article dispelled this myth by explaining that money was not the result of central planning, but rather, a phenomenon created by the interactions of several people over a long period of time.  Money, in short, was created spontaneously.

Pitfalls of Protectionism

Here is a letter I recently sent to the Midland Daily News:

In his recent letter, Bill Burk sings praises to buying local (Unions commit to local, November 4). He argues that buying local saves jobs in the community, and is therefore superior to purchasing goods made outside the community.

Although I agree that buying local saves local jobs, there is nothing special about saving a job that is 1 mile away over saving a job that is 20 miles away, or 1000 miles away. Individuals who live 20 miles away or even 1000 miles away purchase goods from Dow Chemical and Dow Corning that employ people Midland. Would Midland, or the world for that matter, be better off if people outside our community shared the views of Mr. Burk? What would happen to the employees of Dow Chemical and Dow Corning if the world decided to buy local?

Additionally, which of the following actions is more benevolent? Purchasing from an inefficient producer who employs individuals enjoying an American standard of living or purchasing from an efficient producer in a developing country who employs individuals who depend on every penny of their income to sustain their own life?

Kurt Bouwhuis

Constitutional Monarchy: A New Political Order for the 17th Century

Amid the smoke of the Scottish Bishops’ Wars, the Long Parliament was formed on the 3^rd of November, 1641.  This Parliament would plunge England into civil war, and eventually remodel Great Britain into a constitutional monarchy. A modern hypothetical example would be if the US Congress abruptly demanded that all officers in all branches of the military be appointed by Congress, and the President give up his power as Commander in Chief!  Read more on Landmarks of Liberty…

E. Wesley – Mackinac Center Intern

How to sell a dollar for more than a dollar

Kurt Bouwhuis, Mackinac Center Intern

Originally found this video at Marginal Revolution

Health Care

Letter to the Editor by Don Boudreaux

Health Care and the Value of Life
17 June 2009

News Editor, WWL Radio
New Orleans, LA

Dear Sir or Madam:

A listener called in today during the one o’clock hour to assert that “health care isn’t like other services” – and so it can’t be supplied reliably on the market because people are willing to “incur any cost to save their lives.”

First, if this assertion is true, it’s unclear how matters would be improved by socializing the payment of medical expenses. Second, everyday experience shows that this assertion, in fact, is false. If people really are desperate to save their lives at all costs, then everyone would exercise regularly, eat only healthy foods, and completely avoid rock climbing, horseback riding, snow skiing, and tanning booths. No one would smoke, drink to excess, or have unsafe sex. Women would never get pregnant, as there’s still some positive chance of dying while giving birth.

Unless and until people stop behaving in ways that reduce their life-expectancies, it’s mistaken to believe that each of us is committed to living longer at all costs.

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University

QED: Normal People Like Taxes

Kurt Bouwhuis, Mackinac Center Intern

Eric Baerren makes an interesting point in this blog post over at MichiganLiberal.

“Normal people would establish as their chief priority to make sure that schools are good and that people can access health care and that the garbage trucks operate according to a reliable schedule. Again, that’s normal people. Abnormal people first and foremost concern themselves with making sure we don’t raise taxes.” – Eric Baerren

Eric is confusing means with ends. All the services listed in the first sentence of the quote are the ends.  Most people agree that these ends are very important.  The desired means, however, vary from person to person.  The people who think more like Eric believe that government is a useful means for achieving the ends.  Those who oppose such means believe that reducing government will bring about the same ends.

The questions is not whether someone is normal or abnormal, but rather, whether or not the desired means to the end are destructive or productive.

btw – By Eric’s criteria, I am an abnormal person with normal person desires.

An Undeniable Influence

October 31, 1517: Martin Luther nailed ninety-five theses on the doors of the castle church in Wittenberg for discussion and debate. Luther’s hammer did not just merely question church practice; it tolled the beginning of our modern world.  Read more on Landmarks of Liberty…

E. Wesley – Mackinac Center Intern

Did You Know?

Kurt Bouwhuis, Mackinac Center Intern

Here is an interesting video portraying the rapid development of technology and its direct impact on the world around us.

Check it out!

Spoils Exchange

Here is a letter I recently sent to the Midland Daily News:

A recent editorial by the Midland Daily News contained the following statement: “[Midland] is also due for a federal grant, stimulus money, to help offset some of the costs of smaller-scale green efforts. It’s all taxpayer dollars, but not all Midland taxpayer dollars. That’s the kind of government assistance we need.” (“Greenbacks for green energy a good trade,” October 21).

Nonsense.

How would residents of Midland feel if an additional tax were levied on them in order to fund a project in Ann Arbor? Is that the sort of government assistance Ann Arbor needs?

Kurt Bouwhuis

Two Cheers for Capitalism?

Kurt Bouwhuis, Mackinac Center Intern

I attended the Midwest Students for Liberty conference this weekend where I listened to some great lectures.  The last speaker of the conference was Peter Leeson who gave a lecture titled “Two Cheers for Capitalism?”  The following is a couple take aways from his lecture, which is also in a working paper.

1. Unless one prefers poverty, premature death, ignorance, and political oppression to wealth, longevity, knowledge, and freedom, less capitalism deserve no cheers.

2. When people say things like, “It’s still unclear what effect the spread of capitalism throughout the world has had on humanity,” they’re wrong. Similarly, when people say that “markets are important; but we should be restrained in our endorsement of capitalism, as it has harmed as well as helped humanity,” they’re also wrong. Global capitalism’s effect is clear to the point of smacking one in the face: it has made the world unequivocally better off.

Zama, Elephants, and Rome

October 19, 202 BC:  Roman General Scipio hears the noise of his opponent’s army, but most terrifying of all is the trumpet of Hannibal’s elephants.  Would that sound resound the end of Scipio, as it had proclaimed so many other times in the past, or would this day be different?  Scipio didn’t know, but in a way, Rome was founded in a day: this day.  Read more on Landmarks of Liberty…

E. Wesley – Mackinac Center Intern

Case against the Minimum Wage

Here is an article that I found from Dan Smith. It is about all the negative effects of minimum wage laws. It is really interesting to see how the laws hurt wages of young workers, that minimum wage laws generally hurt blacks, and increase job turnover. Those are just a few of the negatives that are listed on the site. Check it out and see why the minimum wage should be abolished.

http://www.house.gov/jec/cost-gov/regs/minimum/50years.htm