Piketty Fences
- Category: Socialism
- Hits: 3075
User Rating: 5 / 5
You may have heard the gossip and the waves that the book "Capital in the Twenty First Century" by Thomas Piketty is making. Every socialist "out there" is up in arms. Every bureaucrat is sniffing around. Every politician is salivating.
But what is the fuzz all about?
THE BOOK
Thomas Piketty is a French economist with close ties to socialist French thinkers and politicians. So, it is safe to say…
Moral Hazard For The Masses
- Category: Austrian Economics
- Hits: 2008
User Rating: 0 / 5
General Motors is a large car manufacturer in US. The GM logo is widely recognized world over. The problem is that GM is bankrupt. In 2009 they went to court for bankruptcy protection in what in the US is called a Chapter 11 filing. This is a process that allows a company to pay a portion of its debts, ignore the rest and continue operating. In short, this is legalese…
A Tale Of Two Schools - Part 2 of 2
- Category: Education
- Hits: 2582
User Rating: 0 / 5
THE PUBLIC ON-LINE SCHOOL - CONT'D
Seeking a course
Now let's assume that one of the "possible" courses miraculously matches the child interest and so you decide to proceed to the registration. Well, you can't. It so happens that the on-line course is offered by a different TC from where your child actually lives and you need to wait for their registration periods, not child's TC's registration period. But, in…
A Tale Of Two Schools - Part 1 of 2
- Category: Education
- Hits: 2010
User Rating: 5 / 5
We are Absolute Autro-Libertarians and as such we believe that everything should be private, this includes education. We have so stated innumerable times, including a longer article (see Education The Absolute Austro-Libertarian Way). Many people oppose private-only education on the basis that only rich people would be able to afford it. The problem with this point of view is that economic means are kept depressed by governments. If governments would…
The Greatest Show On Earth
- Category: Economic Conditions
- Hits: 1719
User Rating: 5 / 5
You probably haven't heard about this one. It's one of those things that you have to look for or belong to the "right" circles "that know" in order to find out. It so happens that the Chinese economy is in troubles and this fact has consequences. Take a look at the picture below.
In this picture you can see the wild variations of the %CPI over time. The CPI is…
The Economic Side Of TEOTWAWKI
- Category: Economic Conditions
- Hits: 2024
User Rating: 0 / 5
A few days back we reported how the face of the world is changing and how it is becoming at least bi-polar (see It Truly Is TEOTWAWKI). The new Sino-Russian block is consolidating its economic and military power. But now there has been a new development.
It is no secret that neither the Russians nor the Chinese are fond of the USD or EUR, but until now they were pretty…
Miracle In Switzerland
- Category: Socialism
- Hits: 1657
User Rating: 0 / 5
The all-powerful Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB - about 385000 members) has come up with a brilliant idea: minimum wages. They are proposing (actually, managed to force a referendum) that the minimum Swiss wage should be 22 SFR/hour or about 4000 SFR per month (approximately 4500 USD/month). If this referendum is approved, Switzerland will become the proud owner of the highest minimum wage in the world.
We have showed…
Give Me, Give Me, Give Me
- Category: Bureaucracy
- Hits: 30618
User Rating: 5 / 5
We have been very vocal and honest about our thoughts related to politicians and bureaucrats. In the past (Politicians And Bureaucrats Job Security Through Misery), we have also mentioned how there is a balance of power between those two groups. Although politicians have the upper hand (they are the bosses), bureaucrats are the sleeping monster; once awaken it can topple governments through share union power. Both groups are in it…
The Black Market To The Rescue!
- Category: Free Market
- Hits: 2109
User Rating: 0 / 5
Most people do not have a clue what the true meaning of "black market" is. Almost all people in the world associate black market with criminality. They are right in the sense that in almost all countries in the world, black markets are illegal… albeit not illegitimate. No, it is not a semantics issue; it is an economic issue.
It would seem than in the Sultanate of Oman they are…
