For a long time, it looked as if China might prove Milton Friedman wrong. They have been scuttling along under one-party rule while stoking markets in various urban regions. But a taste of capitalism has given the Chinese a hunger for political freedom. The idea of individual property rights is sinking into the public consciousness now. It's no longer up to the whims of party bosses whether you can keep your property. It's up to the property owners, where private ownership is the de facto position of people fighting back against a state that has made ownership arbitrary at best.
For a little background, Milton Friedman is talking to a special interest group -- the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), which is still around today. Friedman warns generally about the threat of government growth and the loss of freedom. He says we cannot continue to exist in this half-state -- that is, "half-slave, half-free." But around 3:40, something interesting happens. Friedman courageously shows how the manufacturers are themselves becoming more and more beholden to government. The "masters" are no longer customers, Friedman says, Washington bureaucrats are.
Interesting that Prof. Coyne has picked up on the "Makers and Takers" trope. It's a good one, so we should probably keep using it. When we make the distinction between the productive class and the parasitic class, we can go a long way towards reconciliation and positive social change. Because currently, you see, people are very confused about the make up of the "one percent."
In this great video, Michelle Fields asks the "tax me more coalition" to contribute voluntarily to the Department of Treasury. Notice the reaction. It's a perfect example of do as I say, not as I do. Or worse: I won't do it if they don't have to, which is something one is likely to hear in a primary school.
There are two major stories of the Great Recession: one is of capitalist excess carried out in an environment with too little regulation. This supposedly created a need to regulate and intervene in the economy, so we got stimulus spending and financial "reform." Indeed, this master narrative has been offered by behemoth and its supplicants on the left to justify more state intervention. The other narrative is that the Great Recession was caused by multiple factors -- all of which originated with government. It's time more people knew this latter story, because it has the benefit of being true.
For those of you still at your desks before the holidays, I came across this great little talk from Walter Williams, which you're bound to enjoy as you undertake your shopping. You'll no doubt be handing out certificates of performance if you haven't already. (And if you read Hebrew, welcome!)
It was a coincidence that we selected a clip from Free To Choose on protectionism and economist Don Boudreaux offered this letter to the New York Times in the same week:
Alan Tonelson complains that the Chinese demand from us Americans too few of our exports in exchange for the imports that we receive from China (Letters, Dec. 21).
To remedy this situation, a simple two-step solution is available. First, Uncle Sam should mandate that American producers double the amount of goods they ship to China. Second, because the Chinese won't accept such a large volume of American outputs, Uncle Sam should mandate also that captains of freighters en route from the U.S. to China dump half of their cargoes overboard in the middle of the Pacific.
WARNING: The following video breaks the editor's five minute rule. But you know, Dear Reader, sometimes I can't resist. if you're skeptical about centralized government power -- and especially if you're a European -- you'll see that Michael O'Leary speaks for many of us. It's 17 mins of a value creator speaking truth to power.
Remember the founders of Google? They are not U.S. natives. In fact, a lot of great companies have been built by immigrants fortunate enough to get H-1B visas.
What about the eager innovators that can't get a visa? Is the U.S. missing the next Sergey Brin (Google) or Pierre Omidyar (eBay) due to immigration restrictions? Leave it to clever entrepreneurs to find a workaround.
This video has been replaced by a link ... Our apologies for the technical difficulty.
This following may seem a little wonky, but bear with me. It's just fancy talk for baking pies.
The famous italian economist Vilfredo Pareto gave us an instructive benchmark for determining whether or not an economy is efficient or "optimal" (we'll return to the question of justice in a moment). Pareto said that economic arrangements are optimal if "no-one could be made better off without making someone else worse off."
