Five things to help the planet

Environmental protesters make news when they block traffic and stop working people from being able to use public transport to get to work. When they do this in the UK, they are targeting the wrong country. In fact the UK is among those reducing their CO2 emissions fastest. Its carbon emissions are down 38 percent since 1990, and are still falling steadily. The UK's share of global emissions from fuel combustion is only 1 percent. Its decision...

Bonus Quotation of the Day…

… is from this 1991 interview of my late, great teacher Leland Yeager, who died one year ago today: I don’t see anything peculiar about economists being interested in ethics. The two fields overlap. Both are concerned with how people can function together in society without central direction. Somehow, they pursue their own interests and serve those of others at the same time. Comments

F. A. Hayek: Economics, Political Economy and Social Philosophy — the podcasts

My book on Hayek was published last September.  Since that time I have presented the book at several colleges and universities, and did multiple podcasts. I am going to provide links to those here so readers can track them down easily.  I still would love to do one with Russ Roberts at EconTalk, as I think we could have a great conversation on Hayek.  That is a hint for those who know Russ to write to him :) My new book (with Paul Aligica and...

No Joy In Never-Trumpville: The Mighty Mueller Has Struck Out, Part 3

Russia’s 2019 Gold Rush Continues: Buys 600,000 Ounces of Gold In March

– Russia buys 18.7 tonnes of gold bullion in March 2019 – Russia’s official gold holdings are now 2,150.5 tonnes which as a percent of foreign exchange reserves in gold is 19.1% (see table) – Russia liquidated 85% of its US Treasury holdings in just two months in April and May 2018 – Russia dumped over $90 billion of Treasuries in April and May as holdings collapsed from near $100 billion to just $9 billion – Russia sees gold’s role as...

New York City Is so Popular No One Goes There Anymore

New York City has been a housing market paradox over the last two years: with declining population and falling rent, the city is clearly facing a decline in demand. But with rent levels still extremely high and construction in the city and suburbs throttled by regulation, the city seems poised to grow if ever those regulations were lifted. The decline in demand for New York living seems to be real. The Census Bureau’s annual county population...

This Is Silver on Sale; Take Advantage of the Opportunity

The silver-gold ratio currently stands at about 85-to-1. As one commentator put it, that’s “way out of whack.”But what does this really mean?In simplest terms, this is silver on sale! SchiffGold has the perfect way to take advantage of this buying opportunity. For a limited time, you can buy beautiful American Silver Eagle coins at the lowest prices in the US.CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATIONThe silver-gold ratio is the number of ounces of...

Thoughts on Christianity

I am sure I’ve said something like this on the blog before, but here’s what I posted on Facebook today…

Ep. 1390 Jefferson and Slavery: Non-Cartoon Version

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Cut the Price and They Will Come: New House Prices Drop to December 2014 Level

So Sales Finally Tick Up. Home builders, the ultimate pros in the housing market, have figured out something after the malaise in the second half last year: Cut prices and buyers will come. The median selling price of new houses dropped 9.7% in March from March last year to $302,700, the Commerce Department reported this morning. This took the price back to about where it had first been in December 2014 ($301,500): Homebuilders are motivated...

Honeymoon’s Over: Elon Musk Lashes Out At Electrek, Feuds With Editor On Twitter

When the cultists start to turn on one another, the honeymoon may officially be over. Such is the case with Elon Musk who, straight off of his disappointing, overly ambitious autonomous driving investor day that was criticized by almost all major media outlets, is now going after the pro Tesla-lot over at electrek. Electrek has been a blog that we have casually ribbed over the years for being an extension of Tesla's public relations...

Necessity is the Mother of Invention – Retirees Desperate Reach for Yield

Ben Bernanke’s creativity inspired a generation of economists and central bankers. QE, ZIRP and NIRP established a new class of economics that is mathematically sound but practically disastrous. Billions of dollars were transferred from savers to investors to boost the economy, but the wizards of quant forgot that something has to give. In this case, it was the formation of a pension crisis that threatens the golden years of millions of...

Open Borders and Self-Determination

One of the main philosophical arguments against free immigration that Bas van der Vossen and Jason Brennan seek to rebut in their excellent In Defense of Openness is an argument offered by Christopher Wellman. (pp.48-52) Here I want to offer a simple and friendly substitute for their complex rebuttal of Wellman.  My substitute moves much more quickly to the core of the matter and avoids the surprisingly statist tone and terminology of the...

Supreme Court Will Decide Whether 1964 Law Bans LGBT Workplace Bias

For 40 years Congress has declined to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act , which in recent versions would prohibit private employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (I’ve discussed its merits before, noting that “as libertarians recognize, every expansion of laws against private discrimination shrinks the freedom of association of the governed.”) Now, as predicted, the Supreme Court has agreed to...

The Two Faces of Inflation, Report 22 Apr

We have a postscript to last week’s article. We said that rising prices today are not due to the dollar going down. It’s not that the dollar buys less. It’s that producers are forced to include more and more ingredients, which are not only useless to the consumer. But even invisible to the consumer. For example, dairy producers must provide ADA-compliant bathrooms to their employees. The producer may give you less milk for your dollar, but now...

The Orchestration of Russiaphobia

The Russian Embassy in Washington has prepared an accurate 121-page report, THE RUSSIAGATE HYSTERIA: A CASE OF SEVERE RUSSOPHOBIA. Everyone should read this report. It documents the fake news, lies, violations of diplomatic standards and international law, and gratuitous aggressive actions taken against Russia during the period beginning May 18, 2016 and continuing through the issuance of the Mueller Report. Without explicitly saying so, the...

No Joy In Never-Trumpville: The Mighty Mueller Has Struck Out, Part 3

The Two Faces of Inflation, Report 22 Apr

We have a postscript to last week’s article. We said that rising prices today are not due to the dollar going down. It’s not that the dollar buys less. It’s that producers are forced to include more and more ingredients, which are not only useless to the consumer. But even invisible to the consumer. For example, dairy producers must provide ADA-compliant bathrooms to their employees. The producer may give you less milk for your dollar, but now...

The Orchestration of Russiaphobia

The Russian Embassy in Washington has prepared an accurate 121-page report, THE RUSSIAGATE HYSTERIA: A CASE OF SEVERE RUSSOPHOBIA. Everyone should read this report. It documents the fake news, lies, violations of diplomatic standards and international law, and gratuitous aggressive actions taken against Russia during the period beginning May 18, 2016 and continuing through the issuance of the Mueller Report. Without explicitly saying so, the...