Humpday Humor: A Government Run Computer Industry

What if the computer industry was run like....government schools.

In this video clip Harry Browne estimates the cost of a personal computer in such a scenario.

Labor Policies During The Great Depression

What was the U.S. government doing about labor policies during The Great Depression?  Very early in the recession the U.S. passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930.

In this video clip Thomas Sowell highlights its effects...

*clip from the Hoover Institution

Short, Honest Debate About Income Inequality

A self-proclaimed "progressive" engages in a debate about income inequality.  Cara Santa Maria at least comes off sounding honest.

Here is the 3-minute clip from the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast...

Women in America are Doing Quite Well

Girls and women in America are doing quite well according to research published by Diana Furchtgott-Roth.  

She explains her conclusion in this video from C-SPAN.  


*Ms. Furchtgott-Roth is the author of Women's Figures: An Illustrated Guide to the Economic Progress of Women In America

The Mirage of Political Power

Is political power necessary in order to achieve economic prosperity?

Walter Williams explains why he is skeptical of the conventional wisdom...

In Walter's book, The State Against Blacks, he expands on the idea that well-intentioned policies often have consequences the legislators don't foresee.

Keep this in mind regarding political power.  Your efforts to control the machinery of the state may prove to be a mirage.


*video clip from Reason TV

Dependence as a Key to Holding People Back

A person's historical level of self-sufficiency is often predictive of future well-being.  The inverse of self-sufficient is dependency, which Thomas Sowell argues is a key to holding people back economically...

The Unprecedented "Equality of Consumption"

Bryan Callen talks to Joe Rogan about the unprecedented equality of consumption among people in wealthy, fairly-free countries.

Find out more about Bryan here.

Watch the full episode of the Joe Rogan Experience here.

Humpday Humor: Lewis Black on Economics

Comedian Lewis Black needs just 29 seconds to explain Keynesian economics...

Common Sense Economics

Ha-Joon Chang has written The Little Blue Book, Five Things They Don't Tell You About Economics.  

Included is this great quote from Chang:

     The financial crisis has been a brutal reminder that we cannot leave our economy to professional economists and other ‘technocrats’.  We should all get involved in its management – as active economic citizens.

Read more great insight about economics at The Little Blue Book.

   

Why is Champagne Expensive?

Robert Murphy explains Carl Menger's contribution to market price theory in this video.

For more check out Robert's great Free Advice blog.

Why Rent? Because You Can Move.

Melchior Palyi was an economist who fled National Socialist Germany in 1933.  Five years later he issued stern warnings to economic policy makers:

Palyi warned in 1938 that a push toward universal home ownership would "make the population fixed to the ground" by "overburdening them with housing costs." 

Renting offers mobility.  This allows you to take advantage of economic opportunities and personal relationships that become available in other regions.  For these and other reasons, home ownership is not always profitable.        

Full article about Palyi by Jason Zweig at The Wall Street Journal published in late 2010.

Want More Jobs? Repeal Minimum Wage Statutes

The Swiss Alps Photograph by James P. Blair/National Geographic Society

Earlier this week 76% of Swiss voters opposed a nationwide minimum wage.  The proposal from union employees called for a 22 franc (nearly $25 US) mandatory hourly wage.

The vote displays the people's overwhelming support for unskilled and unemployed workers.  The primary reason that Switzerland has just a 3% unemployment rate is because employers are not limited to only employing workers who produce above an arbitrary line of value.

Thanks to the voters Swiss people are still free to negotiate employment contracts privately without interference from the state.  Employers are free to higher anyone they choose regardless of skill level.    

Economy minister Johann Schneider-Ammann summarized the election outcome by saying:

"If the initiative had been accepted, it would have led to workplace losses, especially in rural areas where less qualified people have a harder time finding jobs," he said. "The best remedy against poverty is work."

Story from the AP