Posts Tagged ‘ capitalism ’

Capitalism or Money in Crisis?

Jan 11th, 2012 | By | Category: Economics, Featured
When the Financial Times started its series on "Capitalism in Crisis," I winced. Here we go yet again, an attempt to blame private enterprise for what are actually the failures of the state and paper money. And some writers -- but not all -- in the series have done exactly ...read more


The Elves of Capitalism

Dec 24th, 2011 | By | Category: Economics, Featured
One reason that the Brothers Grimm fairy tales have such appeal -- more so than the folklore that came before -- is that they deal with a world that is familiar to us, a world that was just being invented in the early 19th century, when these stories were first ...read more


Deleverage the World

Nov 29th, 2011 | By | Category: Economics, Featured
Capitalism is supposed to be a system of profit and loss, but in recent years, central bankers and central planners seem to have forgotten the part about losses. The push and pull every lever on the control board to try to make losses for the big players go away, which ...read more


How We Adore Taco Bell

Nov 24th, 2011 | By | Category: Economics, Featured
We've all visited Taco Bell a thousand times - 2 billion of us at least once every year - but now I've taken the time to examine why it is we love this place so much. Let's just start with the obvious thing: the food. It is, of course, wonderful and ...read more


Peter Schiff Takes on Cornell West and the 99%

Oct 31st, 2011 | By | Category: Economics, Featured
We were stuck in Chicago O'Hare. Our connecting flight to New York had been delayed by several hours. What made it all unbearable, however, was Cornel West. The television monitors are inescapable these days. We're not sure when it happened, but there's hardly a corner of the waiting area to hide ...read more


Steve Jobs and Occupy Wall Street

Oct 19th, 2011 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, Politics
The death two weeks ago of Steve Jobs, co-founder and longtime head of Apple Inc., is a great loss, but it offers a valuable teachable moment. In a way it's not surprising that protesters involved in Occupy Wall Street have been, as far as I can tell, silent about Steve Jobs ...read more


Why Capitalism Is Worth Defending

Jul 29th, 2011 | By | Category: Economics, Featured
As Obama demonizes the wealthy and pitches a dozen plans to restructure the economy, opponents of this program need a reminder of what exactly we're fighting for. We are resisting bureaucracy, central planning, and encroachments on our freedom and communities. Yet this does not get to the heart of the ...read more


How So-Called Sweatshops Help the Poor

May 2nd, 2011 | By | Category: Economics, Featured
One of the oldest myths about capitalism is the notion that factories that offer the poor higher wages to lure them off the streets (and away from lives of begging, stealing, prostitution, or worse) or away from back-breaking farm labor somehow impoverishes and exploits them. They are said to work ...read more


The Continued Relevance of Ayn Rand’s Villains

Apr 22nd, 2011 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, Politics
On Saturday, my parents called to report they had driven an hour into Reno, Nevada, to see Paul Johansson’s adaptation of Atlas Shrugged. Despite the film’s strongly negative reviews, the theater was full. Curiously, this scene was true across the nation this weekend, as the film brought in more than ...read more


The Role of Government

Apr 20th, 2010 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, Politics
We’re going to paint with a broad brush and say most well-meaning government interventions in public and private life are designed to promote equality of outcome, social justice, or reduce the seeming unfairness and volatility of life in market economy. But have you ever wondered if, in the earnest attempt to ...read more