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Wenzel Merely Postpones His Defeat

I have to be brief because we’re going to church in a bit. But I know at least some of you are following the tennis match between Robert Wenzel and me. We are arguing over whether we should call it “saving” if someone contributes extra cash to a piggy jar on the dresser. I say […]

The Testimony of Johnny Cash

I’m not making an appeal to authority (or to hipness), but I do find it interesting that Johnny Cash sang what would be a goofy Christian hymn if performed by an old lady with a pipe organ. But hey, it’s Johnny Cash, so it’s cool. He’s hardcore. (Thanks to Aristos for sending me the JC […]

A Mission for Robert Wenzel

Lately I have been trying to get inside the head of Ben Bernanke: What’s Big Ben up to? If I’m really paranoid, I imagine that he’s rattling that huge upswing in the base, in order to get all the savvy investors loaded up on gold and inflation hedges. And then BAM Ben cuts the monetary […]

Bahama Pundit versus Murphy

This reporter must have attended my talk at the Nassau Institute in The Bahamas. Even though he disagrees with me, I do believe the following is the only actual objection he raises to my analysis (besides citing other economists who recommend different policies): So what should we do about it? Basically nothing, Murphy says, and […]

Health Concern, or Practicing for the Real Thing?

Folks, the government and big business are doing crazy things. Now whether there is a small group of elites orchestrating all this, that’s more debatable. But make no mistake, there are seriously disturbing trends in motion. I just gave a talk in New Braunfels, TX (outside San Antonio), and one of the guys there was […]

JFK, Blown Away / What Else Do I Have to Say?

Can people recommend NNJ (non-nutjob) sites discussing the flaws with the single-shooter theory of the JFK assassination? I just saw that Gerald Posner guy on the History channel. I swear the computer graphics they were using didn’t fit the basic facts of the bullet’s trajectory (even though they were using an animation to “show” you […]

Fun With Temperature Graphs!

I don’t know who generated it first, but Paul Krugman and Brad DeLong (see the top middle of his website) love this chart: Yikes! That’s almost as scary as the monetary base. But on second thought, notice the axis: deviations in basis points from an average. I’ll rely on the same GISS data (though I’m […]

Will Cap & Trade Lead to a Transitional Gains Trap?

Pete Boettke links to this post concerning the “transitional gains trap” and cap & trade. The trap arises when a government restricts some activity, often for the specific purpose of increasing prices or otherwise aiding targeted beneficiaries. The limited rights to engage in these activities become valuable as the constraints bind more severely. Owners of […]