New Quote

Posted on January 10, 2009 by John

I just added two new quotes to my list of quotes (http://www.externalreflection.com/quotes/):

“It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.” — Murray N. Rothbard

“The probability of the people in power being individuals who would dislike the possession and exercise of power is on a level with the probability that an extremely tender-hearted person would get the job of whipping master in a slave plantation.” — Frank H. Knight (1938), quoted in F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1944), p. 152.

Myths of the Great Depression

Posted on January 10, 2009 by John

I came across a great introduction to the ‘alternative’ view of the Great Depression, that is was not the lack of the markets ability to operate efficiently, but rather a large amount of government intervention which skewed the market.

I put the word alternative in quotes because its not too distant from a large portion of analysis of the Great Depression but is dissimilar to the common explanation given to non-economists.

Its interesting to think about these things in the context of what is currently occurring.

Check it out: http://fee.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/greatmythsdepression2008feemcppfinalweb.pdf

The Money Hole

Posted on December 7, 2008 by John

Michael Hagan gave me the heads up on this, and I thought it was worth posting. Great humor.

Renewable Portfolio Standards

Posted on July 29, 2007 by John

The U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on the Renewable Portfolio Standard next week. What’s that you may ask, well its a standard set by the Federal Government that requires a certain amount of energy be derived from renewable sources. Sounds good to me. But wait how is this paid for, oh yeah that’s right, its a subsidy to renewable technologies, paid for by taxes.

Now don’t get me wrong I fully support renewable energy, but why should I pay for someone else’s moral preference. If someone wants to pay more for their electricity, since renewables cost more, then I fully support that choice. Or better yet, they can pay for energy saving technologies or simply turn off their lights and electronics. We all make certain choices in our life that reflect our moral preferences. The issue I take up with, is someone enforcing their morals on me, by requiring that I pay for renewable energy by federally supported subsidies, which get paid for by the taxes taken from me.

If someone wants to support renewable technologies, then send a few bucks to a company developing those technologies. Or ,in some states you have the ability to select on your bill that your energy comes from renewables, so do that and pay the premium associated with such a choice. Do this instead of calling your representative to request that they pass the a national Renewable Portfolio Standard. Let others create their own morals and make their own decisions. And if you don’t like the decisions that make then convince them of why a different decision is better, don’t force them to do so through subsidies paid with taxes.

Technorati Tags: U.S. House of Representatives, Renewable Portfolio Standard, Federal Government, energy saving technologies, subsidies

Libby, Bush, and War in Iraq

Posted on July 12, 2007 by John

As most of you are aware President Bush commuted ‘Scooter’ Libby’s prison sentence of 2.5 years. The media has focused on not only this order by the President but over the past few months on the entire CIA Leak and grand jury investigation in which Scooter Libby has been involved. Libby was convicted of obstructing justice in a federal probe of the leak of former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson‘s identity.

This all started when Valerie Plame Wilson’s husband published an Op-Ed in the New York Times, ‘What I Didn’t Find in Africa.’ Mr. Wilson makes the claim that after visiting Africa some of the intelligence used to support the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Michael Novak then wrote a response to Mr. Wilson’s Op-Ed, ‘Mission to Niger,’ where he rebutted Wilson’s findings and exposed the identity of his wife. So all this resulted in grand jury investigations, in which Libby was found guilty of obstructing justice by lying to the grand jury about how he acquired and subsequently released information concerning the employment of Valerie Plame Wilson.

So why would President Bush commute Libby’s sentence. To help out a friend, to pay back a favor. That’s not my conclusion, I don’t believe elected officials would blatantly put themselves in such a situation unless it was in their complete self-interest. So what self-interested motivation would President Bush have to commute Libby’s sentence. One possibility is the executive branch now is asked questions about Bush’s Libby Order, as opposed to questions about the justification of the War in Iraq. This is the simple application of a Red Herring, taking the focus away from an important question to one that is less important. Do we as citizens really care more about Bush’s Libby Order which affects one mans life for 2.5 years or the justification of a the War in Iraq that we all have to pay for and has killed over 3,600 and wounded over 26,000 members of our military.(Iraq Casualties) Which one should we care about?

Technorati Tags: CIA Leak, Scooter Libby, Valerie Plame Wilson, What I Didn’t Find in Africa, Mission to Niger, President Bush, Red Herring, War in Iraq, Iraq Casualties

Economic Lesson of the Day

Posted on July 2, 2007 by John

The economics lesson of the day comes from The Onion‘s American Voices (Link)

Sales and rentals of adult DVDs are down 30 percent due to the rise in homemade Internet porn. What do you think?

“That’s the problem with the porn biz. No matter how low your price is for having an entire billiard-ball set shoved up your ass, there’s always some punk waiting in the wings willing to do it for free.”

This brings up the concept of Marginal Utility. That is the additional added utility of a good or services, or the additional disutility of time spent doing something (e.g. working). Utility being a generic term for happiness. So here one person has a negative marginal utility of shoving billard-balls up their assand thus must get compensated for doing so. This compensation will be slightly greater than the disutility of shoving billard-balls up his ass resulting in a positive addition to his utility. Where as another is willing to do it for free, and even presumably pay someone to do it, because they have a positive marginal utility of this action adding to their total utility.

Technorati Tags: The Onion, billiard-ball set, Marginal Utility, disutility, compensation

Animated Introduction to the Philosophy of Liberty

Posted on May 29, 2007 by John

Link to Animated Introduction to the Philosophy of Liberty

The above link is a pretty neat little overview of the Philosophy of Liberty. So those who have ever had an interest in what my political views are, watch this clip.

Why I read The Onion

Posted on May 15, 2007 by John

One of my favorite quick reading sites is The Onion. Today I was checking out the quotes from the American Voices section of their website. The topic of interest was the fact the the U.S. Postal Service increased the price of a stamp to 41 cents. They have a quote from a man who states, “Damn it, what did they do with the 68 cents I gave them for postage last year?” Now that’s pretty funny. I remember coming across a large number that represented how much money the U.S. Postal Service losses each year, versus the large sum that private carriers like DSL, FedEx, and UPs make each year. I’ll try to write up something on this later, but for now enjoy The Onion.

Technorati Tags: The Onion, U.S. Postal Service