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Economics
Production versus Consumption:
March 31, 2006:
Dr. George Reisman describes two
opposing views of economics-- one from the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries and the other from the seventeenth and twentieth. The first
of these views-- productionism-- underscores the importance of
wealth creation to economic prosperity, while the second--
consumptionism-- tries to assert that consuming more wealth magically
creates more still. Productionism is a theory that advocates justly
rewarding economic producers by leaving the market to its own devices,
while consumptionism tries to redistribute wealth from those who
produce to those who do not.
Soda and the Sin Tax:
March 31, 2006:
Dr. Robert P. Murphy notes an
alarming pseudo-scientific movement to "prove" that soft drinks
"cause" obesity and to thereby influence a federal tax on such
beverages. Not only are the "studies" that support this movement
specious, but the very idea of a federal tax on consumer foods is an
immense violation of consumer freedoms.
Murray Rothbard's Ideas of Demonstrated
Preference and Their Use in Defense of a Free Market:
April
2,
2006:
G. Stolyarov II explains Murray
Rothbard's critical contribution to Austrian-school utility and
welfare economics-- the idea of demonstrated preference-- on the basis
of which Rothbard defends praxeology against rival methods of
psychologizing and behaviorism and arrives at a consistent advocacy of
the free market as optimal from an economic perspective.
Politics
Do Bratty Kids Turn into Conservatives or
Liberals?:
March 29, 2006:
Selwyn Duke refutes the blatantly
false and ill-intentioned recent study by Jack Block that "whiny" kids
grow up to become conservatives while "confident and outgoing" ones
become liberals. Rather, argues Mr. Duke, Block is guilty of mis-labeling
the traits of children he observes. There is nothing wrong for
children to cling to adults and figures of authority, while the
"assertive" children Block describes can be better termed bullies and
brats. Mr. Duke presents further evidence that today's "social
sciences" are simply attempts to justify the left-wing political
agenda.
From Here to Insanity:
March 29, 2006:
Selwyn Duke analyzes the beginning of
the media's propagandizing of the homosexual movement in the 1970s and
compares it to the rise of the polygamist movement today. The slippery
slope that will follow any legalization of gay marriage is not only
inevitable; it has already started. If homosexuals are allowed to
undermine the integrity of marriage, then polygamists will attempt to
do further damage soon after.
No Better Time for "Roe v. Wade for Men:"
April 1,
2006:
Scott Kauzlarich analyzes a recent
lawsuit to disallow government coercion of males who did not want a
given child to pay support for that child. Freedom from this coercive
obligation to support will lessen the number of illegitimate births
and diminish the rate at which the government subsidizes promiscuous,
irresponsible sexual behavior.
Quattrone's Successful Appeal a Victory against
Persecution of Capitalists:
April
2,
2006:
Dr. Edward Hudgins reports fortuitous
tidings from an appeals court which threw out the unjustified
"obstruction of justice" conviction of financial entrepreneur and
innovator Frank Quattrone. Quattrone has been subjected to envy,
maligned, and persecuted on fabricated charges. It is finally time to
recognize that he has done nothing wrong and to challenge the
anti-business slant of the U.S. government and court system.
France Labors at Folly:
April
2,
2006:
Dr. Edward Hudgins criticizes
France's intrusive and irrational labor laws-- which prohibit
employers from firing employees at their discretion. The French today
have a serious problem with their moral values: they desire the
unearned-- at others' expense.
Time to Clean House at Goldman Sachs:
April
2,
2006:
Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO Henry
Paulson is guilty of unethical, blatantly destructive conduct--
closely collaborating with radial environmentalist groups to
coercively limit economic development and force millions of people in
the Third World into abject destitution. Paul Driessen explains
Paulson's guilt in this article and supports two free-market groups'
recent resolutions in condemnation of Paulson.
Science
Bionics Beats Brain Disorders:
April
2,
2006:
Recent advances in bionic technology
has made it possible to easily and painlessly treat patients of
epilepsy, writes Michael Fumento. This article is a tribute to medical
science in providing humane remedies for patients of "mental
illnesses"-- people who were once thought demonically possessed or
cruelly imprisoned in mental institutions.
"Free will may be analyzed, but it
is not to be questioned. It is the ultimate given of human nature."
~ G. Stolyarov II
