The
Rational Argumentator
Issue CCXC
July 3, 2011
Abstract Orderism Fractal XXXVI
G. Stolyarov II
July 3, 2011
This fractal by Mr. Stolyarov is characterized by bright, floral, intricate patterns in sunset colors.
Culture
Questions for Conservatives About Gay Marriage and Sock Drawers
Edward Hudgins
July 3, 2011
With New York the latest state to allow gay marriage and others likely to follow, this issue will continue to consume public attention. Most conservatives strongly oppose such unions. Dr. Edward Hudgins wants to ask his conservative friends to take a quick logical trip: "Help me—and you—understand your perspective."
Economics
The Upside-Down World of MMT
Robert P. Murphy
July 3, 2011
Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is a hip economic/financial paradigm apparently sweeping a world unsatisfied with mainstream economics. MMT's underground popularity derives from its seeming mathematical rigor, its disagreement with the obviously flawed doctrines of standard neo-Keynesian orthodoxy, and its underlying message of hope that the perceived constraints on government deficit spending are an illusion. The MMT proponents tell us that fiat monetary systems have removed the shackles associated with the gold standard, and that our economic recovery is limited only by our failure to understand how modern money and banking work. In this article, Dr. Robert Murphy tries to fairly summarize a major plank in MMT thought and to show why it is misleading at best, and downright false at worst.
Is Insider Trading Really a Crime?
Robert P. Murphy
July 3, 2011
A major piece of financial news in May 2011 was billionaire Raj Rajaratnam's conviction on 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy. Rajaratnam, founder of the hedge fund Galleon Group, was worth an estimated $1.8 billion in 2009. His conviction has pleased those who want the feds to crack down on "insider trading" and show the fat cats on Wall Street that they aren't above the rules. Although the public generally loves the fall of a ruthless and greedy financial titan — this, of course, is what made Oliver Stone's original Wall Street such a hit — economists have argued for decades that the practice of "insider trading" can actually be beneficial. In practice, the federal government can use the amorphous "crime" to go after any successful trader it wants. Dr. Robert Murphy writres that in a free society, there would be no such thing as laws against so-called insider trading.
Do We Need a Weak Dollar?
Robert P. Murphy
July 3, 2011
Dr. Robert Murphy recently testified before a Congressional subcommittee on the Fed's role in rising gasoline prices. All of the economists on the panel agreed that oil prices were rising (partly) because of the dollar's fall against other currencies. However, Dean Baker — prominent Keynesian pundit and codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research — testified that the dollar's fall was inevitable, and even a good thing in light of the US trade deficit. At the time, Dr. Robert Murphy knew he disagreed with Baker, but he didn't get a chance to explain why. A few days later, while working on the Mises Institute's study guide to The Theory of Money and Credit, he was amazed to discover that Mises had devoted an entire section to this very issue.
A Primer on the Never-Ending Bust
Robert P. Murphy
July 3, 2011
Dr. Robert Murphy has noticed recently that there is some confusion in public discussions about the Austrian take on recessions, even from sympathetic observers. So he endeavors to clarify how most modern Austrians — certainly those of a Rothbardian persuasion — would interpret what has been happening in the last few years.
Up with Vietnamese Catfish
Jeffrey A. Tucker
July 3, 2011
If you are looking for an archetype of disgusting protectionism — benefiting special interests, pillaging consumers, and impoverishing foreigners — the case of the catfish gets Jeffrey Tucker's vote. After communism vanished in Vietnam in the 1990s, entrepreneurs started exporting its catfish. The stuff was so good that it threatened US producers. So in 2003, Congress legislated against the imported fish. It can't be called catfish; it must be called swai and basa. Also, a pricey tariff applies.
The Power to Fax
Jeffrey A. Tucker
July 3, 2011
There is a an entire generation coming of age without a clear sense of what a fax machine is or why one should need one at all. That we now consider the fax to be an annoying anachronism is a testament to the pace of technological development in our time. It took more than 100 years from the first attempts at faxing to the introduction of the domestic fax in the mid-1980s. Twenty years later, we hardly use the thing at all, and we laugh at its old-tech ways. And yet Jeffrey Tucker recalls what a remarkable thing it was circa 1985. It was the great foreshadowing of the digital age.
Politics
Against a Ruthless Libertarian Criticism of Everything Existing
Art Carden
July 3, 2011
Art Carden writes that those whom Steve Horwitz calls “one-drop libertarians” – those for whom a single drop of association with the state is cause for immediate dismissal of anything that is otherwise a manifestation of free-market forces – are missing the point in a couple of ways. Purity tests, such as those insisted upon by the “one-drop libertarians”, can lead us to absurd conclusions.
Down with the Dictator of Yemen
Llewelyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
July 3, 2011
If you truly want to unite a population, here is a key: drive the dictator out of the country. The fleeing of a despot always leads to unparalleled and authentic celebration, because the people perceive a newfound freedom. In the street celebrations, dancing, enthusiasm, and optimism, we gain a glimpse of what freedom is all about. It is about removing the boot from the neck. Lew Rockwell writes that this is precisely what we see in Yemen today, as President Ali Abdullah Saleh was escorted out of the country by henchmen hired by his protector state of Saudi Arabia.
"That Liberalism aims at the protection of property and that it rejects war are two expressions of one and the same principle."
~ Ludwig von Mises