"No Posts"

...for a few days. I'm working on a side website project, a local libertarian event and a larger article. To top it off, classes start tomorrow. Seven of them.

Lots of math, Spanish, Econ and Plato. Yummy.

Read Mises in the meantime.

"Stupidity Amuck"

Found out about this a few weeks ago.

Enjoy this trailer, which blames capitalism for Wall Street socialism.

"Things are getting crazy when people call capitalism anything that benefits people involved in finance and stocks, by whatever means they benefit. So the bailouts become capitalism. We can't even seem to get agreement on basic terminology."



The Michael Moore film is going to be full of fallacies on capitalism. I'm confident however that people are smarter than to be influenced over a single movie. i already saw the trailer. its going to criminalize the people who received the bailouts, rather than the ones who actually gave away the American people's money, and the American people aren't stupid enough to not know the fascists in gov't & banks are the cronies.

I also hope you realize Michael Moore is a big capitalist. he's a millionaire from the money his films make, so he's the biggest hypocrite. not to mention the fact, that I'd love to see his fact if the Federal Government walked in and socialized his movies and all of Hollywood's profits.

If Michael Moore was a legitimately moral individual and consistent in his principles, he'd donate all the profits he earns from his movies to the homeless people that were made bankrupt by the "evil and greed" of "Wall Street." oh Jesus.

"Mathematical Economics"

Murray N. Rothbard's note on mathematical economics is the best I've ever read on the differences between Austrian and mainstream methodology.

I refer everyone to read it.

"An Early Start"

Done.

"SFL - ILAFL NYC Regional Conference 2009"

October 10th, 2009 at Alfred Lerner Hall

Columbia University, 115th & Broadway

On Saturday, October 10, 2010 the Columbia University Libertarians will host the 2nd ever ILAFL Conference.
REQUIRED REGISTRATION HERE:

Following up on last year’s inaugural conference in which representatives from the Ivy League schools came together to write a founding Constitution and prepare coordinated campus events, this year’s conference will include students from all groups interested in the ideas of liberty.

Featuring speakers from the national liberty movement, including Students For Liberty, the conference will serve as a forum for learning from experts in fields ranging from economics to history, meeting libertarian leaders, discussing current issues, and sharing advice on best practices for advancing the cause of liberty on campus.

Along with a fantastic speaker line up, the ILAFL Conference will also feature three free meals and an evening social event at a local bar/restaurant for everyone registered.

- Conference Speakers -

*Fred L. Smith, Jr. – Fred L. Smith, Jr. is President and Founder of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market public policy group established in 1984. Mr. Smith combines intellectual and strategic analysis of complex policy issues ranging from the environment to corporate governance with an informative and entertaining presentation style. Well-known in academic and professional circles, Mr. Smith is a popular speaker at universities and conferences around the world.



*Damon W. Root – Associate Editor at Reason magazine and Reason.com, Damon Root regularly writes on legal affairs and constitutional history. A graduate of Columbia University, his writing has appeared in the New York Post, The Washington Times,New York Press, The Las Vegas Review-Journal, The Tallahassee Democrat, and other publications.

*Professor Mario Rizzo - Mario Rizzo received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He is an associate professor of Economics at New York University. His areas of interest include Austrian Economics, Law and Economics, Microeconomics, Ethics and Economics, and the Philosophy of Science. He has authored Economics of Time and Ignorance: 1996 Intro Survey and Time, Uncertainty and Disequilibrium: Exploration of Austrian Themes. He has contributed to Real Time and Relative Indeterminacy in Economic Theory and been published in many news outlets, including Forbes Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. He is also a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, IHS and the Foundation for Economic Education.

*Christopher Maloney - Vice President of Municipal Fixed Income Management at Neuberger Berman and contributor at Mises Daily.

Professor Salerno and Peter Schiff are unconfirmed speakers as well.

It's going to be great because I'm helping organize. Open to all students. Free booze at Campo after 9 o' clock if you've attended the conference. Come drink with us until our views start making sense.

"Public Fishing Spots"

So I went fishing today with a few close buddies of mine.

We did our business on a State-owned pier that sat right smack in the middle of public waters that separated the landfills of Staten Island from lovely Bayridge, Brooklyn. The pier was a Veteran's Memorial and was adjacent to a botanical garden and the Belt Parkway. There was also a giant pole-like structure within a Jewish star of David that was erected in honor of September 11th, 2001. I should also mention the view. I could see the rather miniscule Statue of Liberty, an armada of oil tankers, cargo ships, yachts, sailboats and speed boats, the publically-owned Verrazano Bridge, Goldman Sachs in Jersey City, the tippy-tops of the Empire State Building, parts of the Brooklyn Bridge and all of the Battery & the Lower East Side (Wall Street). Suffice to say, the view was panoramic and breath-taking.

"Goldman Sachs is gigantic relative to Liberty. Literally."

Fishing was fun. It was. However, being it was somewhat inefficient and I noticed a couple of things:

*My friend Syed, kept catching nice flukes. He had to throw them back because they were "out-of-season", and so cops were patrolling the area with a natural tendency to ticket and fine. Why would you throw back into the water, fish, potential food that was edible, caught with merit and skill? I understood that there are issues about scarcity, and that this is the only to ensure that none of these fish are hunted into extinction, but that lead to the the next point.

*Okay, there's the animal rights argument, the fish have a right to not be overhunted and what not. That's pure crass. Fish are products, and nothing more. If we have people fishing, its implied that this is meant to be a marine holocaust for fish, and tasty meals for all of us. (I have a decisive article coming out next week on this matter where I treat the ethical framework for animal rights.)

*Why are these fish even allowed to be hunted then? The truth is, the dilemma is that its a public resource, and everyone and no one own the fish. No one has homesteaded the fish, therefore no one actually rations these goods efficiently or applies any serious economic calculation to the "resources" at hands. None of these people or the government technically own the water in the riverbed either, so no one can be excluded from consuming the resources, and no one can homestead the pier and start up a business either, because its owned by the "State". There is no way to limit the consumption of fishers. I also noted that it was not equitable, because you had four or five fisherman monopolizing the premier spots of the pier for most of the day, catching yellow-spotted bass and foot long trout and even small sharks, and everyone is limited to the lesser spots. These fisherman "homesteaded" this public property, which is ironic, because no one, except a public official can push them off it. (Although this brings up a more puzzling twist. Our taxes are funneled into a system that is the local state that provides such facilities like these piers. Don't we then by logical derivative, have some right to ownership?)

*There is no economic reasoning here: no law and supply and demand to constrain the amount of resources that are consumed and stockpiled, more importantly, there is no price mechanism. If there was price on how shallow the water was, where the rarer fish are, or where they are more abundant, you will preserve fish, because you will weed out and limit demand. Its simple, as the opportunity cost rises to catch fish, the more you will restrict demand, and increase supply. More so, because everything is publically held, there are resources being foregone, facilities aren't being maintained, and its for this fundamental reason, that you have enacted so many "out-of-season" policies. It isn't because of the greedy, animalistic impulses of fishers. It's because you don't have an owner that can effectively allocate resources efficiently. This is exactly what happens in public lakes, and other public parks, public lands, etc. You have animals going extinct because of overhunting, plants dying out, and the property is abused and neglected by campers and hitch-hikers since no one is there to take care of it.

*Why is this? Well it's because the government owns the pier, the fish and well, no one owns the water. Since none of these conditions provide the premsies for private ownership, that means noone actually owns anything. It's a free for all, and hence we have a tragedy of the commons!

The answer: Private property.

Sell off these ridiculous public facilities if you want an authentic injection of stimulus into the private economy, and put them to their most efficient use. Think of the innumerable jobs and profits that are being foregone by having so many actual idle resources be used so inefficiently? This could very easily be made into a very well run business operation. I noticed that there were no food stands or advertisements all afternoon, and it was steaming hot. I know that the opportunity cost of leaving my fishing rod is me foregoing a potential fish for later to buy an ice cold bottle of Poland Spring were not as high were a vendor on the pier selling slightly higher prices than the local bodega five blocks away. Were this pier privately owned, you know that this would be just one way to finance a business. I thought up a number of ways that profit could be made, and I'm not even an entrepreneur.

Prices are the road to prosperity.

"On the Sandman"

Quote of the Night:

"Everytime that Mariano Rivera collects a save for the New York Yankees, Metallica's "Enter Sandman" sales rise on Zune Market Places and Apple iTunes."

"Count Faber"

Marc Faber is a brilliant financial guru, a shrewd investor and a fantastic economist. He is well-spoken, and he is also immensely direct in his economic consultations. I've been a big fan of Marc Faber ever since my father introduced me to the Gloom and Doom Report a few years back. His steadfast conviction to sound economics, and the wise long-term investments he advises his readers of his daily reports and other clients, is only matched by a select few in the pro-freedom, off-Wall Street community.



I think he's part Vampire. I'm unsure as to whether newsanchors are more terrified from his eery accent or his dreadfully precise economic forecasting.

;-]

"Mises University 2009"

I want to thank Jeffrey Tucker and the rest of good folks at the Mises Institute for publishing my first article.

Here is an excerpt:

"What is Mises University? It's the premier, educational week-long event at the Ludwig von Mises Institute that provides a systematic introduction to Austrian economics, libertarianism, and classically liberal political theory as a complete integral unit — not to mention forty other intermediate and advanced elective courses to choose from.

I am an alumnus of Mises University, class of 2009, and because of that, I'd like to provide an eager, first-hand, consumer review of Mises University. Toward this end, I'll explain why I feel those young Austrian students who have not yet applied should do so for next year — and as soon as possible!

No one has yet written a review of Mises University written for Mises Daily. A few days into the conference, I decided that I would be the first one to do so. Indeed, I felt an obligation to write, since I knew that there had to be a way to get the word out to the many potential students who might not think to apply otherwise...

...In coming to Auburn, I had assumed that Mises University was really the same as any other conference, perhaps with a greater emphasis on education. However, I was wrong about that, as were many of my colleagues who had arrived with similar assumptions. Holding true to its name, Mises University is like a mini-university. All of the lectures are given in classrooms, libraries, or halls. You have professors walking around everywhere, graduate students working on summer fellowships projects, and all of the resources of the Mises Institute campus at your fingertips.

Students who apply to Mises University are awarded a scholarship that covers dorms, food, and the entry fee. The accommodations and hospitality are wonderful: Awardees of the scholarship stay at Auburn University's Cambridge dormitory, shared with a roommate. Complimentary breakfast is available most days. Every evening after classes, there is dinner followed by either a "Mises Circle" talk or a guest speaker who delivers a speech. (Oh, and when they cater food, it is absolutely delicious — every time.) Following that, there is a social hour on the beautiful backyard patio, where drinks are made available and the conversation carries late into the night.

The social hours are an integral part of Mises University. Unlike other colleges, the professors don't rush off campus once class is over. They want to get to know you. The faculty members are all approachable, smart, and very in-tune with the needs and curiosity of the students.

One quickly grows accustomed to the generosity of the institute, as well as the warm and friendly smiles of the ever-attentive Patricia Barnett, Kristy Holmes, and Barbara Pickard. They are the behind-the-scenes triumvirate who make the week run smoothly.

Oh, and in case you are still wondering: yes, Dr. Thornton is pretty tall...

...Mises University pushes young students to think critically and reassess the party line. Most significantly, it gives students the intellectual ammo to brave mainstream, academic waters. And, it connects them with a network of people they can count as their classmates and colleagues. I can say with certainty that my fellow Mises University graduates are going to return to the academic world and spread the ideas of liberty with a renewed dedication and focus.

Mises University was just one of the small steps that I and many others have to taken in our own careers and vocations for the cause of liberty. In the spirit of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard — two great teachers who dedicated their lives to educating others —Mises University provides a venue where the accomplished Austrian scholars of today can interact with, teach, and pass on the torch to an incoming generation of academics, thinkers, and leaders of tomorrow's freedom movement..."

Kudos.

"Quote of the Week: 08.31.2009"

To Ronny ben David on Facebook, about two minutes ago:

"..economics is a lost academic discipline with a bad case of physics-envy..."