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July 04, 2008
Celebre su independencia
--Edward J. Lopez
A few of us DOLers are in Guatemala for the APEE board meeting. Since I can't shoot any roman candles this year, allow me to celebrate with you by pasting these timeless words, never perfunctory. IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
Posted at 07:04 PM in Misc.
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July 03, 2008
Penny Postcards Online
--Joshua Hall
Interesting archive here. Here is historical downtown Auburn (date unknown). Posted at 12:05 PM in Misc.
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Exercising outside the box
--Edward J. Lopez
The latest study, from researchers at Liverpool John Moores University, included six boys and five girls between the ages of 13 and 15. The children were fitted with a calorie-counting monitoring device while they played games on the Xbox 360 and the Wii. The kids burned up to 66 percent more calories playing the Wii than the Xbox, the researchers found. That translates to about 179 calories burned an hour playing Wii tennis compared to 107 calories on the Xbox. At rest, a child expends about 70 calories. That's "Wii Video Workouts Don't Beat Real Sports," from the NYT's informative blog, Well. Personally I think Wii boxing is more of a workout than Wii tennis. Posted at 10:22 AM in Culture
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July 02, 2008
Limiting Access to the Political Order in North Carolina
--Art Carden
My short piece on Mike's adventures in North Carolina politics (see below) was published on the Independent Institute's blog here. Posted at 08:26 PM in Politics
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Why my office smells of bourbon and diapers
--Edward J. Lopez
After traveling for more than a week, I came back to the office for the first time this morning, and this is what welcomed me:
Good people here at Liberty Fund. Baby is due August 4th-ish. Posted at 03:34 PM in Personal
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Pope Benedict's shoes: Not knock-offs
--Edward J. Lopez
From The Manolo (the most charming blog for extraneous definite articles and third-person self-references), a fun post, "The Pope Does Not Wear Prada" The Devil may wear Prada — but the Pope does not, according to the Vatican. Full story here. Posted at 03:03 PM in Culture
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More Resources on the Great Depression
--Art Carden
I'm giving my talk on the Great Depression and World War II at the IHS "Liberty and Society" seminar in about two hours. In addition to the resources I discuss here, I would also add Murray Rothbard's America's Great Depression to the list (also available at a price of $0.00 from www.mises.org). Posted at 02:08 PM in Economics
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A Favor....Grenade Brigade!
--Michael Munger
Dear Friends: As you know, I have been working to run for Governor of North Carolina, as a Libertarian, for the past two years. Well, we got the 105,000 signatures, and we got on the ballot. But then things got…weird. I was invited to the final debate, in October, at Queens College in Charlotte. But then that debate got cancelled, and ANOTHER debate, only without the Libertarians in it, got scheduled instead. The state of NC is really dragging its feet in getting out new forms, so Libertarians can register. The state Board of Elections will barely meet with us, and the county Boards of Elections won't accept checks for filing fees for our candidates. I put up more than $1,000 worth of yard signs, and the state took them all down, because (get this) there is "no election going on at this time"! Ouch. (MORE BELOW THE FOLD....)
Read More » Posted at 11:01 AM
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Expecting Inflation?
--Lawrence H. White
I'm quoted in Steve Chapman's column by that title in yesterday's Chicago Tribune. Posted at 08:50 AM in Economics
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June 30, 2008
Internment Camps and You: Partners in Freedom
--Art Carden
I've heard David Beito shows this video in some of his IHS history lectures: Posted at 08:36 PM in Politics
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Hans Rosling on Global Poverty
--Art Carden
During an informal discussion of poverty while students were in discussion groups, Hans Rosling's "Gapminder" software came up. Here are Rosling's TED Talks on Gapminder. The first, from February 2006: And the second, from March 2007: And finally, here is the link to the Gapminder website. Posted at 12:20 PM in Economics
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Building Brand Equity: Stuff in Print
--Art Carden
My forthcoming paper "Inputs and Institutions as Conservative Elements" and my forthcoming review of Benjamin Powell's edited volume Making Poor Nations Rich are both available online. The abstract for "Inputs and Institutions": Ludwig von Mises argued that capital goods were “conservative I also wrote today's Mises.org Daily Article on the role of the Mises Institute in spreading good ideas. I was also mugged by co-blogger Josh Hall during his IHS lecture on education and externalities. I assure you, this gross injustice will be avenged. Posted at 11:40 AM in Economics
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June 29, 2008
On the Road: Notes from the Northeast
--Art Carden
I'm at the IHS "Liberty and Society" seminar this week. A few notes on the last couple of days: 1. Special collections librarians are awesome. Thanks to the staff at UMass-Amherst for help with the collections on Friday. 2. The pizza at Antonio's in Amherst is truly excellent. For those who lament the allegedly homogenizing consequences national/global integration, I have to wonder what would be lost, socially, if Antonio's were to open a location in Memphis. 3. The drive from Great Barrington to Bryn Mawr (mostly through eastern NY) is beautiful. We tried to find a gas station at an exit for FDR's birthplace and presidential library yesterday; unfortunately the station identified by our Garmin no longer exists (coincidence?). 4. We paid over $4.50/gallon for gas yesterday. My back-of-the-envelope estimate of the optimal (additional) Pigou tax is no more than $0.00. 5. At the end of my "Economics in One Lesson" talk last night, I asked student discussion groups to make economic cases for and against recycling. All the groups made excellent points. The more I think about it the more I am convinced that recycling programs constitute very costly ways to achieve ambiguous (or negative) environmental benefits. To the extent that we produce too much waste, I'm inclined to believe that it is because garbage collection isn't priced efficiently. One could make plausible public good and natural monopoly arguments for government garbage collection, but one could make the same argument for government-provided lawn care. Posted at 10:48 AM in Economics
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June 28, 2008
The Greenwood Lake Philosopher c. 1908
--Craig Depken
From the June 28, 1908 NYT:
Posted at 08:17 PM in Culture
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Pigou Club, and Rejection of, in Nutshells
--Edward J. Lopez
The Pigou Club in nutshel via Greg Mankiw, from Tim Kane at Kaufman Foundation: And when the time comes to balance the budget, we should aim to tax the bad things (noise, gasoline, trash, violent crime, evil foreign dictators) and untax the good things (homegrown profits, employment, innovation). My rejection in a nutshell: The knowledge of which things are good or bad, in which circumstances of time and place, and to what dollar amount, are beyond the reach of anyone including policymakers; but even absent the knowledge problem, the incentive problem ensures that the enacted policies would be diverted by compromise from what little we do happen to know of the public interest. In short, Hayek and Buchanan trump Pigou. I know, I know. I'm a total party pooper. But hey. If you don't want to take my word for it, here's Coase (Sec. VI, "The Problem of Social Cost"): [T]here is no reason to suppose that the...regulations made by a fallible administration subject to political pressures and operating without any competitive check, will necessarily always be those which increase the efficiency with which the economic system operates... [I]t follows that direct governmental regulation will not necessarily give better results than leaving the problem to be solved by the market or the firm. ... Pigou seems to have had a faulty view of the facts of the situation. But it also seems likely that he was mistaken in his economic analysis. Posted at 04:47 PM in Economics
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Crimes Against ... Whatever
--Wilson Mixon
So who's the criminal? According to James Hansen, it's greedy CEOs: CEOs of fossil energy companies know what they are doing and are aware of long-term consequences of continued business as usual. In my opinion, these CEOs should be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature. According to an unnamed UN adviser, it's those pushing ethanol: But several aid agencies and analysts have warned of the possible downside of biofuel crop cultivation. In both cases, it's pretty loose talk. HT: CEI's "Cooler Heads Digest" 6/27/08 Posted at 02:37 PM in Politics
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The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted, not only to no single person, but to no council or senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it. -Adam Smith
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