Category: economics

Hot Flash: Newton’s Third Law Still In Effect!

     Congress hasn’t managed to repeal it:      Leftist activist Nina Turner recently posted a simple tweet calling for a $25/hr minimum wage, variations of which she frequently posts. $25/hr minimum wage. — Nina Turner (@ninaturner) December 22, 2022      Which is hilarious considering she only paid her canvassers $15/hr.      That’s the “action.” Now …

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The Lowest Steps

     Mike Miles has provided another thought-provoking graphic:      The “message” could hardly be more obvious. But what about its wider applications – that is, its applications to various aspects of social and economic mobility?      Give it a moment’s thought while I finish my breakfast. ***      We often hear of “social climbers,” usually …

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Unrealized Income?

     I won’t speak for anyone else, but when I call a development “unrealized,” I know what I mean by it: it hasn’t happened yet. And of course, something that hasn’t happened might never happen. So what shall we say, Gentle Readers, about this resurrected notion of unrealized income?      Many billionaires can pay far …

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I Try Not To Use Certain Words

     Indeed, I try really hard. But sometimes, I can’t resist.      Today’s word is inevitable:      Analysis of the Russian attack on Ukraine has rightly focused on the strategic, military and humanitarian considerations of the conflict itself. Soon, however, domestic implications will begin to impinge on the geo-political. Maintaining public support will be critical …

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Were He Not a Ruthless Killer, This Might Garner Some Sympathy

Some background first. On FB, Wretchard introduced an Elon Musk tweet to the video below with the comment: Some ideologies see ‘no people’ as the most humanitarian outcome. Naturally such a line caught my attention. Then this was how Musk introduced the video: Pretty good summary, although national pride is underweighted relative to economics. Latter …

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Capitalism: The Order Of Execution

     Forgive me, Gentle Reader. Because of the graphic above, which I found over at 90 Miles From Tyranny, my memory has assaulted me again, and so I find that I must do a terrible thing. How terrible it is, I shall leave for you to decide.      About thirty-five years ago, Long Island’s regional …

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Luxuries And Necessities

     Do you work in a “service” trade? That is: rather than making or enhancing physical goods, do you merely provide a convenient service to others, sparing those others the chore of doing whatever it is for themselves? No need to be shy about it. Many Americans are in that category.      The “service economy” …

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Preparing For Armageddon

     A funny way to open a column in the second half of Advent, eh? But it’s what’s on my mind. The eighteen entries in my “Future Columns” folder can wait another day.      Here is the stimulus for today’s exercise in futility:      Please take the twelve minutes and watch it. It’s one of …

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Monopolies And What They Want

     I’ve got news for you, Gentle Reader: You are a monopoly.      Surprised? It’s true, though: You are the one and only source for goods and services made by you. Because of the 13th Amendment, you have absolute control over the source of those goods and services. Assuming you’re not incarcerated for a felony …

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No Man Is So Blind As Is He Who Refuses To See

     I’m in a kind of “comedown” mood this morning. No, I didn’t get wasted yesterday; it’s a purely psychological phenomenon. You see, yesterday was “Talk Like A Pirate Day,” one of my favorite days of the year. Drives the C.S.O. nuts, but she knows it’s only one day a year. Happily, the many telemarketers …

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What We Can And What We Can’t

     At this morning’s Mass, our pastor, Monsignor Christopher Heller, reminded us in his homily of the reception that Mother Teresa of Calcutta received when she castigated the First World – the United States most emphatically included – for “sleeping soundly at night when there are people with nothing to eat.” It was unfriendly, to …

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At The Margins

     “A corporation has neither a soul to be damned nor a body to be kicked.” – maxim cited by Isabel Paterson      Via John Hinderaker comes this James Kunstler piece on “wokeism.” He opens with a blast against “corporate wokeists:”      What were the execs of these mighty companies thinking — these knights of …

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We Really Can’t Help It…

     …we humans have a hard time separating people’s personalities and characters from our opinions of the ideas they espouse. We tend to assess the validity of a Cause according to the strengths and weaknesses of those who promote it: their public conduct, their cumulative reputations, and whatever we can learn about their pasts. The …

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Overheads

     Economists tend to partition the world’s goods into: Capital goods (made because they help to produce something else), Consumption goods (made because they’re desirable in and of themselves).      This is an incomplete partition, and its failings have cost us dearly.      There is a third category: overhead. Overhead goods aren’t made for productive …

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