Economics

Video: Milton Friedmans Free to Choose

Milton Friedman is inspiring.   This is the first episode of Free to Choose.  You will see the rest of the 10 episodes listed to the right side.  Friedman's questioners in the post presentation look like naive amateurs in contrast.  

America's freedom and prosperity derive from the combination of the idea of human liberty in America's Declaration of Independence with the idea of economic freedom in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Friedman explains how markets and voluntary exchange organize activity and enable people to improve their lives. He also explains the price system. Friedman visits Hong Kong, U.S. and Scotland.

Episode #1

  • Friedman: When you have more government the industrialists take it over 
  • Galvin:  I think there are good people running this society  – Ouch how naive!
  • We need to see much more of the invisible hands!

Google Video Search: Milton Friedman Free to Choose

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By Fudgy McFarlen, ago

Video: Broken Rainbow – If you trust government you should watch this video

Do you trust government?   

Do you think Rand Paul was wrong when he said the civil rights act of 1964 theoretically goes too far when it bans discrimination in a private business?  If you do then you are substantively against private property rights.   Keep that in mind as you watch Broken Rainbow.  Had the Navaho and Hopi been treated according to the morality and legal philosophy of a libertarian they would have been compensated for their land.   Instead we played by the rules of the Neofeudalist class.   Since Navaho and Hopi did not have many votes to offer they were run over.   By not believing in private property and libertarianism you open the door to all manner of "sharp operators".  Many of whom end up in the United States Government.

Note when watching this video that the left romanticize primitive cultures and would have you believe several obviously false things.  They would have you believe had the native americans not been hoodwinked by actors in the U.S. Government and Peabody coal that they would have refused to allow mining on their land.  This is a tall assumption.   A more plausible reality is that the price paid by Peabody and company would have risen to market value and the Navaho and Hopi would have sold out sooner or later. 

The left sees opportunity in people treated shabbily.  However their eyes are always on making names for themselves or opening new territories in legal standing and representation.  This is not unlike opening wide open frontier land with little competition.  What would you expect? So many of them are lawyers.  If they do not see a chance for recovering on your claim you will get very little love from them.

By Fudgy McFarlen, ago

Audio: Interview with Edward Gonzalez for Congress- An eye opening interview

Gonzalez was in Argentina as a student when the crash came.  He saw the nation go from what appeared to be prosperous to one with hyperinflation.  Later he was in Iraq and saw how make work projects distorted the local economy and left people worse off than before by introducing distortions into the economy.  Highly recommended that you listen to this interview.

Charles Goyette interview with Edward M. Gonzalez.

The experiences detailed by Gonzalez are too important to risk loss due to other websites removing pages.  Thus I have a locally stored copy of the Goyette interview of Gonzalez here.

Related Links

By Fudgy McFarlen, ago

Economist and Economic Modeller Steve Keen showing instability inherent in high debt economies

Steve Keen talks about instability inherent in high debt economies.  He does this while modeling economies on a computer and demonstrating the oscillations.

Video Notes

  • I have seen this kind of stability analysis applied before.  It is valid for circuits and system functions – I would posit it is valid for economic systems
  • When economies start using debt to drive employment things are ok for a few economic cycles – then you hit a last cycle when debt taken on is huge – the economic levitation ends – the economy shuts down.
  • The blue trace with loops is a tracing of oscillator "squegging" as we call it in electrical engineering – parametric modulation
  • because private debt levels are so high private deleveraging can overwhelm government deficit spending
  • writing off the bad debt – a.k.a. recognizing the bad debt is the only solution
  • to stabilize the system the system should be tweaked to limit the amount of personal debt individuals are willing to take on – base housing loan prices on rents you can get for said house instead of what appraisers conjure up
  • Full talk at the Whitlam Institute is here
  • The associated PowerPoint presentation is here
By Fudgy McFarlen, ago