Climate Change and the Choice of Life

March 26, 2008 7:42 AM by Clifford F. Thies

It is one thing to be concerned about the possible impact of the sum of many tiny human actions on the climate of the planet on which we find ourselves, for this is entirely consistent with choosing life. It is quite another thing to presume that we are doomed unless, whatever we are doing, we stop doing it right now.

As Mises wrote: "Some philosophies ... look upon life as an absolute evil full of pain, suffering, and anguish, and apodictically deny that any purposeful human effort can render it tolerable." FULL ARTICLE

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Dealing with Recession

January 31, 2008 8:15 AM by Clifford F. Thies

For all the talk by the Federal Reserve about "inflation targeting," we now see that responding to short-run problems is paramount for the Fed. Holding the line on inflation is something the Fed does when it is convenient. Resorting to inflating the money supply when times are tough is predictable, as is a continuing loss of purchasing power of the US dollar. The only uncertainty is how fast the dollar will lose purchasing power. Will it be at a creeping rate, or at a galloping rate, or at a hyperinflationary rate?

You might think that we learned our lesson about inflation during the 1970s, when we moved first from a creeping to a galloping rate, and then risked a further move to hyperinflation. The double-dip recession we then went through starting in 1979 fell in the second tier of economic downturns (below only the Great Depression). There is currently no indication that a severe downturn is on the horizon. But, if we work hard enough at it, with fiscal and monetary policy pumping up the economy and delaying and exacerbating the inevitable, we can make such a severe recession possible in the future. FULL ARTICLE

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The Precedent for the Ron Paul Dollar

November 26, 2007 7:42 AM by Clifford F. Thies

On Wednesday, November 14, 2007, federal agents raided the Indianapolis headquarters of a company called NORFED, the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act and Internal Revenue Code, and seized its holdings of gold, silver, and copper, much of it in the form of coins bearing the likeness of US Congressman Dr. Ron Paul of Texas, a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.

The search warrant for this raid alleges fraud and money laundering, and a supporting affidavit refers to provisions of the US Code that prohibit the emission of any coins intended to circulate as money, and the emission of anything in the likeness of the currency of the United States.

The details of the case are complicated, but there are two issues that I can address without going into all the claims and counterclaims. How is it that the US government has the power to prohibit people from using alternative forms of money (i.e., the first provision), and how is it that the coins of NORFED resemble those of the United States (the second)? FULL ARTICLE

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