Mises has long been identified with the political Right and American conservatism. Mises, however, regarded himself as a liberal in the classical sense, and even used the world libertarian to describe his views. Moreover, his criticisms of the political right stretch from his 1919 book on European politics (“Every reactionary lacks intellectual independence”) to his 1956 book on method, in which he argued that it was the conservatives who brought socialism to Britain. [Full Article]

In his National Review column appearing today, Larry Kudlow nominates Glenn Hubbard to fill Greenspan’s spot next year. In the ninth paragraph of his piece, Kudlow casually remarks that, “little is known about Hubbard’s monetary views.” Gee, maybe that’s the type of thing we should know before we endorse somebody to become the nation’s top monetary planner.

That is the argument made by UCLA law professor Stephen Bainbridge in his Tech Central Station article, “Law and Morality in America.” My response was posted today.

What follows is a bibliographic attempt to answer the question of what makes libertarians and conservatives different. Where possible I have linked to the articles and books, but much of the debate transpired before the advent of the Internet, and as such, is only available in hard copy. Two sources in particular warrant special attention – Murray Rothbard and Bill Buckley’s National Review. In many ways they encapsulate the rift. Where as they may have found many points of agreement when National Review was founded in 1955 (and even this is a stretch), by the early 60’s, the New Right was far removed from its old right roots. Militant anti-communism coupled with an increasing social conservative statism were tendencies many libertarians found distasteful. If the modus vivendi of the early 1940 revival of the libertarian/conservative movement had been the defeat the leviathan state, only the libertarians stayed the course with any consistency. [Full article on LRC]

A good op-ed piece appears in the NYT today by New York University law professor Daniel Sahviro. Far from shrinking the size of government, Bush’s tax cuts only fuel its growth. He writes:

“The growing federal debt is virtually certain to lead to offsetting tax increases down the road. Does anyone really believe that in 10 years, when Social Security and Medicare benefits are imminently threatened, Congress will not try to increase revenues to keep the benefits flowing a bit longer?”

This is a point that conservatives need to be re-taught over and over again. Tax cuts without the accompanying spending cuts do nothing to shrink the size and scope of the state.

Paul Krugman’s latest column is an economic, historical and ethical mess. While his diagnosis of the problem is partially true (rising insurance premiums in employment-based health care have stifled job growth), his answer is more of the same: increased government intervention.

He does not address government mandates, such as community rating, and their role in making health care unaffordable. He does not discuss what brought about the current system of third-party insurance, which insulates consumers from costs. And he misses entirely the nature of insurance itself.

From the BBC: “A Japanese company has begun making stab-resistant coats and sweatshirts as fears about public safety rise following a series of gruesome attacks.

Madre, the maker, said it was providing the products in response to requests from worried parents.” Read the whole story here

This from today’s Wall Street Journal indicates how woefully uneducated today’s businessmen are in economics:
“The thinking now is that because of the current federal policy and more sophisticated management of the economy, there will be less volatility,” said Dan Meckstroth of the Manufacturers Alliance.” (italics mine)

“Earlier this month, 30 distinguished political scientists from around Asia and Europe met in Seoul, Korea, to ask “What is Democracy?” Their answers yielded little by way of a practical answer; what was important was their willingness to at least ask the question.

“In the United States we seem to have neither the time nor the inclination to be bothered with such inquiries. In the words of Ortega y Gasset, we live in a “self-satisfied age.” Here, democracy is what democracy does, and we all agree that we want more of it.” [Full Article]

The reality of this supra-state is far from its putative promise. Based upon the premise that peace and prosperity flow from increased size and regulatory conformity, what is left of economically viable Europe is threatened by the social and regulatory policies required by the Eurocrats upon entrance to the EU. [Full article]

As we’ve seen with the manufacturing “crisis,” the “outsourcing of America” is a total farce. As reported in today’s NYT (registration required) and WSJ ($), the total number of jobs lost due to outsourcing was 4,633–only 2.5% of the 182, 456 jobs reported lost during the 1st quarter of this year. I’ve already emailed these articles to Lou Dobbs.

Some 110 years ago, Carl Menger, the first Austrian economist, remarked that, “Even at this day we have no satisfactory theory of money.” While path-breaking discoveries in economics have furthered our knowledge and understanding of money during the past century, the diffusion of this knowledge has been limited to intellectuals and small enclaves of Austrian thinking. When talking of the popular press and the conservative and liberal economic commentators, Menger’s maxim holds equally true today. [FULL ARTICLE]

Nicholas Kristof, in todays NY Times(registration required):
“…Communism is fading, in part because of Western engagement with China — trade, investment, Avon ladies, M.B.A.’s, Michael Jordan and Vogue magazines have triumphed over Marx. That’s one reason we should bolster free trade and exchanges with China, rather than retreating to the protectionist barricades, as some are urging.”

The Foundation for Economic Education has begun running web exclusive content. See my article “Don’t Protect Manufacturing–Deregulate“

How should the public, economists, politicians and workers measure the relative success and failure of a particular industry? By its profits? Its stock price? By its total employment? This may seem a rather elementary question, yet a proper and clear answer would go a long way in silencing what has been the loudest protectionist cry in recent memory. I am, of course, speaking of the manufacturing sector and its so called “crisis.” [Full article]

From the WSJ ($):
“The Medicare prescription-drug law passed late last year is having a healthy effect on the outlook for corporate finances.

Within the past few weeks, a handful of large companies have reported they expect to collectively save more than $2.5 billion over time, thanks to the new government subsidy for employers that offer prescription-drug benefits to retirees.

These include estimated savings of $572 million at BellSouth Corp., $415 million at AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, $300 million to $400 million at Deere & Co., $190 million at Alcoa Inc., $450 million at U.S. Steel Corp., and $500 million at Delphi Corp.”

With Pierre Bourdieu’s death from cancer in 2002, France lost one of its most active and significant intellectuals. Having written over 25 books and founding the magazine Liber in 1989, Bourdieu was a leading voice for the left, both in France and throughout the world.

In Firing Back: Against the Tyranny of the Market 2, seven of Bourdieu’s speeches from 1999–2000 are collected in this slim volume. Unfortunately for Bourdieu, his final written attempt to exposit the danger of the capitalist market is a failure. His words come off as if they are the desperate, rambling plea of a disgruntled ideologue in the winter of his life. Worried that after dozens of books his message still hasn’t been consumed, he offers 96 pages of clichéd, socialistic vitriol. [MORE]

An unfortunate consequence of learning Bastiat’s “Broken Window Fallacy” is the accompanying frustration of seeing this age old economic fallacy reappear ad nauseam. One of the latest, and indeed most vocal rock throwers, is the United States manufacturing sector.

Those with even a cursory knowledge of current affairs should be able to recite the recent plight of the manufacturers: [Read more]