Lenore Skenazy: The Importance of Child’s Play – WSJ.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204573704577185182106857716.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 


Is Immigration Good for America?

http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj32n1/cj32n1.html


“Buffett Rule” Will Boost Top Dividend Rate to Over 62%, Highest in OECD

http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/27934.html


No Need to Panic About Global Warming

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204301404577171531838421366.html


Newest Fox News piece: President Obama’s strange definition of fairness

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Newest Fox News piece: President Obama’s strange definition of fairness

 


Böhm-Bawerk for the Citizen

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Böhm-Bawerk for the Citizen

Economics is often considered the dismal science. To the average person it appears dry and boring but this should not be the case. While economics is not as dismal as it is often portrayed, it is not something the average person must learn. As Murray Rothbard once said,

It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a “dismal science.” But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.

In the current world, however, there are fewer excuses for not familiarizing ourselves with economics. This is because, as Peter Boettke often says, while economics is a deadly serious subject, it can explain in simple terms the world around us. Issues such as inflation, the financial crisis, unemployment, unionism, protectionism, taxation, the war on terror, the war on drugs, and more are all tied in with economics and our everyday lives. And as Ludwig von Mises said,

A man who talks about these problems without having acquainted himself with the fundamental ideas of economic theory is simply a babbler who parrot-like repeats what he has picked up incidentally from other fellows who are not better informed than he himself.

In today’s document Mises explains Capital and Interest should be read not only be professional economists, but also by the average person. Capital and Interest is a technical work, but as Mises put it,

Although Böhm-Bawerk’s great opus is “mere theory” and abstains from any practical application, it is the most powerful intellectual weapon in the great struggle of the Western way of life against the destruction of Soviet barbarism.

While our current threats may no longer include Soviet barbarism, technical works in economics are important for any concerned citizen hoping to sound off on our current issues in an informed and intelligent manner. While Capital and Interest may not be the most exciting book on economics it is important and insightful.

Download Mises Review of Böhm-Bawerk’s Capital and Interest here.

Daniel J. SmithSent via mobile phone
Assistant Professor of Economics
Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy
137 Bibb Graves Hall
Troy University
Phone: 334-808-6485
Email: smith.dan.j
Website: http://www.danieljosephsmith.com


Gary Johnson | Marijuana | Newt Gingrich | Hypocrisy | The Daily Caller

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/23/gary-johnson-hammers-newt-for-hypocrisy-on-executing-marijuana-users/

Daniel J. Smith
Sent via mobile phone
Assistant Professor of Economics
Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy
137 Bibb Graves Hall
Troy University
Phone: 334-808-6485
Email: smith.dan.j@gmail.com
Website: http://www.danieljosephsmith.com


Antitrust Kills

http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/01/antitrust_kills.html


PETA Should Praise Capitalism

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PETA Should Praise Capitalism

 


Wannabe President to Wannabe Americans: Get in Line

http://reason.com/blog/2012/01/24/wannabe-president-to-wannabe-americans-g


Doctor Poll: 69% Pessimistic About Future of Medicine Under ObamaCare

http://healthblog.ncpa.org/doctor-poll-69-pessimistic-about-future-of-medicine-under-obamacare/


Create Value, Not Jobs | Adam Gurri

http://adamgurri.com/?p=78

 


How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1


The Secret Document That Transformed China

http://m.npr.org/story/145360447?url=/blogs/money/2012/01/20/145360447/the-secret-document-that-transformed-china

 


In Which Paul Krugman Leaves Me At a Loss for Words

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In Which Paul Krugman Leaves Me At a Loss for Words

 


Just Say No to Embalming

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Just Say No to Embalming

 


Get Your Space Junk Away From Our Satellites. Please.

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Get Your Space Junk Away From Our Satellites. Please.

 


Landsburg (and Mankiw) on Krugman

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Landsburg (and Mankiw) on Krugman

Steve Landsburg helps us to better understand Paul Krugman’s erroneous underestimation of the tax burden borne today by wealthy Americans. (Be sure also to read the link therein to Greg Mankiw’s post.)


The Optimal Capital Gains Tax Rate is Below Ten Percent

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The Optimal Capital Gains Tax Rate is Below Ten Percent

 


So what do we make of the Government Clearing GM over Volt’s battery fires?

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So what do we make of the Government Clearing GM over Volt’s battery fires?

 


What the Top 1% of Earners Majored In

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/what-the-top-1-of-earners-majored-in/#more-141451


Inequality and Mobility

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/01/why-economic-mobility-measures-are-overrated.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+marginalrevolution%2Ffeed+%28Marginal+Rev

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/01/scott-winship-on-mobility-in-america.html


Is the middle class shrinking?

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Is the middle class shrinking?

From the excellent Scott Winship:

Krueger’s claim of a shrinking middle class relies on the same peculiar definition. Specifically, “middle class” is defined as having a household income at least half of median income but no more than 1.5 times the median. I re-ran the numbers using the same definition and data source as Krueger and found that the entire reason the middle class has “shrunk” is that more households today have incomes that put them above middle class. That’s right, the share of households with income that puts them in the middle class or higher was 76 percent in 1970 and 75 percent in 2010—two figures that are statistically indistinguishable. For that matter, I am not discovering fire here; Third Way made the same point in early 2007 (page 7). A shrinking middle class is only a problem if it reflects fewer people reaching the middle class.

The post is excellent throughout and it contains many more points of interest.

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Daniel J. SmithSent via mobile phone
Assistant Professor of Economics
Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy
137 Bibb Graves Hall
Troy University
Phone: 334-808-6485
Email: smith.dan.j
Website: http://www.danieljosephsmith.com


Top 500 U.S. Manufacturing Firms Had 2011 Sales of $5 Trillion, Almost As Much as Japan’s GDP

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Top 500 U.S. Manufacturing Firms Had 2011 Sales of $5 Trillion, Almost As Much as Japan’s GDP

Rank 10 Largest U.S. Manufacturing Industries, 2011 Revenue (Millions) Examples
1 Petroleum & Coal Products $1,274,150 Exxon, Chrevron, Conoco
2 Computers & Other Electronic Products $709,613 HP, IBM, Apple, Dell
3 Chemicals $406,445 P&G, Dow, DuPont
4 Pharmaceuticals $306,076 J&J, Pfizer, Merck and Co.
5 Motor Vehicles $303,540 Ford, GM, Harley-Davidson
6 Food $284,469 General Mills, Kellogg, Campbell
7 Aerospace & Defense $254,126 Boeing, Lockheed Martin
8 Electrical Equipment & Appliances $244,738 GE, Emerson, Whirlpool
9 Machinery $227,481 Caterpillar, Deere, Xerox
10 Beverages $120,356 Pepsi, Coke, Snapple
Total $4,130,994

IndustryWeek recently released its annual ranking of the 500 largest publicly held U.S. manufacturing companies in 2011 based on sales revenue, and the top ten U.S. manufacturing industries are displayed above. Here are some factoids:

1. The combined sales revenue (including global sales) of the top 500 U.S.-based manufacturing for 2011 was $5.13 trillion, which was a 12.75% increase over 2010 sales of $4.55 trillion. To put it in perspective, that amount of annual revenue ($5.13 trillion) of the 500 largest U.S.-based manufacturing companies was almost as much as the $5.8 trillion of GDP for the entire economy of Japan in 2011 (world’s third largest economy).

2. The sales revenue from the top ten manufacturing industries totaled $4.13 trillion in 2011 (see chart above), which was more than Germany’s entire GDP of $3.6 trillion last year.

Daniel J. SmithSent via mobile phone
Assistant Professor of Economics
Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy
137 Bibb Graves Hall
Troy University
Phone: 334-808-6485
Email: smith.dan.j
Website: http://www.danieljosephsmith.com


How Bad is Corruption? Cross-country Evidence of the Impact of Corruption on Economic Prosperity

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9361.2011.00653.x/abstract


Is the US still a free country?

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Is the US still a free country?

 


Peter Boettke on Austrian Economics

http://thebrowser.com/interviews/peter-boettke-on-austrian-economics


Real Real GDP, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/01/real_real_gdp.html

 


Mysterious molecules may help cool Earth – Science

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45975663/ns/technology_and_science-science/

 


Old Money Goes Broke

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Old Money Goes Broke

 


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