Monthly Archives: November 2009

NASA FAQ 2012

Posted on by razma766
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Kurt Bouwhuis, Mackinac Center Intern

Here is some content from a funny blog post at Marginal Revolution.

NASA has dedicated a portion of there website to answering questions about doomsday 2012.  Here is a sample:

Q: How do NASA scientists feel about claims of pending doomsday?
A: For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and for all the fictional assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, we cannot change that simple fact. There is no credible evidence for any of the assertions made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.

I love the way Alex Tabarrok ends the blog post: “I too fear for our planet”

On the Origins of Money

Posted on by razma766
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Menger

Kurt Bouwhuis, Mackinac Center Intern

Carl Menger, the founder of the Austrian School of economics wrote a very important article in 1892 that explained the origins of money for the first time.  Many believed money was a grand scheme planned out and created by the powerful rulers of empires. 

Menger’s article dispelled this myth by explaining that money was not the result of central planning, but rather, a phenomenon created by the interactions of several people over a long period of time.  Money, in short, was created spontaneously.

Pitfalls of Protectionism

Posted on by razma766
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Here is a letter I recently sent to the Midland Daily News:

In his recent letter, Bill Burk sings praises to buying local (Unions commit to local, November 4). He argues that buying local saves jobs in the community, and is therefore superior to purchasing goods made outside the community.

Although I agree that buying local saves local jobs, there is nothing special about saving a job that is 1 mile away over saving a job that is 20 miles away, or 1000 miles away. Individuals who live 20 miles away or even 1000 miles away purchase goods from Dow Chemical and Dow Corning that employ people Midland. Would Midland, or the world for that matter, be better off if people outside our community shared the views of Mr. Burk? What would happen to the employees of Dow Chemical and Dow Corning if the world decided to buy local?

Additionally, which of the following actions is more benevolent? Purchasing from an inefficient producer who employs individuals enjoying an American standard of living or purchasing from an efficient producer in a developing country who employs individuals who depend on every penny of their income to sustain their own life?

Kurt Bouwhuis

Constitutional Monarchy: A New Political Order for the 17th Century

Posted on by ewreynolds
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CromwellDissolvingLongParliamentAmid the smoke of the Scottish Bishops’ Wars, the Long Parliament was formed on the 3rd of November, 1641.  This Parliament would oversee the Protestant faction in the English civil war, and eventually remodel Great Britain into a constitutional monarchy. Read more on Landmarks of Liberty…

E. Wesley – Mackinac Center Intern

Health Care

Posted on by imhoffer
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Letter to the Editor by Don Boudreaux

Health Care and the Value of Life
17 June 2009

News Editor, WWL Radio
New Orleans, LA

Dear Sir or Madam:

A listener called in today during the one o’clock hour to assert that “health care isn’t like other services” – and so it can’t be supplied reliably on the market because people are willing to “incur any cost to save their lives.”

First, if this assertion is true, it’s unclear how matters would be improved by socializing the payment of medical expenses. Second, everyday experience shows that this assertion, in fact, is false. If people really are desperate to save their lives at all costs, then everyone would exercise regularly, eat only healthy foods, and completely avoid rock climbing, horseback riding, snow skiing, and tanning booths. No one would smoke, drink to excess, or have unsafe sex. Women would never get pregnant, as there’s still some positive chance of dying while giving birth.

Unless and until people stop behaving in ways that reduce their life-expectancies, it’s mistaken to believe that each of us is committed to living longer at all costs.

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University