Why Taxation Is Not Theft

Just as all political debates inevitably end with someone making a Hitler comparison, all debates with libertarians sooner or later involve the claim that taxation is theft. It doesn’t matter whether you are discussing the welfare state, universal healthcare or a TV licence, at some point a libertarian will accuse the government of acting like the mafia and stealing people’s money (just the last day a commenter asked me to “stop promoting the use of force against me or my family“, by which he meant don’t regulate bitcoin). Of course we all know this argument is melodramatic hyperbole, but it would be useful to spell out why. Let me use an analogy that I think will best get the point … Continue reading “Why Taxation Is Not Theft”

March 22, 2014EconomicsCoercion, Consent, Economics, Force, Government, Libertarian, Nonsense, Politics, State, Taxation, taxes, Theft, Theory, Wrong Leave a comment

Atlas Shrugged Is A Ridiculous Book

Atlas Shrugged is a hugely popular book among American conservatives and libertarians who see it as a symbol of resistance to government tyranny. This is surprisingly because it is a horrendous book containing cardboard characters, over necessarily long speeches, absurd plot lines and at least 500 pages more than it needs. The greatest and most obvious flaw with the book is how terrible the characters are. They are all one dimensional cartoons that are either perfect in every way or horrible in every way. If a character agrees with Rand’s ideology, then they are smart, beautiful, strong, noble and rich. If a character disagrees with her ideology, Rand makes them fat, ugly, stupid, lazy and hysterical (most of the villains … Continue reading “Atlas Shrugged Is A Ridiculous Book”

March 14, 2014BooksAtlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Books, Criticism, Flaws, Greed, John Galt, Libertarian, Politics, Selfish, Terrible Leave a comment

Why Do We Print Money?

Printing money seems like a no-brainer. Surely it’s extremely obvious that printing money is a recipe for disaster that will result in hyperinflation. Surely the obvious action is to not print money and therefore avoid inflation. Yet every year, every country prints money. Why? Surely the money supply should be fixed. What possible reason could central banks have for risking massive inflation? Why do we print money? The first and most obvious reason for printing money is to replace old notes in the system. Notes get worn down through use, so it’s necessary to print new ones to replace them. Take a moment to think through why we do this and what would happen if we didn’t. Businesses would start … Continue reading “Why Do We Print Money?”

April 6, 2013EconomicsAustrian Economics, Bernanke, Causes, Central Bank, Economic Theory, Economics, Federal Reserve, Hyperinflation, Inflation, Libertarian, Monetary Policy, Printing Money, Quantitative Easing, War Leave a comment

Predictably Irrational Chapters 9 & 10 – The Effect Of Expectation & The Power Of Price

In Chapter 9 and 10 (I combined them as they’re quite similar) of “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely, the concept of how are expectations affect our decision making is discussed. We are not rational actors making choices in a vacuum but rather we are deeply affected by our expectations. If we expect a movie to be good, then it often is. This placebo effect is always to be found with prices. If we pay more for something, we value it more and get more from it. This creates serious problems for those who claim that market distortions will be corrected by market forces pushing a return to equilibrium. Ariely conducted an experiment involving free beer (I knew that would get … Continue reading “Predictably Irrational Chapters 9 & 10 – The Effect Of Expectation & The Power Of Price”

January 18, 2013EconomicsBehavioural Economics, Books, Economic Theory, Economics, Economy, Free Market, Libertarian, Predictably Irrational Leave a comment

Misunderstanding Hayek And The Road To Serfdom

“The Road To Serfdom” by Fredrick Hayek is a disappointing book. Conservative bloggers often race about it claiming it has great insights into modern politics. While I disagree with the Austrian school of economics I read it to here the other point of view. I found it a boring, out dated book that didn’t have anything particularly original or insightful to say. It’s mainly concerned with saying a totalitarian state where the government controls everything doesn’t work (you don’t say). The book might have been relevant when it was published, but I am at a loss to see its use today. I think to a large extent Hayek has been misunderstood. I have regularly heard people use Hayek to criticize … Continue reading “Misunderstanding Hayek And The Road To Serfdom”

September 24, 2012BooksBooks, Central Planning, Communism, Conservative, Economics, Government, Government Spending, Hayek, Libertarian, Masters Of Money, Obama, Opinion, Political Theory, Politics, Road To Serfdom, Socialism, Tags Austrian Leave a comment