Which side are you on?

But first, it has been a LONG time since a post, my apologies to all my adoring fans. :-|

The wife and I finally watched Valkyrie last night, and I have to say we were pleasantly surprised.  What struck me most about it was that, in the movie, the failed coup that Stauffenberg had a feeling akin to the American Revolution, again, in the movie.

This got me thinking, what side would I be on? I think most people would knee jerk say that they would be on the revolt side, but how many American’s today have no interest or idea with what's going on right now? Think of this hypothetical - if 30% of the German population was disinterested in politics, and 15% of the 30 had only heard rumors and half of those people chose not to believe those rumors. That is over 20% of the population coming to a very rational decision of supporting genocide that probably wouldn’t if they knew the full truth.

This is very similar to the Clerks assessment of what Luke Skywalker really did when he blew up the Death Star the second time.  There were a lot of blue collar guys on there, construction workers, janitors, support staff – guys just trying to get a pay check.

Would you would be principled enough to join the resistance? Or smart enough to not be sucked in to mass hysteria? Or brave enough to risk your life to resist? Those are a lot of hurdles to get over when you’re living in the moment, regardless of how terrible the atrocities are.

But Nazi Germany is easy compared to the following question: What side would you have been on in the American Revolution - the Colonials or the Torys? Again, typical reactions, but think about it, are you saying what you wish or hope you would be? That question is harder to answer. 

It's the same thing I think about when I watch 20/20's "What Would You Do" segments. I assume these are designed to make you think, but isn't that cheating? Isn't it the people who do things with integrity that we celebrate? So yes, think about the answer, but be honest with yourself, and remember you're not thinking of these ex ante.

Milton Friedman: How did Markets Survive?

I've been listening to Russ Roberts pod casts at Econ Talk, which has a pretty extensive archive section. I looked through it, and found one with Milton Friedman. This part of that podcast has had a profound impact on me:

Milton Friedman: But it's always been true that business is not a friend of a free market. I have given a lecture from time to time under the title Suicidal Impulses of the Business Community... It's in the self-interest of the business community to get government on its side. It's in the self-interest of a particular business.[...]

But the real puzzle—puzzle isn't quite the right word—the real problem here is where do you find the support for free markets? If free markets weren't so damn efficient, they could never have survived because they have so many enemies and so few friends. People think of capitalism or free markets as something that obviously is supported by business. People think that if a business party is a party in politics, it will promote free market. But that's wrong. It will be in the self-interest of individual businesses to promote a tariff here and a tariff there, to promote the use of ethanol—

Russ Roberts: Special regulations for its competitor that apply just by chance to its competitors but not to itself—

Milton Friedman: That's right.

Russ Roberts: —or that they already comply with but their competitors don't happen to comply with.

It's insights like these that attracts me to Economics, and keep me coming back for more...


Update: Here's a link to an article Friedman wrote on this subject at the Cato Institute.

Pollution Didn't Begin in 1960...

In the spirit of Dr. Boudreaux, here is a letter I sent to the Washington Post:

In his letter, “Where are conservatives' conservation efforts?” (Sept. 9th), Mr. Kennard makes in interesting connection between Hayek’s warnings about government interventions into complex market systems and human intervention into the complex environmental systems. However, he should have quit when he was ahead.

If Mr. Kennard looked back at history, he might discover that the internal combustion engine automobile was one of the single greatest advancements in pollution reduction in the 20th century (produced by in the marketplace, mind you). Before then, streets were lined with filth and the air filled with methane from horses which people used to get around.

Mr. Kennard then indicts “Conservatives” to come up with his solutions to his perceived, “problem” because they oppose “Liberal” “solutions”. My answer is to see the above.

Sincerely,
Christopher J. York
Student, George Mason University, Economics M.A.

Dictators...they're not so bad

Top political strategist Woody Allen thinks Obama would get much more done as dictator; No, really

Why is Mel Gibson's ugly break up in the news, and this isn't?

US maternity leave rate is zero?

Yet another post from Dr. B: Fringe Thinking

I'm just confused on how Jackson is saying the maternity and paternity leave rate is zero, when my wife is taking 10 weeks and I am taking 2...

Actually, my wife gets 8 paid weeks, and she's taking an additional 2 unpaid. We can do this because we've planned for it and are saving accordingly.

We Kornheiser's don't produce anything...

Dr. Boudreaux shares a letter he sent to Tony Kornheiser that is in the same vein as my post yesterday.  People have a hard time with the abstract, and maybe we feel guilty if there isn't something tangible to point to when you're done with your work. My thought is any value adding work we do that gets compensated for is a good thing, be that manufacturing or producing services.

I call it "value adding work" because there are too many Keynesians out there that want to hire ditch diggers with someone to fill them.

If everything is made in China, are we Chinese?

Caught this on Facebook by way of My Morning Jacket, pretty good song, I'm a fan of Jim James especially. However, the italicized line caught my attention:

The Roots - Dear God 2.0:
They said he's busy hold the line please
Call me crazy, I thought maybe he could mind read
Who does the blind lead?
Show me a sign please
If everything is made in China, are we Chinese?

Aside from the line being a non sequitur to the rest of the verse, the premise is also way off.  Of course we're not Chinese because we buy Chinese stuff, the point he's making with a seemingly throw away line is that America doesn't produce anything.  Instead of going into a long, complicated rant about trade (quick version - it's good for everyone!), I'm simply going to point out that it is ironic that his problem is that we don't produce anything, all while he's making music.  It's intangible, yes, but he makes a living off of it, I'm not sure how well a living, but one none the less. I wonder if anyone in China will buy this record, or if the CD's their music is recorded on is made in China...

I'll apply a common example used when discussing trade to explain further.  If I like movies, and I go out to them all the time, am I Hollywood...inian, even though I'm from Virginia?  Or vice-versa, if Smokers in Hollywood smoke tobacco from Virginia, does that make them Virginian?  Of course not.