today's happy hour book, at end... Amazon.com: Capitalism in America: An Economic History of the United States eBook : Greenspan, Alan, Wooldridge, Adrian: Kindle Store “America's problems are problems of poor policy rather than senescent technology. This does not mean they are insignificant: unless we fix them, the U.S. growth rate will be permanently reduced. But it does at least mean they are fixable. Some suggest America is mired in a swamp of low growth. We prefer to think America is trapped in an iron cage of its own making. Out-of-control entitlements and ill-considered regulations are forcing it to perform well below its potential. Entitlements because they divert resources to consumption and away from the savings that fund capital expenditure and hence productivity improvement. Regulations because they make the distant future more uncertain, thereby discouraging businesses from investing in projects with long-term payoffs. Swamps by their nature are h
Posts
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” - Arthur Schopenhauer Joy! Joy! Oh joy, thou lovely spark of God, daughter of Elysium. We enter, drunk with fire. Immortal goddess, thy holy shrine! Thy magic doth unite once more what custom has strictly set asunder. All men shall be brothers where thy gentle wing is spread. Happily, gladly His suns speed through the glorious plain of heaven. Brothers, run your course, joyful as a hero to victory, brothers, run your course! - from Friedrich Schiller’s Ode to Joy, set to music in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
"With very rare and brief exceptions, pre-capitalist societies had no place for the creative power of man’s mind, neither in the creation of ideas nor in the creation of wealth. Reason and its practical expression —free trade— were forbidden as a sin and a crime, or were tolerated, usually as ignoble activities, under the control of authorities who could revoke the tolerance at whim. Such societies were ruled by faith and its practical expression - force. There were no makers of knowledge and no makers of wealth, there were only witch doctors and tribal chiefs.” - Ayn Rand “Those philosophers who wish to seek out the causes of miracles and to understand the things of nature, and not to stare at them in astonishment like fools, are soon considered heretical and impious and proclaimed as such by those the mob adore. For these men know once ignorance is put aside wonderment would be taken away which is the only means by which their authority is preserved.” - Baruch Spinoza
Why Do Corporations Care About Their Stock Prices? First, watch this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI0CR71aX64 Mostly summarized from Investopedia: Corporations receive money for their stock only when they first sell stock shares to the public, the initial public offering (IPO). In the subsequent trading of these shares on the stock market the buyers and sellers of the stock realize the monetary benefits or losses from the fluctuating share price, the corporation does not. … Note, stock options are referred to below, to clarify in advance here’s an example: Corporation A current stock price is $100. A new executive is hired and is given 10,000 shares of stock options at target price of $120. The executive cannot cash in the stock options until the stock price reaches $120. When the stock price reaches $120 the executive can sell and cash in the options for total $1,200,000, or can wait and hope to sell later at a bigger gain. … Why does the management of a corporation
%20-%20Copy.png)
“Wherever good fortune enters, envy lays siege and attacks it. And when it departs, sorrow and repentance remain behind.” - Leonardo da Vinci “Struggle is the indispensable accompaniment of progress. If men were entirely social, man would stagnate. A certain alloy of individualism and competition is required to make the human species survive and grow. Without qualities of an unsocial kind men might have led an Arcadian shepherd life in complete harmony, contentment, and mutual love. But in that case all their talents would have forever remained hidden in their germ.” - Emmanuel Kant
From article: Is There Monopsony Power in U.S. Labor Markets? Pedro Braga Soares, Cato. June 21, 2022. The 2022 Economic Report of the President devotes a whole chapter to the role of monopsony, monopoly, and discrimination as barriers to economic equality. That MONOPSONY POWER — MARKET POWER HELD BY BUYERS [OPPOSITE OF MONOPOLY POWER - MARKET POWER HELD BY SELLERS] — is given equal billing to the threat of anticompetitive conduct in product markets or prejudice in hiring is striking. In the report, monopsony is alleged to be rampant in the labor market as employers, the buyers of labor, hold wages below competitive levels. … Once regarded as a mere intellectual curiosity, interest in monopsony as it applies to labor has exploded among economists, policymakers, and politicians in recent years. For a sense of this, consider just two published economics journal articles used the term in the 1980s, in the 2010s, 64 did. Partly spurred by this recent literature, THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
Own answer to the question: do you prefer Republican or Democrat politicians? Personally favor Republican politicians because when in doubt they prefer smaller government. Democrat politicians when in doubt prefer bigger government. The larger the government the higher the taxes, deadweight loss in the economy, and larger amount of government corruption and wasteful spending. Government is made better by fewer politicians and bureaucrats not hoping for more honest ones. Smaller government = less opportunity for deceit.
Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 6 The Economics of Labor Markets Chapter 20 of 36 Income Inequality and Poverty Section 12 of 20 … What should government do about economic inequality? Views on this question are largely a matter of political philosophy. Three prominent schools of thought in political philosophy · utilitarianism · liberalism · libertarianism … Liberalism Philosopher John Rawls in his 1971 book “A Theory of Justice” begins with the liberalism premise: a society's institutions, laws, and policies should be just. Next, the question: how can the members of society ever agree on the meaning of justice? It might seem every person's point of view of justice is based on their own circumstances, e.g. whether they are talented or less talented, educated or less educated. … Rawls proposes the following thought experiment to answer the question of “can we ever objectively determine what a just society would be?” Imagine befor
“The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.” -William James “All experience has shown mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” - Thomas Jefferson
Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 6 The Economics of Labor Markets Chapter 20 of 36 Income Inequality and Poverty Section 11 of 20 … We have discussed how the economy's income is distributed and some of the problems in interpreting measured inequality. This discussion was positive in the sense it described the world as it is. We now address a normative question facing policymakers - what should government do about economic inequality? Views on this question are largely a matter of political philosophy. Three prominent schools of thought in political philosophy are · utilitarianism · liberalism · libertarianism … Utilitarianism The founders of utilitarianism are the English philosophers · Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) · John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) The starting point of utilitarianism is the notion of utility - the level of happiness or satisfaction a person attains. … Utilitarians hold utility (well-being) should be the ultimate objective
From article Minor Tariff Relief Appears To Be Coming; More Is Needed. Clark Packard, Cato. July 6, 2022. Over the Fourth of July weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS LIKELY TO LIFT SOME TARIFFS ON IMPORTS FROM CHINA as Washington tries to combat inflation and Beijing reels from COVID‐19‐related shutdowns. The report indicates the tariff “pause” would likely cover consumer goods “such as clothing and school supplies, as well as launching a broad framework to allow importers to request tariff waivers.” … Politico, meanwhile, is reporting THE VALUE OF TARIFF RELIEF WILL BE A MEAGER $10 BILLION out of the approximately $370 billion imposed by the Trump administration. This is better than nothing, but still woefully inadequate. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is currently conducting a required review of the Trump‐era tariffs, the comment period for which expired earlier this week. … News reports indicate a rift within the Biden administration: Treasury