Milton Friedman on: Redistribution of Wealth, The Great Depression “Myth”
Two great Milton Friedman videos here.
In the first video, Friedman explodes the myth that the Great Depression was caused by a failure of free enterprise.
In the second video, Friedman clears up some myths about the distribution of wealth and looks specifically at the inheritance tax.
Understanding CPI (the Consumer Price Index)
Let’s learn about the CPI (Consumer Price Index), and why it’s important to factor this into any discussion of inflation.
Investopedia has a nice article on this very topic.
Understanding Capital Gains Taxes
Since there is currently a debate raging on the issue of capital gains, I thought I’d take a second to include a bunch of random links I’ve been reading through as a refresher of sorts on capital gains taxes- what they are, when they’re paid, why they’re lower than regular income tax rates, etc.
Investopedia
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capital_gains_tax.asp#axzz1mbc2WmqM
About.com Economics
http://economics.about.com/cs/finance/a/money_lost.htm
About.com Investing
http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/capitalgainstax/ss/capital-gains-tax-rates_3.htm
Union Demands Lead to Higher Prices?
“There can be little doubt that union activities lead to continuous and progressive inflation.”
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- F. A. Hayek, the Constitution of Liberty
Thoughts??
- F. A. Hayek, the Constitution of Liberty
Right and Left Agree- Rent Control is a Bad Idea
I’m reading some things about rent control and whether or not it does any good for anybody. It’s always seemed to me there’s no way it could ever be a good idea. Without any training in economics, it’s common sense that you can’t set a price ceiling and get away with it scot-free. There are definitely going to be tradeoffs no one wants to deal with, and we’re likely going to see negative effects for people looking for affordable housing. It doesn’t make sense that such a price ceiling idea would ever truly work to benefit many people, let alone most people.
In terms of economics, we know that price ceilings cause shortages, because it makes it impossible for the free market to work, and supply and demand simply cannot find each other in this system.
So, I’m researching it in more detail, and I’m starting with these two pages. One from the Library of Economics and Liberty and the other from the Cato Institute.
Library of Economics and Liberty:
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/RentControl.html
Cato Institute:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-274.html
A Personal Note on My Own Biases Here
I wanted to take a second to note a few things about myself and my personal beliefs in terms of this page. First off, I am personally a moral and fiscal conservative. I’m sort of a dichotomy in some aspects, as I’m perfectly willing to admit I support the legalization of prostitution, for example, which is sometimes hard to comport with the idea of a social con. I’m usually on the side of less government, period. Though, I do think government should limit access to certain things- I wouldn’t support the legalization of marijuana, for example, because I think it would lead to far too many problems in the short and long run to ever make sense to go through with any change in the status quo. I cuss like a sailor, and though I’m a self-described Christian, I am certainly skeptical of a lot of things in the Biblical text, and no the world is not 10, 000 years old or anywhere close to that. I am not “anti-” the people who believe that it is, or those who support the legalization of pot, or that we should ensure the govt bans any sort of weird sex…point being, I’m much more friendly to the conservative side of things.
In terms of economics. Well, it is admittedly a science I have studied much less, in the sense that I have researched and discussed general politics for years. I come at economics from a political perspective, no doubt about that, but I am, at best, a noob, for lack of a better word. My visceral reaction to issues of economics is one of tiny government, free market capitalism, low taxes, and as few barriers to entry as possible. Fewer regulations all around. So, I’d toss my hat into the ring closer to Friedman, Hayek, Mises, Thomas Sowell…not so much with Keynes or Paul Krugman. Thus, he banner featuring Adam Smith and Milton Friedman is no accident.
I’m willing to discuss all sides of the economic issues. I just wanted to make note that in my own personal posting, I’m geared more to a conservative viewpoint, which will surely be reflected in my choice of topics and choice of sites I link to. I also wanted to make it clear what my personal beliefs are, because I feel it’s better to be totally upfront about these things from the start.
Feel free to share what your own personal views are regarding economics.
Who Pays for Unemployment Benefits?
Just a sort of 101 on unemployment benefits and just who pays for them anyhow.
Why Do We Pay Athletes More Than Teachers? (The Diamond/Water Paradox)
As a first year econ student, we barely touched upon the diamond and water paradox, but I found it quite interesting as soon as he mentioned the basic premise. Now, I won’t pretend to understand the difference between labor theory of value or the subjective theory of value…well, I guess I can grasp the basic concepts, but we never dealt with any of that stuff yet, so I’d just scratch the surface, but from what I’m reading there are, in fact, criticisms of the paradox depending on where you find the meaning of value.
Anyhow. I found this post from the Von Mises Institute that talks about why athletes are paid far more than teachers.
“Top professional athletes regularly sign multi-million dollar contracts, with signing bonuses and lucrative product promotion deals.
Why do professional athletes make so much more money than, say, professional teachers? Do people really value sports more than they value education?” [READ FULL ARTICLE HERE]
Welcome
So, I started this blog in an attempt to maybe get some people that are interested in the study of economics together to…well, discuss economics basically.
This might be a completely failed venture, but I guess we will see. If you’re studying economics currently or have in the past and want to contribute here, email me at economicsdiscuss at gmail. Or, if you just want to participate in the comments section to start some discussions, feel free to do that as well.
For now, I will write some articles to try to get some conversations going.
