The first part of “Commanded by Oil” detailed the two basic ways that government disrupts the flow of capital in a free market. Government can hinder the flow through taxation and regulation, and government can command the flow to target certain business sectors at the expense of others. Oil corporations naturally advocate government becoming less [...]
What the government should do about rising oil prices has been on everybody’s minds. Different interests and allegiances have led to starkly contrasting opinions on what should be done. I have little sympathy for oil corporations, outside of my wish that we really should honor their call for free markets. This means I am one [...]
We have a political system that merges power, wealth, and special interest elites in the form of a political party. I never could understand why anyone pulls the party lever, or for that matter why people proudly brand themselves as either “conservatives” or “liberals.” If you want to be extremely devoted to just one party [...]
As promised yesterday, I will be providing lyrics to songs already available for download in the Traveling Forum. This weekend I’ll be uploading a new song as well: Power and Dough. The playlist in the Traveling Forum can be divided into four parts. The first four parts corresponds to the Hans out of Luck theme [...]
If you have glanced at the Forum’s Mission page, you know I’m trying to build awareness and discussion about the middle class — and to publicize a collection of essays called Hans out of Luck. I’ve been posting about every five days because it takes that much time for me to think of something thoughtful [...]
“The Conservation of Consumption Science has developed two similar laws about nature, the conservation of matter and energy, which state you cannot create something from nothing. Let us extend this principle to the economic world, in what we will call the “law of conservation of consumption.” You can’t consume something from nothing in a market [...]
“The higher costs of corporate lobbyists and lawyers sometimes are absorbed through favors extracted from government that helps the large business corporation out compete the smaller sole proprietorships. Subsidies for businesses in general tend to favor the large business corporation in particular. Archer Midlands Daniels has received more subsidies than all small organic farmers combined. [...]
“The actual content of factual information costs little. Small businesses depend on comparatively inexpensive local advertising and word-of-mouth endorsements from customers. Word-of-mouth endorsements promote the actual merits of goods and services without hype or coercion, but cannot compete with the resources of a large business corporation for expanding demand through marketing and lobbying. Expanding markets [...]
On balance, however, proprietorships better preserve the merits of production that is supposed to drive a free market. When you purchase goods from a small proprietorship you pay a higher price for the production costs, but most of what you pay are for the direct merits of production. When you purchase goods from a large [...]
Continue reading about Are Libertarian Think Tanks Worried Sick About Exploitation?
“The first irony is that apparently these (laissez faire) economists have yet to figure out that only government can sanction greed in any type of economy. … The second irony is that once greed has been sanctioned through the necessary intervention of government and the coercion of corporations, a free market no longer exists. Laissez [...]
Continue reading about Reducing the Command of Business Corporations