In these, the golden years of congressional farce, we need periodically to be reminded of a few basic economic realities. Here is just one of them. I will try to offer up others from time to time, but I keep getting distracted by the glorious theatrics all arouund us. It is hard to keep my …
Bertie Comes Through
Things are in a parlous state when Bertie Wooster understands economics better than all the smart johnnies running the Western world . . . Orlo Porter, an old school acquaintance and ardent leftist, speaks to Bertie, and Bertie thinks sense to himself: “‘He has a big house in the country with a stable of racehorses, …
Grabby Grabby
In this our financial crisis, an archbishop has stepped forward to thunder out a message of selective repentance. The meltdown has led him to observe, and it was a pretty fair shot too, that a lot of people out there were worshiping a lot of money. Look where that got us, hey? But then he …
Gravity and Supply and Demand
The law of supply and demand is not a mere cultural artifact. In short, it is not comparable to the decision-making process that the lords of etiquette went through when deciding where the dessert fork should go relative to your plate. A moment’s reflection should tell you that they could have decided pretty much anything, …
Maybe I Don’t Wonder Why
The inflation rate in Zimbabwe was last month at about 2.3 million percent, thanks to their ruler-thug who refuses to leave office. And strident insistence, such as we might find proceeding from an Anglican episcopal seat, that we apply the ethics found in the parable of the Good Samaritan to international situations such as this …
Pinched Faces, Dehydrated Hearts, and Sticky Fingers
On Friday, a student asked me a good question at our weekly disputatio, a question concerning the Trinity in the world of giving and generosity. Does the free market, where each person is watching out for number one, undercut the work of the Trinity in our lives, as He works to make us overflow in …
Bar Stool Economics
A friend sent me this little thing making the Internet rounds. Thought I would pass it on. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first …
What Hath All the Smart People Wrought?
Just a few random notes on the unfolding debacle in our financial markets. Further bulletins will be forthcoming as events warrant. First, I wonder how much longer it will be before both presidential candidates realize that this is a complete game changer. To watch both sides in this thus far is like seeing the Martians …
Crapitalism
After a while words mean what they usually mean. If everybody misuses a word, and they do so for several centuries, then they have successfully changed the meaning of that word. Words like conservative or capitalist get shanghaied, and there you are, left muttering that you didn’t really want to conserve the Great Society, and …
Financial Crisis in a Nutshell
Or, perhaps I should say, “financial crisis in a nuthouse.” Here is the basic reason why you should be urging your congressman to vote to keep Congress out of any financial rescue operation. The perpetrators of this crisis are brazen, and they are also in Congress. And in this last week, I have seen them, …