Social planning

In a response to a forwarded post, a friend made the following argument (I am putting only its essence and in my own words, since I have not taken permission to make it public)
Market forces can produce outcomes that are worse off for everyone in the system. A social planner can, (in some cases at least) improve on [...]

Economics in one unlearnt lesson

I recently found the time to read Henry Hazlitt’s book “Economics in One Lesson” (available online here). The book conclusively demonstrates that any attempts to coerce the free market can only result in the short term gains of special interest groups at the expense of everyone else and that even these short term gains are more than [...]

A new blog on business, economics and free enterprise

Simply Capitalism (feed) is a new blog on business, economics and free enterprise.
Here is an excerpt from their first post
Today, we live in a mixed economy made up of both semi-free markets and government controls. We live in a culture that views business and businessmen as a necessary evil. While the ability of capitalism to bring general [...]

The financial crisis and pragmatism

Following the recent financial crisis, there have been three kinds of reactions in general
The socialists are on a rampage denouncing capitalism, free enterprise, greed and the profit motive. It is difficult to miss a note of glee in their screams. It is almost as if the financial crisis and the alleged role of capitalism in causing [...]

Sustainability of Capitalism – Applied Philosophy – 4

In view of the fact that the United States political/economic system has turned into a mostly illiberal and highly regulated democracy, the question “Is capitalism inherently unsustainable?” deserves attention.
Politically, capitalism is a form of social organization based on the recognition of individual rights. Economically, it is a system where owners of capital exercise their property rights to trade [...]

Nuclear Deal

Here is a hilarious post on the nuclear deal that makes the point that “common people” have no clue of what the whole nuclear issue is all about.
And that is as it should be. Issues such as “energy security”, the extent of availability, nature and feasibility of various energy sources cannot properly be the concern of “common people”, [...]