Hobson believed that the imperial scramble was driven by the need for capitalists to find new areas for investment. Unlike Lenin, who used his theories and data, Hobson did not think that imperialism was the inevitable result of capitalist expansion. The problem was oversavings by capitalists and . . . . Continue Reading »
In his 2005 Incoherent Empire , UCLA sociology Michael Mann notes that US tariffs are on average only 4%, “low by historic standards.” But a closer look shows that this openness to foreign goods is selective, and allied to a form of protectionism-by-subsidy. Mann observes that . . . . Continue Reading »
A friend, Chuck Hartman, offers a Trinitarian account of economic exchange: He describes it as a perichoretic reality. Each party to the exchange benefits the other, so there is a mutual glorification in exchange. It “amens the Trinity.” He points to an analogy with the Fifth . . . . Continue Reading »
Behold, the fruit of class warfare rhetoric. This is what happens when you teach that “rich people” became rich at your expense and they owe you their property. The end of respect for private property and a person’s right to have what he’s earned is the end of . . . . Continue Reading »
Jim Rogers of Texas A&M disputes the analysis of the decline of the value of the dollar that I posted from the Economist a week or two ago. The remainder of this is from Jim: The Economist is a good magazine with very broad coverage hard to find in U.S. magazines. Its one error is to sound more . . . . Continue Reading »
William Appleman Williams ( Empire As A Way of Life: An Essay on the Causes and Character of America’s Present Predicament Along with a Few Thoughts about an Alternative ) notes the tradition from mercantile to laissez-faire policies in the Jacksonian era: “We are dealing with the . . . . Continue Reading »
In a long and illuminating post, “Buttonwood” of the Economist offers this provocative angle on the debt crisis: “how about thinking of the last 40 years as one long bubble, in which fiat money has led to asset price inflation. Before you dismiss the idea, think about this; with . . . . Continue Reading »
Human labor is an imitation of and participation in the creative work of God, and fulfilling human labor has the same structure as God’s creative work. We take hold of the world, tear it apart, reassemble it, give it a new name, and then evaluate the products of our labor (as James Jordan has . . . . Continue Reading »
Jim Wallis and a number of other Christians involved in politics are trying to gain attention for the question, “What would Jesus cut?” The answer to this question is supposed to be as obvious as it is in other moral contexts. For example, would Jesus lie about the useful life of a . . . . Continue Reading »
In response to my critical comments about Hayek a few weeks ago, Jameson Graber writes to clarify Hayek’s views. The rest of this post is from Graber: I noticed recently that you wrote a blog post on free market economics , quoting Hayek’s views on social goals. I appreciate your point, . . . . Continue Reading »
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