I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: few professional economists understand economics as well as does Sheldon Richman – who is not formally trained as an economist – understands economics. In this way, Sheldon is very much like Bastiat was. Here’s a slice from Sheldon’s most-recent essay on Bastiat:
We might call Bastiat’s theory a labor-spared theory of value. But when you recall that for Bastiat a thing has to be found useful for it to be a valuable good, there is perfect harmony with the theory of subjective marginal utility: Given that I find a good useful, what’s the best way for me to obtain a unit of it? If someone is willing to furnish it to me, what service must I render in return to that person? Can I obtain the unit on better terms either by making it myself or by exchanging services with someone else?
Nick Gillespie announces the first annual Reason Video Award.
Speaking of Nick, in tomorrow’s Washington Post he debunks five myths about libertarians.
I share Jonah Goldberg’s opinion of Hillary Clinton. Why this woman – who, like the typical politician she is, lusts so lasciviously for power – is regarded as fit to hold the power for which she so obviously lusts is a mystery to me. (Of course, the same is true for nearly every politician – male or female; black, white, or other-colored; straight, gay, or bi; tall, short, or average; fat, skinny, or middlin’; alive, dead, or comatose. The very fact that someone seeks such power and to be in that sort of spotlight speaks volumes about his or her character – and what is spoken is deeply unflattering.)
