Marty Mazorra pens an open letter to Paul Krugman on the matter of the burden of government debt.
Three links to Bob Murphy:
First is to Bob’s proper criticism of Paul Krugman’s improper criticism of Robert Samuelson on job creation.
Second is to Bob’s essay “Hurricanes are Nature’s Keynesianism.”
Wall Street Journal columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady identifies Ben Bernanke as a currency manipulator. She’s correct. Here are her opening lines:
In the final televised presidential debate, Mitt Romney promised that if he is elected on Nov. 6 he will “label China a currency manipulator” on “day one” of his presidency. He also pledged to pay more attention to trade with Latin America, noting that the region’s “economy is almost as big as the economy of China.”
To be consistent, Mr. Romney should call out the Federal Reserve on day two for engaging in its own currency manipulation by way of “quantitative easing,” which undermines the value of the dollar relative to Latin American currencies. After all, no one can expect a healthy trade relationship with the region if the Fed is goading U.S. trading partners into competitive currency devaluations.
In this video, Jason Brennan asks if government should force citizens to vote. Here’s a column by Jeff Jacoby on the same issue. (Also check out this related longer video, from 2009, of Bryan Caplan discussing the myth of the rational voter.)
Steve Landsburg explains that politicians hope we’re stupid.
Matt Zwolinski usefully rounds up some links on recent discussions of price-gouging – another topic that always arises when natural disasters hit.
Don’t miss tonight’s Stossel. It will feature Art Carden, David Henderson, Sallie James, and Steve Horwitz – an all-star line-up! FoxBusiness, 9pm EDT, 6pm PDT.
Finally, speaking of Horwitz, his student Garrett Watson has this very fine essay on Say’s Law.