Human Irrationality is an Argument For – Not Against – Free Markets

Human Irrationality is an Argument For – Not Against – Free Markets
Post Date July 31, 2021
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If everyone was irrational all of the time we would be in big trouble. You’d never know when someone was suddenly going to swerve off the road for no apparent reason and drive into a building, or start babbling to you in tongues over the phone when all you wanted to do was order a pizza.[1]

That being said – people are irrational enough of the time, that behavioral economists are never done telling us that they are not suitable for a market economy …

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Understanding the virtue of thrift: A response to Joyce McMillan

Understanding the virtue of thrift: A response to Joyce McMillan
Post Date June 07, 2017
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In Response to Joyce McMillan’s article “Debunking the Tory myth of the magic money tree”, first published in the Scotsman on 02/06/17.

 

Understanding the virtue of thrift: A response to Joyce McMillan

“If socialists understood economics, they would not be socialists.”
– Nobel prize-winning economist Friedrich Hayek.

 

Writing in Friday’s (02/06/17) Scotsman, Joyce McMillan asserts that any fiscal constraint by government (so-called “austerity”) is unnecessary, claiming that it has unleashed:

“…a litany of meanness and misery firmly based on the assumption that there is a finite amount of money in …

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What Libertarianism Can Do For The Poor

What Libertarianism Can Do For The Poor
Post Date March 17, 2017
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Government intervention in our economy is currently taking a massive toll on living standards, especially for the poor, who do not have high disposable incomes and spend the majority of their cash on basic essentials. They take the brunt of rises in the cost of living. We can create a richer society where the costs of living fall, and living standards rise faster.

Here’s how we will do it.

Cheap Accommodation

The cost of housing has skyrocketed over the last five decades and with it the cost of …

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Universal Basic Income: For and Against

Post Date January 12, 2017
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Antony Sammeroff gives a speech and answers questions about the proposed Universal Basic Income in Scotland.

 

Antony Sammeroff is a writer and life coach from Glasgow living in Edinburgh. He is the Scottish Libertarian Party’s spokesperson on economics and environment and hosts The Scottish Liberty Podcast weekly, with co-host Tom Laird. He also writes his own economics blog Seeing the Unseen.

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The Death of Castro

The Death of Castro
Post Date November 27, 2016
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The death of Castro requires special comment as social media has been awash, over the last couple of days, with celebrations of the man who has presided over a country where doctors are paid $25 a month, teacher $15, and the best paid professions are taxi driver and prostitute. A nation where people need vouchers to buy food.

But what can you say to someone who loves Big Brother?

Some of his champions naively blame the U.S. embargo on Cuba for these conditions but, while the embargo …

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Misanthropic Myths about 3rd World Poverty debunked!

Misanthropic Myths about 3rd World Poverty debunked!
Post Date September 20, 2016
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One of the most persistent myths about 3rd World Poverty is that if underdeveloped nations are allowed economic advancement and become wealthy it will be some kind of unmitigated environmental disaster. Is that so?

Wealthy countries can afford to clean up their water supplies after fouling them and treat their sewage properly. They can replant their forests, put recycling infrastructure into place, and farm sustainably. Countries without wealth can’t do that. In places like Bangladesh people must scramble to make a living with no long-term …

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The Hope of Affordable Housing – A Modern Fairy Tale

The Hope of Affordable Housing – A Modern Fairy Tale
Post Date June 04, 2016
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A Modern Fairy Tale

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” says the politician behind the podium – live on tv – sweat dripping from his brow…

“Here’s the bad news – ”

A moment of gravity descends the Nation as they await the words that follow…

“The value of your houses are going to fall – dramatically. Maybe by 50, 60 per cent – Maybe less, maybe more – I can’t exactly say by how much, but they’re going to fall, and they are going to fall badly. …

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We Shouldn’t Even Need a Basic Income to Meet Everyones Needs!

We Shouldn’t Even Need a Basic Income to Meet Everyones Needs!
Post Date May 31, 2016
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Over the past couple of years the popularity of the proposal for a basic income, paid to everyone in the country regardless of their income and occupation (or lack of one) has become increasingly popular. For people on lower incomes it would be in the form of a “negative income tax”; for people on higher incomes it would take the form of a tax deduction; and for people in between they would get a graded combination of both.

It’s easy to see the appeal.

It would make sure that …

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The Collapse of Venezuela

The Collapse of Venezuela
Post Date May 21, 2016
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The collapse of socialism in Venezuela is significant although I doubt it will change the hearts and minds of the left here at home as we are subjected to the usual litany of excuses: “western imperialism,” “oil prices,” “trade sanctions,” and most predictably: “That wasn’t real socialism…”

Whenever and wherever socialism invariably collapses, bad governments are blamed, bad politicians, or nasty dictators…

Hugo Chavez was different. He was not a savage dictator. He really believed in socialism and tried to do everything within his power for his people.

He still …

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Why Mechanisation Does Not Cause Unemployment…

Why Mechanisation Does Not Cause Unemployment…
Post Date March 05, 2016
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While nominally the adoption of machines can result in job losses; across the economy itself mechanisation does not cause unemployment but in fact frees people up to do more productive work and provides a breadth of benefits that improve the living standards of everyone.

Mechanisation has often been misconstrued to provoke unemployment but this is a fallacy that has been slain time and time again by economists. If it were true, then surely by this point in technical advancement there would hardly be a job left …

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