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Liberty and Power

  • Feb 25, 2010

    Anatomy of the Current Recession

    by Liberty and Power

    Not everyone has the stomach for perusing the national income and product accounts, but one who does can learn a great deal about what ails the present economy and about its prospects for returning to a healthier condition. (I draw the data I discuss here from Table B-2, “Real gross domestic product, 1960-2009,” in the statistical appendix that accompanies the 2010 report of the presid
  • Feb 25, 2010

    Not So "Bizarre" After All: More on Bernanke, Paul, the Fed, and Watergate

    by Liberty and Power

    Robert Wenzel has more details:

    Clearly, there were some very, very odd transactions that went down which may, or may not, have been abnormally facilitated by the Fed. Was this a normal Fed wire, or something more convoluted? My sense has always been that there was something a bit extraordinary about the way the funds went through the Fed system. It does smell, for sure, and
  • Feb 24, 2010

    Ben Bernanke Gives Ron Paul the "Idiot Treatment" (Watergate Payoffs)

    by Liberty and Power

    After Ron Paul raised questions about possible past Federal Reserve misdeeds including allegations of involvement in Watergate payoffs, Ben Bernanke answered smugly:"These specific allegations you've made, I think are absolutely bizarre."

    The crowd reflexively laughed at Dr. No's perceived looniness and pundits have already depicted his concerns as"wild" and"odd."

    Well, it seems that

  • Feb 24, 2010

    BLACK HISTORY MONTH

    by Liberty and Power

    February is Black History Month, and many times the focus is on the suffering of African Americans and historical wrongs rather than black achievement. Here is an article that reminds readers to avoid turning the month into one"steeped in guilt and oppression."

    As a side note, the author urges readers to"blend black history into American history" rather than treat it as a separate category.

  • Feb 23, 2010

    American History Begins in 1877

    by Liberty and Power

    There's been quite a flap over how 11th grade history is to be taught in North Carolina. The Department of Public Instruction decided to start the only U.S. history course in high school after Reconstruction-- so that it could work in more modern history (and some ideas about big themes, such as Progressivism). A history professor at N.C. State, Holly Brewer, sounded the a
  • Feb 22, 2010

    Sarah Strangelove's Advice for Obama

    by Liberty and Power

    Another reason to cheer Palin's humiliation at the CPAC straw poll. Here's what she told the folks at Fox, who were probably nodding their heads as they listened: "Say he decided to declare war on Iran, I think people would perhaps shift their thinking a little bit and decide, well, maybe he's tougher than we think he is today."
  • Feb 21, 2010

    Bob and Ray's Comedy Send-up of American History

    by Liberty and Power

    Before Monty Python, South Park, and Sam Kinison, there was Bob and Ray. The comedy team became a legend in the 1950s through their radio skits. Particularly hilarious in this sampling of their routines is an interview of an American history who admits that his book

  • Feb 21, 2010

    Ron Paul Wins CPAC Presidential Staw Poll

    by Liberty and Power

    Amazing. It is headline news on both Fox and CNN this morning. I had pretty much given up on conservativism. Maybe there is hope yet for a broad left-right antiwar coalition when a candidate who is to the left of Kucinich on fo
  • Feb 19, 2010

    Why Did the British Bomb German Cities?

    by Liberty and Power

    Discussing the British bombing of German cities during 1941-45, Leo McKinstry cites extensive archival evidence to rebut the official claim that"[t]he loss of life, which amounted to some 600,000 killed, was purely incidental."

    "The British government has long denied that wartime air raids on German cities were intended to kill as many civilians as possible. In fact, the raids, led by Arthur Harris, were
  • Feb 18, 2010

    Those Reponsible

    by Liberty and Power

    There are really only 545 people who bear direct responsiblity for the appalling condition, both financially and morally that this country is in. Charlie Reese makes a compelling case for the truth of that statement. From time to time I have wondered if a political movement based on the idea of making sure that in the next election every single incumbent who ran lost, no matter what party they belonged to or what
  • Feb 17, 2010

    Of Labor Notes and Time Stories

    by Liberty and Power

    The utopian communities in 19th century America provide some fascinating lessons as to how and why human beings come together to form a society. The communities organized around divergent principles from religious purity to socialistic zeal...and ideals of radical individualism. (The echoes of libertarian ones can be felt today in structured efforts like the Free State Project in New Hampshire to less official ones like Doug Casey's libertarian oasis in Argentina.) Generally speaking, the commun
  • Feb 16, 2010

    Michael Bérubé and My Post on Gun Free Zones

    by Liberty and Power

    Over at Crooked Timber, Michael Bérubé says the following about my post on the UAH shootings:

    The point that must not go unacknowledged is that there is no way University of Alabama- Huntsville students can feel safe on campus until professors are permitted to bring guns to faculty meetings. Apparently, David Beito agrees.

  • Feb 15, 2010

    A Guest Blog at FreeRangeKids.com

    by Liberty and Power

    As part of my book-in-progress on libertarianism and the family, I've read several books on parenting and the contemporary family. My favorite may well be Lenore Skenazy's book Free Range Kids.  I sent her something of a fan letter that included a comment that her chapter titled"Don't Think Like a Lawyer" should have added"Do Think Like an Economist."  I explained why and she asked if I'd write
  • Feb 15, 2010

    Unexpected Good Policy Choice

    by Liberty and Power

    It is very difficult to find any aspect of the Obama Administration that most libertarians would view in a positive light. Here, however, is an exception to that situation.
  • Feb 15, 2010

    Playing with Wollaston's Significancy

    by Liberty and Power

    have always enjoyed thought experiments and other intellectual mind games that break through habits of thinking or offer unusual insights. It is just plain fun to play around with ideas, to arrange them like legos or blocks you can topple. People often lose this sense of fun because they are obsessed with whether an idea is right or wrong, moral or immoral, acceptable or laughable... These are certainly considerations when you present ideas publicly but there is also real value to allowing idea