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Economics Essay Video Link

Pet Peeves: “Exploitation Theory”

“Exploitation theory” is something I see being constantly used in socialist arguments, even today. What you won’t hear is that exploitation theory is an uneconomic mess that was completely destroyed by advances in price theory that happened while Marx was still alive.

Oddly enough, even Marx’s opponents, like Kropotkin in The Conquest of Bread, use this faulty idea of exploitation to make their arguments, and it’s kind of painful to watch.

Above, in a ~16 minute video, I’ll break down the problems with exploitation theory and provide a concrete example where a person might choose to rent a tool from another without either person exploiting the other, and with no aggression or differences in ability.

The bottom line is this: anytime someone tells you somebody is exploiting someone else without providing evidence, you can simply dismiss them using the arguments in this video. Their attempts to label certain relationships as exploitative is just them trying to steal a base, and you shouldn’t let them.

My notes and script, if you want to read them.

Video also available on BitChute.

Categories
Economics Essay Video Link

Inflationary Expectations

In this article by Frank Shostak, I think he’s made a bit of a mistake. It may be that I’m missing some subtle point, but I really do think I’m on to something here.

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Political Video Link

Sources and Propaganda

For God’s sake, cite your sources and watch out for people who don’t cite theirs!

There’s a short clip of Klaus Schwab running around the libertarian social media sphere where he’s talking about the danger of libertarianism.

It’s being touted as this great proof that the totalitarians are running scared, so I tried to find the original video.

I did, and it is not what they’re telling you, as much as I hate to say it.
Link to the original video.
Link to the same speaker, same topic, one year later.

Check the video above, also available on BitChute.

Categories
Philosophy Political Video Link

Audio Version: “There Is No Right to a Freedom from Fear”

Audio/video version of my recent article over at the Tenth Amendment Center!

Also available at Bitchute!

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Economics Essay Political Video Link

Demonetization: A Step Toward Neo-Feudalism

(Video also available on Bitchute.)

A recent article by Jon Miltimore over at FEE about Russell Brand’s demonetization got me thinking about this phenomenon. I think we’re all aware that there are some very shady people who really want to pull the strings of society, but even so I feel like Neo-Feudalism is one of those terms that gets treated as whack-job but really isn’t when you think about it.

Categories
Economics Essay Video Link

Bad Banks and Skyscrapers

(Also available on Bitchute)

Doug French wrote an article last week called “Bank CEOs Have Their Heads in the Clouds” and he talks about how all of the bank CEOs are very optimistic, but he notes that their real estate agents are optimistic, and so are their loan officers.

Categories
Economics Video Link

Objecting to Oren Cass’s Protectionism

Had the idea for this video after watching a couple of episodes of the Bob Murphy Show. In the first, Bob has Oren Cass on. Oren did some really excellent work debunking the economic hysteria around climate change, but these days he seems to be going down an oddly protectionist pathway. Bob lets him talk without too much pushback (because Bob’s a nice guy and is genuinely interested in giving opposing views a fair shake).

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Essay Political Video Link

Ignorance of the Law Is No Excuse for Tyrants!

On Friday, September 8, 2023, the governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, unilaterally and unconstitutionally ordered that open and licensed concealed carry of firearms was banned in all counties above a certain threshold of violent crime. A U.S. District Court judge quickly blocked her order with a temporary restraining order, but the safe money is on the governor getting away with this attempt to curtail the liberties of the people of New Mexico with no personal consequences.

Categories
Economics Video Link

The Enemy Is Scarcity!

Breaking down a really economically illiterate article by Caitlin Johnstone, who has some good positions (on say, censorship and government surveillance) but economics apparently isn’t one of them…

Categories
Economics Essay Video Link

Targeted Ignorance Against Investment

The structure and details of investing is one place pop “economists” seem to love to be ignorant. For example, we have the eminent Thomas Piketty, who says the return on investment in capital exceeds the overall rate of growth of the economy. We’ll get into that in more detail in a minute, but first let’s start with a great example of what he’s missing: the potential downsides of investment.