Wanted: Moral Courage
powered by Surfing Waves “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare,” wrote Mark Twain more than a century ago. If moral courage means knowing what’s right and both doing it and defending it in spite of fear or obstructions, would you say we’ve improved over the years? My heart wants to say yes but my head tells me no. Every day seems to bring distressing news of moral courage in decline. When we see acts of moral courage, we should recognize and applaud t…
Dethroning the Almighty Dollar?
powered by Surfing Waves This is the text of a talk by AIER Research Faculty Peter C. Earle at the June 7, 2023 Meeting of Alder Unplugged. Good afternoon and thank you for having me. I’ve planned for these remarks to take no more than ten minutes, but economists are about as good at forecasting as politicians are at budgeting. So, it may run a slight bit longer – apologies in advance if it does. About two months ago, on April 4th, I wrote an article entitled “ De-dollarization has Begun ” which w…
California Is Trying to Pass a Law That Would Stop Employees From Confronting Shoplifters. Here's Why It Would Be a Disaster
powered by Surfing Waves Thomas Baltimore Jr., the chairman and CEO of Park Hotels and Resorts, announced earlier this month that his company would stop paying a $725 million loan on two of San Francisco’s largest hotels, Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55. Baltimore cited low demand and “concerns over street conditions” as reasons to stop payments on the hotels, which will be returned to the lender. The decision is another blow to downtown San Francisco and California, which has experien…
Juneteenth and The Greatest Anti-Slavery Movement Ever
powered by Surfing Waves On June 19, 1865, just two days before the first day of summer, the Union Army marched into Galveston, where US General Gordon Granger announced that the 250,000 slaves in Texas were slaves no more. Even though Granger’s Army arrived in Galveston more than two months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House (and John Wilkes Booth had assassinated Lincoln), the only legal basis to declare slaves free in mid-1865 was the Emancipation Pr…
Announcing New Deal Rebels, edited by Amity Shlaes
powered by Surfing Waves The American Institute of Economic Research is pleased to announce the release of its newest book, New Deal Rebels . This anthology, edited and with an introduction by bestselling author Amity Shlaes, brings together important and oft neglected commentaries from the critics of the New Deal. As historian David T. Beito writes, “ New Deal Rebels is an essential resource for anyone interested in this critical period in American history.” 2023 is the 90th anniversary of Fran…
Can Artificial Intelligence Solve the Socialist Calculation Problem?
powered by Surfing Waves I was recently told that humanity is “rapidly advancing” toward solving the socialist calculation problem. I wasn’t told why, but around the same time, economist Daron Acemoglu suggested that artificial intelligence could be the solution. To get literary, perhaps we are on the verge of creating the Machines, the artificial intelligences that plan the global economy in Isaac Asimov’s short story, “The Evitable Conflict” (which became the last chapter of his book, I, Robot .) The M…
Media Manipulators and their Foul Egregores
powered by Surfing Waves The following is inscribed above the entry hall of the once-venerable Chicago Tribune : Give Me But The Liberty Of The Press And I Will Give To The Minister A Venal House Of Peers. I Will Give Him A Corrupt And Service House Of Commons. I Will Give Him The Full Swing Of The Patronage Of Office. I Will Give Him All The Power That Place Can Confer Upon Him To Purchase Up Submission And Overawe Resistance: And Yet, Armed With The Liberty Of The Press, I Will Go Forth To Meet Him …
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