culture and intellectuals

For Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson and economist Thomas Sowell discuss the nexus between culture and economic outcomes. The discussion is based on Sowell’s latest book “Intellectuals and Race”.

Multiculturalism is an insistence that the particular cultures found among less fortunate groups are not to be blamed for disparities in income, education, or crime rates but are on net positive.

This quotation reminds me of another sentence by Thomas Sowell that I posted about a year ago (link):

Although intellectuals pay a lot of attention to inequality among different groups, seldom has this attention been directed toward how the less economically successful might improve themselves by availing themselves of the culture of others around them.

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fallacy of marxism

Anyone interested in learning more about the economics of Marxism might refer to a book published by Thomas Sowell back in 1985, called ‘Marxism: Philosophy and Economics‘.

In her review, Diana Hsieh discusses the main aspects of the book. As she points out, Marx’s crucial concept of “surplus value” was insinuated rather than explicitly established, either logically or empirically. Surplus value is simply defined as an “increment or excess over the original value” invested in production. And Marx quickly assumed labor to be the (only) factor responsible for this increment in value or of output. As Sowell notes:

It was an assumption deeply embedded in classical economics… [an assumption] devastated by the new conceptions and analyses introduced by neo-classical economics.

As a theoretical system, Marxian economics begins the story of production in the middle–with firms, capital, and management already in existence somehow, and needing only the addition of labor to get production started. From that point on, output is a function of labor input, given all the other factors somehow already assembled, coordinated, and directed toward a particular economic purpose.

[However,] once output is seen as a function of numerous inputs, and the inputs are supplied by more than one class of people, the notion that surplus value arises from [the] labor [of the proletariat] becomes plainly arbitrary and unsupported.

With his definition of surplus value, however, Marx completely neglects the roles of knowledge and risk in an economy: Since there are also failing firms which also hired workers, we see that there is no guarantee of receiving surplus value after hiring workers.

Sowell proceeds and explains how Marxism has been put into practice:

When economic incentives were drastically reduced or abolished in the heady egalitarian period following the Bolshevik revolution, the Soviet economy ground to a halt. Widespread hunger and a halt to vital services forced Lenin to resort to his “New Economic Policy” that restored the hated capitalist practices.

The later nationalizing of all industry under Stalin and his successors did not restore egalitarianism. Quite the contrary. There were highly unequal rewards to management, including whole systems of special privilege stores to which ordinary Soviet workers [had] no access.

This recognition of the fundamental failure of Marxian economics has later been described as

…mere betrayals of Marxist ideals, missing the more fundamental point that a crucial false assumption must be corrected in practice if people are to survive.

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power

Currently I am reading Hayek’s Road to Serfdom. As a preview and taken from the Reader’s Digest version, here is a fine quotation:

We shall never prevent the abuse of power if we are not prepared to limit power in a way which occasionally may prevent its use for desirable purposes.

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blessings of capitalism

When reading Jeremy Clarkson’s latest book Round the Bend, the last thing you might expect is to learn something about economics. But you do. Because instead of reviewing the Audi A4, Clarkson talks about how capitalism benefits the consumers.

Because McDonald’s and Burger King offer tasty snacks in every town in the world, anyone selling inferior burgers made from stale bread and dead horses will go out of business extremely quickly.

That’s the core of capitalism. ‘Better’ will always win the day. And it doesn’t matter what form ‘better’ takes. Better can mean cheaper, more convenient, nicer, prettier, more tasty, more healthy. […] Because the bosses of the giant corporations know this, they strive constantly to make what they sell better, and that’s brilliant for you and me.

When was the last time you had a faulty cigarette? When was the last time your plane crashed? When did you last take a strawberry back to the supermarket because it was all covered in slime? It’s not governments or best-before dates or health and safety that is doing this; it’s capitalism.

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market vs government

The other day I came across this great quotation from Thomas Sowell’s “Basic Economics“:

Too often a false contrast is made between the impersonal marketplace and the compassionate policies of various government programs. But both systems face the same scarcity of resources and both systems make choices within the constraints of that scarcity. The difference is that one system involves each individual making choices for himself or herself, while the other system involves a smaller number of people making choices for millions of others.

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basic economics

Having spent several years studying economics at a university, most graduates still find it hard to discuss properly current economic policies. This is due to the fact that the subject of economics today focuses mostly on abstract theories and estimation techniques. It mainly consists of mathematical formulas which describe models of limited practical use.

This is not to say that economic research does not deliver new insights into how an economy works. But rather that the study of economics often misses the bigger picture and lacks a profound analysis of various real-world economic policies.

Thomas Sowell has published a brilliant book that addresses this shortcoming:

Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell

In this book, Sowell discusses dozens of policy interventions and economic mechanisms. He does so without formulas, math, tables, or figures. Instead the reader finds plain English text, historical examples and common sense reasoning.

The fundamental theme that runs throughout the book is the definition of economics itself:

Economics is the study of the use of scarce resources which have alternative uses.

Topic after topic, Sowell explains what this simple definition implies and how it contradicts many political statements:

However useful economics may be for understanding many issues, it is not as emotionally satisfying as more personal and melodramatic depictions of these issues often found in the media and in politics. Dry empirical questions are seldom as exciting as political crusades or ringing moral pronouncements. But empirical questions are questions that must be asked, if we are truly interested in the well-being of others, rather than in excitement or a sense of moral superiority for ourselves. Perhaps the most important distinction is between what sounds good and what works. The former may be sufficient for purposes of politics or moral preening, but not for the economic advancement of people in general or the poor in particular. For those who are willing to stop and think, basic economics provides some tools for evaluating policies and proposals in terms of their logical implications and empirical consequences.

While waiting for the delivery of your copy you may want to watch how Sowell himself discusses his book with Peter Robinson:

The problem is not that the profession has not reached a level of understanding. I think if the average citizen understood economics as well as it was understood by economists two hundred years ago, most of the nonsense that is done in Washington would be impossible politically.

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why men earn more

Some years ago, Dr. Warren Farrell published a much-debated book called “Why Men Earn More“. At that time he also gave a bunch of interviews that have gained importance now that even the European Union believes it must act.

If men earn a dollar for each 76 cents that women earn for the same work, why would anybody hire a man to do anything?

 

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death by government

The other day, I got this interesting book by Professor Rummel from the University of Hawaii:

In any case, the empirical and theoretical conclusion is this: The way to end war and to virtually eliminate democide appears to be through restricting and checking power.

The less freedom people have, the greater the violence; the more freedom, the less the violence. I offer this proposition here as the Power Principle: power kills, and absolute power kills absolutely.

In my view, Rummel’s analysis presents a strong case in favor of strictly limited government. The book mainly consists of data, so it is not the type of history book you might expect. But all those numbers really tell a story. So, if you still believe that democracy is bad, that government power should be great, or that the Nazis killed more than anybody else, get a copy of the book.

And if you believe that a history book is no longer relevant, now that more and more countries become democratic, watch this:

The Constitution says that if the government wants your life, or your liberty, or your property, it has to articulate to a jury what law you have violated and prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

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end the fed

Admittedly, I took me way too long to finally read Dr. Paul’s End the Fed. But the least thing I can do is to recommend it, especially if you haven’t thought much about the relationship between central banking (fiat money) and financial crises.

One of the most astounding figures in the book reveals the development of the purchasing power of gold and selected currencies (US Dollar, British Pound, DM, Yen, Swiss Franc, etc.) since 1913. You can find it here. As we see, the only fiat currency with a somewhat acceptable path has been the Swiss Franc. All the other currencies have devalued greatly, with the US Dollar having less than six percent of its 1913 purchasing power.

Ron Paul (2009). "End the Fed", Grand Central Publishing

There is no denying that the subject of gold is central to the issue of restoring sound money. That’s because gold emerged from within the structure of the market economy as the most important guarantor of the quality of money. It was not chosen by governments but by the market. The reason is easy to understand. Gold has all the qualities that we associate most with good money: divisibility, portability, high value per unit of weight, durability, and uniform quality.

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free to choose

Free to Choose has been the title of both one of the greatest economics textbooks and television series by economists Milton and Rose D. Friedman. The other day I found the whole collection of ten episodes on youtube. If you have not already read the book, I may suggest to you to get a copy for about $10 and study it. Up until delivery, you may have a look at the TV episodes:

Free to Choose videos

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