Mike Rowe from the series Dirty Jobs talks about reward theory and the dynamic aspect of social economics.

John Law

April 21st is the birthday of John Law (1671 - 1729) who came from a wealthy Scottish banking family. Having a great grasp on economics yet allowing vice to bankrupt him, Law figured out a way out of his situation by pairing up with the French royalty who likewise had bankrupted themselves with the king's past war endeavors.

We may recall the 2001 Dot Com Bubble in computer stock trading but stock bubbles are at least 300 years old.  Mr. Law tied the French money supply to a central bank and then used stock as paper money which created an investment boom.  This scheme came complete with speculation, deflation, stock splits and finally a bust - all in only four years!

"The most sensational get-rich-quick scheme in history" courtesy of a central bank and nefarious government leaders.

This 1978 video about John Law and the "Mississippi Bubble" from Richard Condie details the problems found with compulsive people, irrational behavior, fractional reserve, using law to manipulate the money supply and finally the tendency for underground trade in response to poor central policy.

Law's royal central bank of France, the Banque Générale, still survives today in another form.  Some of his economic theories are well noted but one should keep in mind the nature of man when he has control of monetary supply.

Earth Day

For Earth Day 2013 let us look back at this video on endangered species from the Learn Liberty queue.

Additionally we can find more direct economic ties to natural resources in How Capitalism Saved the Whales.  A couple of highlights from this post by James S. Robbins:

" In northern climes, whalers sometimes killed blubber-rich arctic seals to augment their oil stores. Both of these animals were saved by the decline of whaling. Oil-drilling in Pennsylvania restored many lakes which had been contaminated by natural petroleum leaks."

"the American whaling industry peaked in the 1850s. The reason for its decline was not because of public awareness of the evils of whaling, it was not because of consciousness-raising efforts by pioneer environmentalists, and it definitely was not because of legislation. The whales were saved because of the march of technology."

emphasis above in bold by this editor

"As kerosene became generally available throughout the country, the demand for whale oil dropped precipitously. The 735-ship fleet of 1846 had shrunk to 39 by 1876."

The Devastating Sequester!

Certainly many of you and your neighbours awoke to a startling mess this week as the U.S. federal government tumbled into a sequestration they designed over a year ago.

Calamity in the cities, havoc on the highway, chaos in the court system as sequestration came to light!!! Eh, well not really so much huh?  Even as politicians turned up the heat and pointed fingers.

Let us turn to David Angelo's eEconomics channel for his take on things:

You know you have a comment, go ahead and broadcast it here!

The Robin Hood Myth

Another classic from Milton Friedman.  This one on why government programs always favor the middle class.

It would be great to see his challenge accepted today:

"I have often challenged people to find a single governmental program in which the people who pay taxes have higher incomes than those who get the benefits.

I know only one.  And that's direct relief public assistance.  The aid to families of dependent children.  It's not a good program its a terrible program, it's a welfare mess.  But so far as I can find out its the only program that demonstrably transfers income from higher income classes to lower income classes, and thats why its such an unpopular program."