I just put up a post over on Bureaucrash.com about trains. Specifically high-speed commuter rail transport. I told my friend this, and we have been saying "choo choo!" to each other for the better part of this week as I have been putting on the finishing touches.
Check it out here: http://bureaucrash.com/2010/02/03/choo-choo/
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Yu Yongding Wins The Internet, For Now
Global Crisis 'Inevitable' Unless U.S. Starts Saving, Yu Says
The good news is that the Chinese seem to have a pretty good handle on what ails the US: what increasingly appears to be an unserviceable debt.
The good news is that the Chinese seem to have a pretty good handle on what ails the US: what increasingly appears to be an unserviceable debt.
It’s “very natural” for the world to be concerned about the U.S. government’s spending and planned record fiscal deficit, Yu said...The other good news is that they aren't buying the Obama administration's rhetoric about reducing the deficit.
The bad news is that they're likely just setting up for a massive power grab.It may be helpful if “Geithner can show us some arithmetic,” said Yu. “We need to know how the U.S. government can achieve this objective.”
The deficit is projected to reach $1.75 trillion in the year ending Sept. 30 from last year’s $455 billion shortfall, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan has proposed a new global currency to reduce reliance on the dollar.In any case, a skittish China is bad news for US central economic planners. In order to avoid an inflationary disaster should the economy begin to recover, the Fed will have to find someone willing to buy US debt other than itself. As things stand right now, that's a dicey proposition.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Teaching Austrian Economics to High Schoolers
Yesterday, I returned to my high school as a guest speaker. My captive audience was a class of Senior AP Economics students, and my topic was the Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle. An American History teacher, the head of the Social Studies department, and the principal all stopped by for all or part of the talk. I began by laying out two of the most distinguishing features of the Austrian School: (1) free markets are the best way to incorporate information spread out among multiple participants into a coordinated, cohesive economic system; (2) economics is properly deductive, not empirical. Their coursework covered Keynesian and Classical models, so I compared some of the beliefs of the Keynesians and the Austrians in a two-column point/counterpoint list. Then I told the parable of Paul Krugman on Sushi Island (from The Importance of Capital Theory by Robert P. Murphy). I concluded by giving a brief overview of the Austrian analysis of the Great Depression and the current financial crisis.
Then it was time for question-and-answer. This led to a discussion of the difference between a capitalist, socialist, and fascist economy. I explained that in my own opinion, the greatest risk posed by an Obama administration was not the ascendancy of socialism, but rather the emergence of a fascist-style economy: the union of corporate and government power, an activist government that picks winners and losers based on "national interest" and political connections, and a system of privatized profits and socialized losses.
Afterwards one student came up and asked me if I thought that we'd been starting to see economic fascism before Obama. I said "absolutely," and described the trend as going back as far as the '70s (in retrospect, the seeds were there ever before then). I pointed to Eisenhower's farewell address warning to guard against "undue influence" by the "military-industrial complex" as a warning against economic fascism.
The teacher who hosted me gave some concluding remarks which were gracious and open-minded. She told her students that she hoped they'd take away a realization that there were a lot of different ways to think about economics beyond what they'd learned.
The whole thing was filmed, and the high school's media center even edited my Powerpoint slides into the video. I'll be getting a DVD in the mail.
All in all, an excellent experience, and one I hope to repeat. I heard that the Social Studies department has been interested in some kind of curriculum enrichment on the economics of the Great Depression. I'm writing my honors thesis on the topic, so I might ask if I could contribute next time I'm in town .
Then it was time for question-and-answer. This led to a discussion of the difference between a capitalist, socialist, and fascist economy. I explained that in my own opinion, the greatest risk posed by an Obama administration was not the ascendancy of socialism, but rather the emergence of a fascist-style economy: the union of corporate and government power, an activist government that picks winners and losers based on "national interest" and political connections, and a system of privatized profits and socialized losses.
Afterwards one student came up and asked me if I thought that we'd been starting to see economic fascism before Obama. I said "absolutely," and described the trend as going back as far as the '70s (in retrospect, the seeds were there ever before then). I pointed to Eisenhower's farewell address warning to guard against "undue influence" by the "military-industrial complex" as a warning against economic fascism.
The teacher who hosted me gave some concluding remarks which were gracious and open-minded. She told her students that she hoped they'd take away a realization that there were a lot of different ways to think about economics beyond what they'd learned.
The whole thing was filmed, and the high school's media center even edited my Powerpoint slides into the video. I'll be getting a DVD in the mail.
All in all, an excellent experience, and one I hope to repeat. I heard that the Social Studies department has been interested in some kind of curriculum enrichment on the economics of the Great Depression. I'm writing my honors thesis on the topic, so I might ask if I could contribute next time I'm in town .
Monday, March 30, 2009
My Article for the Pitt Political Review Has Been Published Online
I started this piece in October 2008 and finished it in November after a substantial rewrite. It was scheduled to be in the Winter 2009 print edition, but the editorial board lost me in the shuffle. In any case, here it is.
Analysis of the Debt of the United States Federal Government, Fiscal Years 1977-2007
My inclination is to post (on this blog) a formal follow-up discussing what's changed since November. If there isn't a formal follow-up, I'll certainly be discussing some of the issues discussed in the paper in separately chunks.
Analysis of the Debt of the United States Federal Government, Fiscal Years 1977-2007
My inclination is to post (on this blog) a formal follow-up discussing what's changed since November. If there isn't a formal follow-up, I'll certainly be discussing some of the issues discussed in the paper in separately chunks.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Finding My Soapbox
Hello. My name is Grant Babcock. I am a student at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in physics and philosophy with minors in economics and computer science. In this blog, I hope to chronicle my continuing efforts to advance the cause of liberty, for myself and for the generations that follow.
As Americans, we are the inheritors of a spectacular legacy. It is the duty of each generation to jealously defend the torch of liberty so that it may be passed to the next. As I write, we are at risk of losing civilization's greatest achievement: the protection, by enshrinement in law, of natural rights against assault by criminals and tyrants.
Simply put, we face a choice. We can choose cowardice, and the rule of men; or courage, and the rule of law. If we shrink from the defense of liberty in the face of this day or that's transitory crisis, we will be complicit in the enslavement and exploitation of a whole generation of human beings.
A mighty charge to undertake, to be sure--but one gladly undertaken. To do so is the duty and honor of every human being.
If you find my ramblings worthy of your attention, thank you. Champions of liberty often feel they are shouting into the wilderness; your comments are appreciated. Finally, I ask that you read my scribbles generously; please don't mistake my passion for arrogance, my sarcasm for cynicism. In any case, it's just a blog.
Yours,
Grant Babcock
As Americans, we are the inheritors of a spectacular legacy. It is the duty of each generation to jealously defend the torch of liberty so that it may be passed to the next. As I write, we are at risk of losing civilization's greatest achievement: the protection, by enshrinement in law, of natural rights against assault by criminals and tyrants.
Simply put, we face a choice. We can choose cowardice, and the rule of men; or courage, and the rule of law. If we shrink from the defense of liberty in the face of this day or that's transitory crisis, we will be complicit in the enslavement and exploitation of a whole generation of human beings.
A mighty charge to undertake, to be sure--but one gladly undertaken. To do so is the duty and honor of every human being.
If you find my ramblings worthy of your attention, thank you. Champions of liberty often feel they are shouting into the wilderness; your comments are appreciated. Finally, I ask that you read my scribbles generously; please don't mistake my passion for arrogance, my sarcasm for cynicism. In any case, it's just a blog.
Yours,
Grant Babcock
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