Gold is Not Enough, I: The Need for New Thinking

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As Pope Leo XIII noted as far back as 1891 with the “first” social encyclical, Rerum Novarum (“On Capital and Labor”), some new thinking is needed to address the new things plaguing the world.  The old thinking just isn’t going to do it.

Immigration and Social Justice

Just for a change of pace, we decided to look at a different issue today: immigration.  This is a hot topic, particularly in light of the fact that no one seems to disagree that there should be some form of amnesty for illegal immigrants — which raises some interesting questions regarding how our society punishes those who obey the law and rewards those who break it.

Why Capital Homesteading is Essential

We’ve been urging Bob Marshall of the Virginia House of Delegates to get in touch with CESJ president Norman Kurland.  Most immediately, of course, this would kick start the economy in Virginia, provide an example for the other states, begin the process of shifting from money supply backed with government debt to a money supply backed with private sector hard assets, create jobs, and so on.

Capital Homesteading Now

As part of our continuing campaign to persuade Bob Marshall of the Virginia House of Delegates to talk to CESJ president Norman Kurland, we sent the following letter last Thursday.  As you can see, it reiterates points we’ve made before, but that are worth repeating.

News from the Network, Vol. 6, No. 08

The stock market (of course) is bouncing all over the map, prices for food and fuel are rising rapidly (but there’s no inflation), and the world is generally in the same sorry state as usual.  The difference is that we’re making progress in advancing the Just Third Way to improve the situation in spite of what seems to be a strong push to keep things the same, only more so:

Virginia’s Central Bank

Somewhat to our surprise, the campaign to get Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall to talk to CESJ president Norman Kurland has received expressions of interest not only from across the political spectrum in the Commonwealth, but from different countries.  The general feeling seems to be that the U.S. economy, while rather rocky at present, is still — relative to the rest of the world — founded on a slightly more solid grade of quicksand than most.

Restoring the Federal Reserve

As should be evident from the previous postings on this blog regarding Delegate Bob Marshall’s proposal for a study of currency reform, the Commonwealth of Virginia has a unique opportunity to lead the rest of the country in a fundamental financial reform that has the potential to revitalize the entire U.S. economy.

Avoiding Monetary Meltdown, III: Hijacking the Federal Reserve

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This is the final portion of our second letter to Bob Marshall of the Virginia House of Delegates.  We think this and the previous letter make a good case, but we’ve got a few more planned out, so we’ll be continuing this series.

Avoiding Monetary Meltdown, II: Salmon P. Chase and the Greenbacks

Last week we posted the first part of our “open letter” to Bob Marshall of the Virginia House of Delegates.  Since it seemed to be rather well-received (and even generated a couple of e-mails to let Mr. Marshall know people actually care about this sort of thing), we’re starting off the week with the second part, and should finish tomorrow with the third part.

News from the Network, Vol. 6, No. 07

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It’s John-Frum-America Day!  This is the great holiday of the Cargo Cults of the South Pacific, anticipating the day when John Frum America will return, bringing cargos of Coke, Spam, and Hershey bars so that no one will ever have to work again.

Avoiding Monetary Meltdown, I: Andrew Jackson’s War on the Economy

Consider this an “open letter” to Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall.  Following up on yesterday’s posting regarding Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall’s proposal to study the possibility of instituting a specie (i.e., gold and silver) currency to fend off the potential of hyperinflation due to mushrooming government debt.  Also (if we understand the proposal) the idea is to eliminate the possibility of computer terrorism destroying the financial system by making a commodity (gold), not electronic media, the only money supply.

A “Virginia-Only” Currency

Last week (February 6, 2013) an article appeared in the Washington Post about Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall’s proposal to study the possibility of reinstituting a specie currency (gold and silver) as a means of stabilizing the money supply and preventing the growing federal debt from crushing the economy.

The Logic of Distributism

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We should call this posting the “Illogic of Neo-Distributism,” for what’s being touted these days as “distributism” is in many cases neither logical nor distributism.  What Chesterton and Belloc were talking about was something substantially different (in the philosophical sense) than what passes for “distributism” today.  The title of today’s posting just sounds better.

The Death of Reason, XIV: Toward a Just Economy

As we have seen in this series, what constitutes a “just economy” has evolved over the past couple of centuries or so into two warring philosophies.  On the one side are those who assert that only a private sector elite should be in charge of everything.  These are the capitalists.

News from the Network, Vol. 6, No. 06

If you think it’s crazy in the United States, what with people attributing mystical powers to government and the stock market, at least you’re not in Papua New Guinea.  There’s been a spate of sorcerer-burnings and cannibal lunches featuring local witch doctors.  We have yet to be setting fire to stockbrokers or making that special soup from a politician’s unmentionables.

The Death of Reason, XIII: Understanding Money

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As we have seen in this series on the Death of Reason, the basic problem is not that Evil Economists like Adam Smith or even John Maynard Keynes are heartless fiends attempting to enslave the human race to the Cruel Capitalists or the Slimy Socialists.  The problem is that 1) people either start with a false premise (or one that has become false over time), and apply it logically, if disastrously, 2) people start with a true premise and apply it incorrectly, or 3) people start with a false premise and apply it incorrectly.

The Death of Reason, XII: Civil v. Domestic Society

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The author of this blog series wishes to state for the record that it is purely coincidental that this blog series started out using Richard III as a hook.  The posting on January 16, 2013 was clearly written prior to the announcement this week that "they" (i.e., the people who were looking for it) found the grave of Richard III.

Anyway, the title of this particular posting is more than a little misleading, but at least it has the advantage of being short and to the point.  And what is the point?  That another way John Mueller’s book, Redeeming Economics, undermines the natural law is to misapply the principles governing domestic society (the Family), in which distributions are based on need, to civil society (the State), in which distributions are based on equality or proportionality of exchange.

The Death of Reason, XI: Persons and Personality

A common technique of “arguing” these days is to turn any accusation, observation, or comment back on the one who makes it.  For example, if you protest that someone who already had a doughnut just grabbed the last Bavarian Cream, he or she snaps back with, “Well, you eat too much, anyway.”

The Death of Reason, X: Economics as a Religion Instead of a Science

Last Thursday we looked at economics as a science instead of a religion.  This week, to give the devil his due, we look at how some people treat economics as a religion instead of as a science.  That is, they try to base exchanges in civil society on status rather than contract, need instead of equality in the exchange, and undermine the natural law.

News from the Network, Vol. 6, No. 05

The rate of economic growth went into a decline for the fourth quarter, even massive manipulation of the employment statistics can do no more than show “slow but steady growth in the jobs market” (we thought that “jobs” were what produced goods and services for the market; evidently they’re now a commodity to be traded), and so on.