Category: Economics
The Eternal Mediocrity of Mexico
By Ricardo Valenzuela
At the beginning of the 80s, I was taking training with the Bank of America in its different offices in California, Chicago, New York. In one of my stays in Los Angeles, I was invited to a talk that would offer the Nobel laureate, Milton Friedman, one of the men I have admired the most and, above all, the guide which shaped my ideas of economic freedom. The event took place in one of the elegant lounges of the bank that was crowded with people from early on. A crowd that included the famous actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who years later would become governor of California. But my big surprise was the arrival of Ronald Reagan who a year later would be president of the United States.
The theme of the conference was the critical situation that world banking system was going through, listing motives from the misbehavior of the world economy, the novel currency flotation system, the absence of political leaders with real ideas of what economic development is, etc. At a certain point in his talk, this wise character made the venue vibrate when he said: “This situation is so serious that the main banks of the world have lent more of their capital and reserves to countries that can be considered bankrupt.” Before a gloomy murmur of the assistants, Milton Friedman makes a long pause that is taken advantage of by someone who, breaking the protocol, almost screaming question. “Countries in bankruptcy How, where?” The … Read the rest
Barbarians at the Gate
Despite an unparalleled level of widespread affluence in the west and the highest standards of living in human history (even for the ‘poor’), socialism in America is increasingly popular and not just among millennials and liberals…even some self-described Christians are calling for increased government intervention in the form of wage and price regulation, higher taxes and outright seizure and redistribution of private property. Why? Because their greatest devotion is to the ideology of Karl Marx:
“As Bukovsky put it in a very recent interview with Epoch Times, “The Western elite is socialist. They were never serious about fighting Soviet power.” That is why Communism has made such a comeback in recent years, even in the United States, which rests on a foundation of capitalist success. Our current generation of emerging leaders speak openly and enthusiastically about Communism and socialism: “The absence of leadership is frightening. Our so-called elites became rotten. In the past, in history, the elites would be periodically wiped out in revolutions. In our time, it does not happen. We are too civilized.”
You Are Likely Richer Than John D. Rockefeller
If you are an average American, European or Australian reading this blog post, you are likely materially richer than John D. Rockefeller was 100 years ago today.
Consider the following which you likely enjoy which even billionaires 100 years ago lacked:
Radio & Television
Inexpensive, effective painkillers
CDs & DVDs
Safe, Timely transportation
Computers
Air-conditioning
Cheap, on demand International food
Smart phones
A high likelihood of surviving infancy
LASIK, Contact lenses & easy cataract correction
Widely available, cheap antibiotics
Dental care
World-class basic medical care
On demand access to classical literature and reference books
The Internet
And yet, the Marxists are gaining in power once again, not just on the Left, where they’ve always found a home, but with educated religious people.
I would not trade my lifestyle in 2019 for $1 billion and a life in 1919; would you?
Gratitude to God, not envy of worldly goods, is the certain human path to temporal happiness. … Read the rest
The Economic Errors of the Pope (and other Statists)
Catholic statists (including the Pope), like to lecture about “just” wages while they all but ignore issues that are a) real, b) causing great harm to families and c) can be fixed without violating Catholic doctrines on subsidiarity and private property rights. Mention this uncomfortable truth and you’ll be cursed, libeled and then blocked (as I was by Comrade Shea over the weekend).
If you are a Catholic (or even just a person of goodwill) and you are interested in practical ways to fix economic inequalities, why not start with the single largest real threat to wages and private property?
