Economists are united in support of free trade. Free trade brings great benefits: productivity is increased due to greater specialization from division of labor and all participants enjoy gains from trade. Any restrictions on trade move us away from this optimum. To the extent that beneficial trades are foregone, prosperity is sacrificed and waste is [...]
Toban Wiebe
I'm an economics undergrad aiming to become an academic economist. My influences are mainly Austro-libertarians, including Rothbard, Mises, Hoppe, Block, and Long. I attended Mises University in 2008 and 2009 (passed the Mündliche Prüfung with honors.) On some of the controversial issues in the libertarian movement: I oppose intellectual "property"; I see minarchy and reformism as hopeless; I oppose punishment and favor restitution; I think fractional-reserve banking is legitimate and beneficial; I recognize that actions can be immoral without violating rights. I also blog at Higher Thought.
Contact me!My blog posts:
06.12.10Localism
The idea that we should “buy local” or that goods should be produced locally is fairly popular, but economically incoherent. There seems to be two main arguments for localism: 1) that long distance transportation is wasteful, and 2) that local spending benefits the local economy and makes people better off. Both arguments are wrong: localism [...]
06.02.10New: Resources page
I recently created a resources page to list the best material for learning about libertarian anarchism. It will be a pretty exclusive list as I want to keep it short and of highest quality. If you have any suggestions, leave a comment or contact me.
Everybody knows that the minimum wage is a good policy, right? Problem is, they’re all wrong. Economists proved long ago that price controls can’t work—they only create shortages and surpluses. The minimum wage is a price floor: if it is set above the market wage it will create a surplus, leaving some workers unable to [...]
Many people feel that corporations are the source of the main problems that plague society. However, they are sorely mistaken: government is the root source of the problems. Private business would be largely benevolent in its absence.
In Democracy—The God That Failed, Hans Hoppe shows that democracy is worse than monarchy and is the cause of the decline of civilization in the 20th century.
03.12.09Constitutionalism is Socialism
A limited government is a coercive socialist monopoly. Thus, constitutionalists are socialists. But they’re not that far from becoming consistent libertarians.