Archive for December 2nd, 2008

Trying to make sense of bailouts and other such Socialist ideas

December 2, 2008

All over the internet I keep hearing things like, or along the lines of; Obama will save us from ourselves, and other such drivil. I hear on a near constant level that this is what free market economics gets for the people. When, in point of fact, the United States does not operate in a true free market economy, much less in a  laissez faire model. Which is actually what these very same people imply has been being used in recent memory. These are most often self appointed masters of economic thought. Picking and choosing bits and pieces of what they have learned, or just heard along the way. Never mind the basic tenets of Macroeconomics and Microeconomics, after all they have an agenda to pursue. That most often being the destruction of western society in general, and capatilism in particular. They are in fact usualy espousing Social Economics. However they do so based upon emotion, not upon reasoning and most often without any sense of logic.

Hence, I will post a bit about the Natural Laws of Economics. Please follow the link, as there is a wealth of information to be had there.

A natural law is a proposition that is universal to a subject matter. In science, a natural law consists of propositions describing and explaining observed regularities. There are in economics some basic regularities which have been designated as natural laws of economics. These include:

1. The law of demand. When the price of a good falls, the quantity demanded does not fall. Usually, the quantity demanded rises with a fall in price. Strictly, the law of demand applies to the substitution of cheaper goods for more expensive goods due to a relative change in price. The law of demand also applies to the whole economy: when the whole price level falls, with the amount of money remaining constant, a greater amount of goods will be purchased. 2. The law of supply. When the price of a good rises, the quantity produced does not fall. Usually, a higher price for a produced good results in a greater quantity produced.

3. The law of diminishing returns (law of decreasing marginal productivity). Given a fixed amount of some input, when ever more amounts of the variable input are added, eventually, the marginal product (the last unit’s contribution to output) declines.

4. The law of one price. In an efficient market, a financial asset will tend to have one equilibrium price, because of arbitrage.

5. Gresham’s law. Bad money drives out good money when the bad money is legal tender.

6. The law of reflux. In competitive free-market banking, there cannot be a permanent over issue of banknotes, since any issued in excess of the quantity demanded will be redeemed.

7. Law of supply and demand. In a free market, the equilibrium price of a good is that at which the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded.

8. The law of diminishing marginal utility. As one obtains more and more of a particular good, eventually the marginal utility (value from one more unit) declines.

9. The law of unintended consequences. Human actions, and especially governmental acts, have consequences which were not intended and not anticipated by the actors.

10. The law of iterated expectations. One cannot use the limited information at some previous time in order to predict the forecast error one would make if one had better information later.

11. Engel’s law. The proportion of income spent on food in an economy is inversely proportional to the general welfare of the society in that economy.

12. Wagner’s law. As an economy grows, government spending has increased by a greater proportion.

13. Foldvary’s law of inequality. Inequality equals the concentration of a distribution times the number of units (I=CN).

14. Say’s law of markets. The supply of goods will pay the factors of production such that the payments are equal to the value of the product, and therefore aggregate quantity supplied equals aggregate quantity demanded.

15. Law of time preference. People tend to prefer to obtain goods sooner rather than later, and will pay a premium (i.e. interest) to shift buying from the future to the present.

16. Law of the market. Statements made by market participants are assumed to be truthful, and products are presumed to be safe and effective unless stated otherwise.

17. Pareto’s law of distribution. There is a general tendency for 80 percent of the consequences to result from 20 percent of the causes, which often applies to property, 80 percent of the wealth owned by 20 percent of the population.

18. Law of cost. All costs are opportunity costs, the true cost being what is given up to get something.

19. Law of comparative advantage. Trade takes place because parties specialize in the products which have a lower opportunity cost, rather than merely a lower physical cost.

20. The law of wages. The wage level of an economy, where labor is mobile and competitive, is determined by the marginal productivity of labor at the margin of production, i.e. the least productive land in use.

21. The law of rent. The economic rent of a plot of land equals the difference between its output and the output at the margin of production, i.e. the least productive land in use, using the same quality of labor and capital goods.

22. The law of capital goods. Investment in capital goods and human capital expand until the expected return on investment, adjusted for risk, equals that of the long-term real interest rate.

23. Walras’ law. If there is an excess quantity supplied in one market, there must be a matching excess quantity demanded in another market.

24. The law of economizing. People tend to economize, maximizing gains for a given cost, and minimizing costs for a given gain.

25. The law of economic rationality. Human action is economically rational if one’s preferences are consistent and if one economizes.

26. The Gaffney effect. The public collection of rent equalizes the discount rate for land usage, since otherwise people would have different credit costs for purchasing land.

Fred Foldvary


The Election is not over yet

December 2, 2008

As much as most of us wish that the election was over it is not. There are still races that could determine whether the forces of freedom will prevail in some small measure. Or if the socialist juggernaut of the Democrats will simply steam roll us all into some reworked version of the Soviet Union.


Gun Rights in Jeopardy
-- All Eyes on Georgia Senate Race

Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Pl Suite 102
Springfield VA 22151
703-321-8585
http://www.goapvf.org

Monday, November 24, 2008

Your gun rights may be hanging in the balance, depending on the
outcome of elections in Minnesota and Georgia.

The Democrats currently control 58 seats in the Senate. If they get
to 60 (the number needed to overcome a filibuster), it will be nearly
impossible to stop the gun control agenda of incoming President
Barack Obama.

The Minnesota Senate race between radical anti-gunner Al Franken and
pro-gun Sen. Norm Coleman is coming down to the provisional and
absentee ballots. Sen. Coleman's lead of fewer than 200 votes is
slipping away, while Franken and his legal team are busily trying to
steal the election.

With the growing possibility of Democrats getting to 59 Senate seats,
all eyes are now focused on Georgia.

Pro-gun Senator Saxby Chambliss is in a tight December 2nd run-off
election.

Saxby is "A" rated by Gun Owners of America. His opponent, Jim
Martin, refused to respond to the Gun Owners of America candidate
survey, but he has an anti-gun record from his days in the Georgia
State House.

No wonder that Sen. Charles Schumer, the anti-gun extremist from New
York, is so excited about this race. Schumer, who heads the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is pouring tons of money
into Martin's campaign.

But the stakes are much higher than just getting another anti-gun
Senator. If Democrats can get to the magic number of 60, the minority
Senators will lose their ability to stop any gun control legislation
that is anointed by the leadership. Therefore, a world of
possibilities opens up for anti-gun Senators like Dianne Feinstein,
Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin and Frank Lautenberg.

President-elect Obama and the Senate leadership know what is at stake
in Georgia. That's why they’re descending on the state by the
thousands and pouring in millions of dollars.

Pro-gunners need to do the same. If Saxby loses this seat, there
will be dire ramifications for years to come. Without the ability to
stop the anti-gun leadership, we could see:

* The reauthorization of the Clinton gun ban;
* Legislation to close down gun shows;
* A ban on .50 caliber rifles;
* Massive expansions of the NICS background check system;
* More and more gun stores put out of business;
* Ratification of an anti-gun UN treaty;
* Lock-up-your-safety requirements like personalized handguns, and
more.

Gun owners, sportsmen and anyone concerned about the erosion of
liberty in this country should engage in this battle in Georgia.

If you live in or near Georgia and can volunteer to make calls, knock
on doors, etc, please call or e-mail the Chambliss campaign right
away. Go to http://www.saxby.org for contact information.

Saxby also needs the financial resources to reach as many voters as
possible in the final days before the election. Please go to
http://www.saxby.org/contribute.aspx to contribute to the Chambliss
campaign.

This race is extremely close. Senator Saxby Chambliss has stood with
gun owners in the U.S. Congress. It's time for us to stand with Saxby
now. Please visit http://www.saxby.org to help Sen. Chambliss win
this election.

Sincerely,

Tim Macy
Vice Chairman

American Socio Economics

December 2, 2008

The current state of Social Economics in America made me think that perhaps a few quotable quotes might be in order.Yes, they are humorous, but come with meaning.


“If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed,

if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.”

Mark Twain



Suppose you were an idiot.
And suppose you were a member of Congress….
But then I repeat myself.
-Mark Twain



I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill


A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
-.George Bernard Shaw


Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
-James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.   -Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
-P.J. O’Rourke, Civil Libertarian

I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
-Will Rogers

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free!
-P.J. O’Rourke

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
-Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you!
-Pericles (430 B.C.)


No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.

-Mark Twain (1866)

Talk is cheap…except when Congress does it.
-Unknown

The government is like a baby’s alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.
-Ronald Reagan

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.
-Mark Twain



There is no distinctly Native American criminal class…save Congress.
-Mark Twain



What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
-Edward Langley, Artist (1928 – 1995)


A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.

-Thomas Jefferson