“I grieved to think how brief the dream of human intellect had been. It had committed suicide.” That is the traveler in H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. Leaping forward in time, the traveler discovers a world in which the pastoral Eloi are living lives of rustic comfort, eating the fruit of the land with nary a bit of toil or sweat. Meanwhile, the terrifying Morlock, using vast machines to provide air to their subterranean lair, venture forth under the cover of darkness to feast on the … [Read more...] about Do The Eloi And Morlocks Trade?
Modern Society
A Brave New Financial World
How can the Federal Reserve help you today? A few years ago, such a question would have been rather odd. The Federal Reserve was created a little over a century ago as an independent government agency with a rather small mandate: manage the money supply. It was an important, but limited, role. In normal times, the Fed existed to ensure the money supply grew at a reasonable rate. In times of crisis, the Fed would become the Lender of Last Resort, lending funds to solvent banks to get them through … [Read more...] about A Brave New Financial World
The Tedious Tropic of Cancer
“Every man with a bellyful of the classics is an enemy to the human race.”Henry Miller, Tropic of CancerHi, my name is Jim, and I am an enemy to the human race. I first heard about the book Tropic of Cancer way back in high school or college when I learned that it was a book that was banned from being imported into the United States because it was obscene. When it was finally published in the United States in 1961, a series of obscenity lawsuits were brought against stores selling it. The … [Read more...] about The Tedious Tropic of Cancer
Hidden Revolutionaries: Tristram Shandy and Adam Smith
Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations suffers from a familiarity bias in the modern world. It is difficult to get people excited about a book that explains how the division of labor leads to specialization and trade which then creates immense wealth. The shocking nature of the work is hidden from us because we all see this every day and thus think of it as nothing particularly revolutionary. A good comparison is provided by Isaac Newton’s Principia. In that … [Read more...] about Hidden Revolutionaries: Tristram Shandy and Adam Smith
How the Fed’s Hubris Has Contributed to Inflation
“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.” Milton Friedman’s statement from 1970 should not be controversial; if the amount of money goes up faster than the amount of stuff available to buy, then the inevitable result is higher prices. Yet, to read recent discussions, one would be excused for thinking there is some great mystery surrounding the reason for … [Read more...] about How the Fed’s Hubris Has Contributed to Inflation
Divided We Stand
I would humbly like to submit the following for your consideration as the new National Motto of these United States:The Nation is Always in Decline When was the era when people at the time believed that things were amazing? When was the era when everyone believed that things were as good as could be, that there were no issues of great national disagreement, when peace and happiness prevailed throughout the land? One of the many advantages of reading Old Books is realizing how … [Read more...] about Divided We Stand