Part 1 of a Discussion of Peter Foster’s Why We Bite the Invisible Hand Chapter 6 “Tuesdays with Mandeville” Foster is tracing anti-capitalist thought across many writers of the West, and in this chapter he hits one I had not heard of: Bernard Mandeville who was born in 1670 in…
Tag: Economic History
Why We Bite the Invisible Hand
Adam Smith Would Be Surprised to Learn People Think He Supports Greed
Part 1 of a Discussion of Peter Foster’s Why We Bite the Invisible Hand Chapter 2 “The Sage of Kirkcaldy” In this chapter, Peter Foster follows Adam Smith through the years as he developed his ideas that were enshrined in his two books, The Theory of Moral Sentiments in 1759 and The Wealth of Nations in…
1913
The Next Turning Point
A Discussion of Oliver DeMille’s 1913 Chapter 13 “The Last Turning Point” As Oliver DeMille concludes his book, he titles his last chapter, “The Last Turning Point,” which I find bleak, though perhaps that was not the intention. I prefer the idea of the next turning point. He opened his…
1913
A Lazy People Cannot Remain Free
A Discussion of Oliver DeMille’s 1913 Chapter 12 “Free Citizens Read the Fine Print” If you are familiar with the U.S. government system at all, you know a key idea of the Founders is to use checks and balances to divide power. The Senate contends with the House. Both together…
1913
We Are Blind to the True Value of Our Freedom
A Discussion of Oliver DeMille’s 1913 Chapter 11 “Essential Freedom” Oliver DeMille has detailed in his book how we took a turn away from freedom in 1913, and for that reason he focuses on the importance of freedom in this chapter. How can we regain our freedom if we do…
1913
Tribal Leaders Needed to Revive the Basis of American Freedoms
A Discussion of Oliver DeMille’s 1913 Chapter 10 “Solution #3: Tribal Leaders” In Oliver DeMille’s third chapter on solutions, he is calling for tribal leaders to lead the new turning point towards freedom. The true freedom system includes establishing as the most basic unit of society — next to the family — small government…
1913
We Only Need a Few to Restore Freedom
A Discussion of Oliver DeMille’s 1913 Chapter 7 “Wanted: A Small Group of Committed Citizens” Oliver DeMille began laying out his case for what it will take to undo the 1913 turning points away from freedom the last chapter. And as I went through his suggestions, I said I was worried because…
1913
We Need to be the People The Founders Expected
A Discussion of Oliver DeMille’s 1913 Chapter 6 “The Founding of Freedom in Modern Times” Oliver DeMille shifts his focus from the first five chapters where he laid out how we broke the founders’ design to an exploration of how we can fix things. He cites economist Murray Rothbard’s observation that you…
1913
Supreme Court 1936 Decision Delivered a Killing Blow to Federalism
A Discussion of Oliver DeMille’s 1913 Chapter 5 “World-Shifting Event #4: United States v. Butler in 1936” The first three world-shifting events that weakened federalism and expanded the power of the federal government occurred in 1913, but Oliver DeMille says the 1936 case United States v. Butler structurally altered how our government works. He starts the…
1913
The Architects of the Constitution Knew Unsound Money Threatened Limited Government
A Discussion of Oliver DeMille’s 1913 Chapter 4 “World-Shifting Event #3: The Federal Reserve” Few people today know any way the banking system could be run other than by having a privately owned central bank like the Federal Reserve we have in the U.S. In fact, the Fed is really the Third National…