Microeconomics

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The gun guys

‘Open Carry Tea Party’ planned for Lakefront

By: Randy Hanson, Hudson Star-Observer

Published September 23 2009

It’s going to happen.

Gun rights activist David E. Olson of Glenwood City has announced that an “Open Carry Tea Party” will be held the afternoon of Oct. 17, a Saturday, in Hudson’s Lakefront Park.

The purpose of the event is for people to exercise their First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly and their Second Amendment rights to own and carry firearms, Olson said in phone call to the Star-Observer on Monday.

After holding an open carry event in Glenwood City on Aug. 23, Olson told other media outlets that he was planning a similar event for Hudson in mid-October.

A Web site with information about the Hudson event, www.donotinfringe.org, urges people to: “Come exercise your liberties affirmed by the 1st and 2nd Amendments. Stand against the path to socialism!”

The logo from President Barack Obama’s election campaign is used as the O in socialism.

The Web site says “attendees are encouraged, but not required, to wear a holstered sidearm to exercise their God-given right to self defense.”

The site also contains a list of confirmed speakers for the event, including Hudson Mayor Dean Knudson, Twin Cities talk radio host Sue Jeffers and seven others.

Olson said in the phone call that he had attempted to get former rock star Ted Nugent to speak in Hudson, but Nugent plans to be hunting at that time.

Olson also has invited all State Legislature representatives for western Wisconsin, gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker and Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann to speak at the Oct. 17 event. It will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Lakefront Park band shell.

Education about Wisconsin’s gun laws is also a purpose of the event, Olson said. He said he’ll display large copies of Wisconsin’s gun laws like he did at Glenwood City and a TEA (Taxed Enough Already) party in New Richmond.

Olson is a labor manager for a construction company. He grew up in Maplewood, Minn., and lived in Afton for 14 years before moving to Glenwood City, where he has resided for 14 years.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Samuelson and Friedman

What is the difference between Samuelson's and Friedman's depiction of the role of government in a market economy?

The Fictional Story

How does the story relate to the economists discussed in the previous chapter?

Economic Literacy

Freedom is about conquering fear. That is why slave owners prevented slaves from learning to read and write. They knew that literacy leads to asking questions, which leads to knowledge, which overcomes fear, which then leads to a demand for freedom. It is also why dictators are quick to burn books and take control of education. It may also be why it took the leaders of the Christian Church more than 1,500 years to translate The Bible into a language the people could understand.

Those who cannot read and write are at the mercy of others. They have to trust someone else to tell them what has been written and what they are signing, which means living in fear.

In virtually all cases, language literacy erodes the illegitimate hold that rulers have over individuals. Economic literacy is the same. If you do not have a little knowledge of economics, you can lay awake fearing what others are telling you about the inflation, recession, or depression they claim is descending upon you, likening each new disaster to a plague sprinkled on the undeserving by God Himself.

In the end, economic literacy, like language literacy, is about power. Throughout history, the easiest way for those in power to maintain control has been to keep the people illiterate. It is the same with economics. Because of the importance of the economy in everyone’s life, and because of the fear that can be fostered by predicting economic disruptions, the only way to be free is to understand just a little bit about real—not partisan—economics.

Everyone knows that Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

Although common wisdom likes to see Lincoln’s quote as a positive statement, because it ends with the idea that politicians cannot fool all the people all the time, if Lincoln is correct, it is not necessary to fool all the people all the time, because those in power can get what they want simply by fooling some of the people all the time or all the people some of the time.

The purpose of non-partisan economics is to explain the real world in a way that makes it difficult to fool anyone anytime.

Of course, while it might help you sleep at night, nonpartisan economics can be more controversial than partisan economics, because economic truth can anger both sides of the political aisle.