Nathanael D Snow

We need to take the offensive in whatever beliefs we hold dear. We must not allow others to ask us the questions, putting us on the defensive, and defining the terms of debate. We must play that role. In related news, Friedman says in "The Relation between Economic Freedom and Political Freedom,": "Underlying most arguements against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself." So, the first question we are to ask is: Do you believe in freedom? If their answer is no, we are to reply: Good, then hold still while I rob and kill you. JN

Today I'm reading the first chapter to John Hood's book, The Heroic Enterprise" for Dr. Cordato's class. The intro to this book contains many references to one of the most important books I've ever read, Henry Grady Weaver's "The Mainspring of Human Progress." You should read it. Hood was talking about how "corporate social responsibility advocates say, responsible and ethical companies must balance profit-seeking and other goals." It prompted this margin note: The shift is always toward making institutions responsible rather than individuals. This personification of institutions doesn't stop at that, but insists that institutions be super-human. This is deification, and as there are multiple institutions in any society, amounts to Paganism. JN

I was on Chris' or Travis' site recently when someone maliciously posted a link to an unaffiliated website. This was my response: The web site offered is www.thenewliberator.com and it is a site devoted to something called liberation theology. Might seem foreign to many here in SPEL world, but it is a movement with some strength and some intellectual credibility. Someday when I finish my Undergrad work at NCSU I will move on to Duke Divinity to figure these guys out. They are right that there is a fundamental connection of ethics to economics. My contention is that the connection is law. And I don't mean government, probably something more like law vs. government. Dr. Cordato made the point in class recently that often the difference is between focussing on the ends to justify the means, or making sure that the process is legitimate. The liberation theologians want to see justice and usually start out with a concern for "the least of these" which is good. But the...

One of my goals for this blog, and my life, is to reconcile the Christian Ethic with Classical Economics. Tonight I was reading from Richard J. Foster's Celebration of Discipline which has nothing to do with spanking at all. It is a modern exploration of what have classically been referred to as the Christian Disiplines among which is Simplicity. To a Christian simplicity is similar to humility. Simplicity is perhaps the outward expression of an inner humility. We want to be focused and inwardly unified. The passions should be held under control and the efforts of human energy should be singularly directed. One of the more tangible effects of a simple life is greater self-control when it comes to consumption. If we are more interiorly satisfied, we will look to outward sources of satisfaction less. We become less motivated by material gain, and more motivated by inward gain. This all appears grim to a dismal scientist. What! Will the invisible hand cease to move if such si...

I posted the following in response to a discussion at http://www.cafehayek.com about Steven Spielburg's movie Munich Rule of law requires a fair trial by a jury of peers, something Americans are becoming less and less aquainted with these days. My curiosity has been aroused enough to want to see this movie now. The Zionists (not all Jews are Zionists, you know) certainly may have legitimately begun their modern settlement of Canaan (Palestine being the name given to this land by Europeans)by buying the land. However, with the advent of their war for independence methods were employed that were less than you know what. Does the Jewish secular mentality have a place for just war theory? The Libertarian tradition had its roots in this theory by virtue of its emergence from the Catholic Christian tradition. As Libertarianism, European, and popular American thought (ironically, especially evangelicals) loses its connection with just war we make vulnerable many, if not all, of our in...

I read an essay "The Principles of a Liberal Social Order" by Hayek this week, and I have a few musings. I dare not call them thoughts, for they are not fully developed enough for that yet. Economists try to stay away from Theology. Too bad, because Theologians tend to stay away from economics lest they appear greedy. (Not that I know any particularly wealthy economists.) Hayek's ethics seem to root in Kant's theology. He uses this base to develop his economic arguements. My contention is that the use of Kant is unnecessary, and possibly detrimental. Modernist arguements fall deafly on postmodern ears. Of course, the evangelicals haven't all figured this out yet either, and they are busy writing apologetics that don't recognize this or economics.

Issues keep coming back to protection. Protection from other governments, from risk, from swindlers.Always there is a shift away from personal responsibility. Fear fuels this shift, and is utilized by the government to exploint its citizens. The wolf must protet its sheep from other wolves. The Christian Ethic demands personal responsibility and each individual's responsibility for the least of these. Rather than the few (government) being responsible for the many (citizens), we should have the many (empowered) protecting the few (the least of these). JN

Why aren't more economists entrepreneurs. Probably because we can't spell entrepreneur... But really, it's a fair question. Perhaps entrepreneurs already get intuitively what economists sit around and philosophize on. Or, perhaps it is beacuse once we're all done drawing graphs we're too tired to do anything else. There's not much of a market for graphs. I was reading an assignment for my Macro course by Bob McTeer from the Dallas Fed about wages. The assertion was made that all workers are paid an amount equal to their contributions. This is due to a tendency for the market to return to equilibrium (a purely theoretic state of existence according to Austrian Economists). I drew the following conclusions: Workers are paid a wage equivalent to their contributions. True! However, most employees are giving away for free something they should be charging for. More should be in business for themselves but are unwilling to take the risk. Individual loss in ...

I pay a lot of attention to writers' use of "value." I prefer "virtue." Values are economic in nature. Virtues are ethical. All too often, especially amongst conservatives, but liberals have adopted the language as well, the term vales is used in refference to ethics. Statists love values. These they can judge and prioritize, reject whatever does not produce the greatest outcome. Virtues demand conformity regardless of practicality.

My dad got me a game for Christmas, the Settlers of Catan. If you haven't played this yet, find a geeky friend and its likely he's got it. For those of you in the know, I have drawn some significant lessons from the game. First is the robber. I have renamed mine the King. He wanders around the board and wherever he stops he taxes the locals. He doesn't allow any of his subjects to become too powerful (i.e. hold too many cards) and places a great strain on the economy. It's always bad when the King is moved, even if he is placed upon your enemy. Catan is a free-market universe, and demonstrates plainly that the way to wealth is trade. Without trade, both domestic and foreign (ports), it becomes nearly impossible to devlop new roads or settlements. When the king is rolled he takes away resources. If your enemy has less resources to trade, then you have less likelyhood to trade with that enemy for what you want. The same concept of trade also makes four player ga...