We asked several questions: What kind of work should we do? How should we mange our time? What "taxes" are we required to pay? How should we spend our wealth? How should we invest our wealth? How should we preserve and grow our wealth? This is what we believe our Bible study taught us about economics:
1. We should work to glorify God, grow His Kingdom on earth.
2. The work should produce fantastic safe infrastructure, be innovative, earth friendly, healthy, farmer friendly, family oriented, community oriented, helpful to widows and orphans, liberating, responsible, peaceful, with foundations, businesses and agencies producing,providing and serving every gift and talent that God graced man with.
3. After Caesar's taxes (likened to locusts) our Net pay should be allocated: a) 1% to pay for the priest of our own choice for worship
b) 9% donated to an agency, foundation, or business of our choice "Holy unto the LORD"
c) 5% donated to help the poor of our choice (could be widow/orphan)
d) 5% to spend with our family to rejoice in the Lord (holiday funds)
e) 50% towards family business (about 17 grams of silver/year towards justice - haven't figured the application for this one out yet)
f) 20% towards investing in commodities
g) 10% long term savings to be preserved in cases of dire emergency but hopefully and inheritance for our children. (gold)
h) NO long term DEBT (in case of emergencies God allows a 6 year debt - MAX), (In countries where there is property tax - 30 year fixed rate mortgages are considered paying rent - This would also protect your family against the statist inflation tax.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Economics in One Lesson - Video Series
A useful companion to Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson is this series of videos, recorded in July-August 2008, in which various professors comment on each of the book's chapters — explaining the argument, elaborating on it, and applying it to present conditions.
- Video 1: The Lesson
- Video 2: The Broken Window
- Video 3: Public Works Mean Taxes
- Video 4: Credit Diverts Production
- Video 5: The Curse of Machinery
- Video 6: Disbanding Troops and Bureaucrats
- Video 7: Who's Protected by Tariffs?
- Video 8: "Parity" Prices
- Video 9: How the Price System Works
- Video 10: Minimum Wage Laws
- Video 11: The Function of Profits
- Video 12: The Assault on Saving
Essentials of Economics I
- Essentials of Economics by Faustino Ballve; online here (.pdf)
Faustino Ballvé was a remarkable thinker and economist, educated in Spain and England and teaching and practicing law in Mexico City. He was here when Ludwig von Mises came to speak on a lecture tour. The talks that Ballvé heard sparked a new intellectual energy in him. He carried on a long correspondence with Mises himself, checking his education from graduate school against Mises's views. They became good friends.
The result of his studies and correspondence was this splendid book, which really ought to be considered a classic. It was published first in 1956, and had a massive impact in Latin America. It was translated and published in English in 1965, and went into many other foreign translations. The language is elegant and principles enduring. Its popularity was due in part to its brevity combined with its scope: at only 129 pages, it covers nearly the field of economics.
It covers ten essential lessons:
* What is Economics About?
* The Market
* The role of the Entrepreneur
* Capital, Labor, and Wages
* Money and Credit
* Monopoly, Crises, and Unemployment
* International Trade
* Nationalism and Socialism
* The Controlled Economy
* What Economics Is Not About
He combines history, theory, and clear exposition to present what might be called an orthodox Austrian view of the way the world works. It has no footnotes, a deliberate choice of the author to stay within the objective of the book, namely to educate the intelligent laymen in economic theory. It is also free of data that might have quickly become dated. The result is a dream in so many ways: a stable, balanced, and nicely proportioned introduction to economic theory for everyone.
Truly, even after a half century, the achievement of this book becomes clearer. It reads as fresh as the day it came off the press. Felix Morley adds this in his introduction: "Something of the warmth and cheerfulness of the author's personality comes through, to make the reader feel that his is listening to the conversation of an old and cherish friend."
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