The BBC Agrees with Me on Cash for Clunkers

According to the BBC, "One of the unintended consequences," of the Cash for Clunkers program, "was to remove a significant amount of supply from car dealerships and auctions around the country." This is essentially what I said yesterday.

Life Inside the North Korean Bubble

I came across this fascinating report by Sue Lloyd-Roberts of the BBC about a year ago and, given the recent events in North Korea, it seems like a good time to post it. Life Inside the North Korean Bubble is a revealing glimpse of the nature of existence in an explicit totalitarian state. The propaganda, lies, and threats are apparent, as is the economic regression that is always the consequence of socialism. One of the most important lessons from the report is that North Korea relies on foreign aid and must allow for pockets of market activity merely in order to feed its people. You can watch the film in two parts below.





If you interested in an introduction to the economics of socialism and why it always fails, I recommend chapter 18 of my book, Foundations of Economics. If you want a full analysis of the economics and sociology of socialism I recommend Socialism by Ludwig von Mises.

What Happened to the $800 Billion Stimulus Money?

That is the question asked by Jonny Dymond to several people in Chicago for this story from yesterday's Business Daily on the BBC. The segment provides an interesting take on the lack of effectiveness of the Obama fiscal stimulus plan. What I find refreshing is that most of the interviewees seem to intuitively understand the vanity of Keynesian fiscal stimulus. Casey Mulligan, economist at the University of Chicago is particularly good. The union boss and Lapham-Hickey Steel president Bill Hickey are not so good. You can listen to the 18 minute segment by clicking here. These segments are usually available in streaming audio for 7 days after its original broadcast.You can download the episode by clicking here.