Day 308 – Articles to Read

Have some spare time (unlike me)?

Read these articles. They are very good. I had to read three of them recently for class, and the fourth I came across a little over a week ago.

Menger: On the Origins of Money (PDF)
Hayek: The Use of Knowledge in Society (PDF)
Horwitz: Subjectivism (Google Book)
Buchheit: Applied Philosophy, a.k.a. “Hacking” (HTML)

I apologize for the lack of new photos and decent thoughts this week. I plan to get out and take some photos this weekend, when I won’t have more exams hanging over my head.

The only worthwhile thought I have right now (worthwhile to this blog, that is) is that you should not trust the hype about the 3.5% increase in GDP last quarter. Do some research and see where it actually came from. I will give you a hint: Individuals’ consumption levels stayed roughly the same, investment stayed roughly the same, and net exports roughly stayed the same. What changed? Government spending! Does this mean things are getting better? No. In fact, unemployment went up last quarter.
Beware of Christina Romer going on national news and trying to convince you that things are a lot better since GDP went up 3.5%. “It just ain’t so!”