I, Pencil

This is a fascinating piece about a common pencil, written in 1958 it looks at the miraculous synergy that occurs, to make the seemingly common pencil, I hope you are inspired by this, I was! It is a testament to the fact that markets do in fact, offer so much good to people all around the world, that humans dealing freely with each-other will more often than not do so to the benefit of all parties. I, Pencil, By Leonard E. Read

I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write.

Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that’s all I do.

You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery —more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a mere incident and without background. This supercilious …

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‘What If’ … Economists were a few hundred years ahead of the game?

The Trinity Science Gallery is just across the street from our offices, proximity, linked with my interest in science (confession: I dropped out of Science in NUIM many years ago before studying business – but as a kid I actually wanted to be a scientist) means that I go there a lot, and they have these great exhibitions on regularly, the latest is called ‘What If’ and it poses questions that are part morality part science, part pie in the sky, but the fundamental aim of getting you thinking is totally successful.

Which brings me to something interesting that I noticed when I was there last week, one of the exhibitions was ‘What if we tried to make a toaster from scratch‘ (video here).

The actual description of this is as follows: ‘Thwaites (man behind the project) went on a quest to build an electric toaster from scratch, …

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A simple way to understand Liberty & the Free Market

This is a simple video, and yet a compelling one about some of the fundamental rights of people and of our right to self determination. How does this tie into mortgages or economics? Simply put it shows that the government of a country don’t have the right to force the state to underwrite banks, in fact, it only rewards bad behavior and the end result is that we all pay for a business issue which we did not create, if a bank lends you money it does so by choice, when in reverse (such as our state bailout plan) we were never given any right or choice as to how it would work, or if it was even a good idea. The guarantee was given first and conditions attached last, ill thought out and moral hazard is merely the beginning of it all.

Read More →

A simple way to understand Liberty & the Free Market

This is a simple video, and yet a compelling one about some of the fundamental rights of people and of our right to self determination. How does this tie into mortgages or economics? Simply put it shows that the government of a country don’t have the right to force the state to underwrite banks, in fact, it only rewards bad behavior and the end result is that we all pay for a business issue which we did not create, if a bank lends you money it does so by choice, when in reverse (such as our state bailout plan) we were never given any right or choice as to how it would work, or if it was even a good idea. The guarantee was given first and conditions attached last, ill thought out and moral hazard is merely the beginning of it all.

Read More →