Saturday, October 16, 2010

The Economic Recovery: Washington's Big Lie (Part 2)

It has been a hectic week since the Mises Supporters Summit ended last weekend. I commented on the day one Summit speakers, here. And I commented on the awarding of the Schlarbaum Prize for the lifetime defense of liberty to Jim Rogers, here.

But it wouldn't be fair if I left out the events of Day Two, which included another impressive list of speakers. Now, what is good about all these speeches is that they are all available to listen to at the Mises Institute online, here. So here is a brief summary.

 Stephan Kinsella started off discussing "How Intellectual Property Hampers Capitalism". I disagree with Kinsella on this topic. I believe an individual has the right to control his "intellectual creations".  Nevertheless his talk was interesting with regard to the history of intellectual property.

Back at the hotel, I spotted Kinsella alone at the bar, using an iPad. I'm convinced that Steve Jobs and Rupert Murdoch are in mad plotting trying to design the iPad in a way that will deliver copyrighted material that will be difficult to duplicate. I asked Kinsella how it felt to be using a tool that was going to make the protection of copyrighted material much easier. He smiled, offered to buy me a drink and the conversation moved away from intellectual property to other topics where we are pretty much in agreement.

Next up was David Gordon, who spoke on "The Recovery and Statism". It was whispered to me more than a couple of times, by people who should know these things, that Gordon is the most knowledgeable person in the Austrian/libertarian movement, right now. He's up there with Rothbard, one person told me. I was pleased to hear Gordon discuss the trouble maker Cass Sunstein in his speech. Sunstein is a behind the scenes operator in the Obama Administration. I recently commented on Sunstein's book, Nudge. Gordon discussed Sunstein's book, Rumors.

Butler Shaffer, who is  the reigning philosopher of libertarianism, answered the question, "How Do We Know When the State is Lying?" Shaffer answered  the question with fluidity and depth that can only come about because of a clear and logical mind.

Up next was Joe Salerno. He totally explained the dire state of the economy and destroyed the thinking behind Bernanke's methods of dealing with it.

At lunch Lew Rockwell spoke on the "The Killing and Reviving of the American Dream". Rockwell pointed out what is wrong in current America, but offered hope by pointing out how the libertarian intellectual ideas were spreading.

Thomas DiLorenzo spoke on the  "How (and Why) Washington Lies About Everything". The list of lies DiLorenzo used as examples was outrageous. Bottom line: Government lies know no bounds.

Robert Higgs closed the Summit with his speech "Government's Response to the Crisis: A Fantastic Success, for Government". Higgs is by far the most original and creative thinker now active  in Austrian economics and surrounding social sciences. His speech is a must to listen to.

1 comment:

  1. There are already two well-understood ways to control intellectual creations. They're called trade secrets and contracts. Special laws for copyright and patents are just wrong. You are savvy enough to know that bringing the state in as a party of interest is asking for trouble.

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