From: J
Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2019 9:34 PM
To: Walter Block <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Teaching my first micro economics course
Not many to be honest,
I was and still am very opposed to supporting Donald trump over a different candidate, mainly due to his beliefs on immigration, trade, and foreign policy. I know libertarians support open borders, free trade, and world peace but I don’t believe trump is the lesser of all evils at the moment. I believe Donald trump’s rhetoric is inspiring hateful people to take more hateful philosophical positions (for example calling immigrants rapists and murderers). I think his presidency will set back libertarian ideals for a number of years.
I think fractional reserve banking has the potential not to be fraudulent as well, but we are nowhere near something like that.
Recently my own thinking has been challenged in the wake of this coming election, in terms of creative destruction While creative destruction is necessary and unavoidable (which also presents opportunities for unemployment insurance) I am starting to think creative destruction is in part due to unintended consequences of poor contractual planning. I believe there are many people in the world who would oppose the automation of their job if they knew it was going to be automated UNLESS they were incentivized not to care. It seems to me we are entering an age where the lifetime of a job should be considered in ones employment contract, which opens up a Pandora’s box of problems when dealing with fraudulent claims. How does one prove, a company paid you to create your replacement that you didn’t know about? I think a lot of these problems can be solved by contracts but not completely. I don’t think it’s socially acceptable yet to ask your employer if they plan on automating your job away, much less get an honest answer.
Hope to get your thoughts! J
Dear J:
I favor open borders, and oppose fractional reserve banking as necessarily fraudulent. See these pubs of mine.
The economist was asked, “How is your wife?” Came the answer: “Compared to what!” Yes, the Donald is a horrid blow hard. But, compared to Hillary? He’s great. Compared to any of the total commies now likely to be the Democratic candidate? Again, he’s great.
Block, 1983A, 1983B, 1988, 1990, 1998, 2004, 2011A, 2011B, 2013, 2016A, 2016B, 2017, 2018; Block and Brekus, 2019; Block and Callahan, 2003; Deist, 2018; Gregory and Block, 2007;
Block, Walter E. 1983A. “How immigrants CREATE jobs,” North Shore News, p. A6, January 30; http://tinyurl.com/2xklvn
Block, Walter E. 1983B. “Protect Canadian Jobs From Immigrants?” Dollars and Sense. February 7; reprinted in Block, Walter E. 2008. Labor Economics from a Free Market Perspective: Employing the Unemployable. London, UK: World Scientific Publishing; http://www.amazon.ca/Labor-Economics-Free-Market Perspective/dp/9812705686/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336603241&sr=1-7;
Available for free here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B00FX9dsY4zJNXU5SmVKYVBQOWs/edit?usp=sharing;
Block, Walter E. 1988. Dollars and Sense: “Migration patterns tell real story.” January 12;
Block, Walter E. 1990. “Immigration,” Fraser Forum, January, pp. 22-23.
Block, Walter E. 1998. “A Libertarian Case for Free Immigration,” Journal of Libertarian Studies: An Interdisciplinary Review, Vol. 13, No. 2, summer, pp. 167-186; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/13_2/13_2_4.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2004. “The State Was a Mistake.” Book review of Hoppe, Han-Hermann, Democracy, The God that Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy and Natural Order, 2001May 25. http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1522
Block, Walter E. 2011A. “Hoppe, Kinsella and Rothbard II on Immigration: A Critique.” Journal of Libertarian Studies; Vol. 22, pp. 593–623; http://mises.org/journals/jls/22_1/22_1_29.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2011B. “Rejoinder to Hoppe on Immigration,” Journal of Libertarian Studies Vol. 22: pp. 771–792; http://mises.org/journals/jls/22_1/22_1_38.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2013. “Rejoinder to Todea on the ‘Open’ Contract of Immigration.” The Scientific Journal of Humanistic Studies, Vol. 8, No. 5, March, pp. 52-55
Block, Walter E. 2015. “On immigration.” December 21;
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2015/12/walter-block-on-immigration.html
Block, Walter E. 2016A. “Contra Hoppe and Brat on immigration.” Management Education Science Technology journal, Vol 4, No. 1, pp. 1-10; http://mest.meste.org/MEST_1_2016/Sadrzaj_eng.html; http://mest.meste.org/MEST_1_2016/7_01.pdf; (1333)
Block, Walter E. 2016B. “A response to the libertarian critics of open-borders libertarianism,” Lincoln Memorial University Law Review; Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 142-165; http://digitalcommons.lmunet.edu/lmulrev/vol4/iss1/6/;
http://digitalcommons.lmunet.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=lmulrev
Block, Walter E. 2017. “Immigration and Homesteading.” March. The Journal Jurisprudence. Vol. 35, pp. 9-42; http://www.jurisprudence.com.au/juris35/block.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2018. “A libertarian theory of immigration.” The Scientific Journal of Humanistic Studies. March, Issue18, pp.34-42
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1623e40642314669?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1;
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1623e40642314669?projector=1&messagePartId=0.2;
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1623e40642314669?projector=1&messagePartId=0.3
Block, Walter E. and Drew Brekus. 2019. “On the Problem of 3 Billion Immigrants Crashing the Border.” April 21; https://www.targetliberty.com/2019/04/on-problem-of-3-billion-immigrants.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+TargetLiberty+(Target+Liberty)
Block, Walter E. and Gene Callahan. 2003. “Is There a Right to Immigration? A Libertarian Perspective,” Human Rights Review. Vol. 5, No. 1, October-December, pp. 46-71; http://www.walterblock.com/publications/block-callahan_right-immigrate-2003.pdf
Deist, Jeff. 2018. “Block on immigration.” September 4;
https://mises.org/library/immigration-roundtable-walter-block
Gregory, Anthony and Walter E. Block. 2007. “On Immigration: Reply to Hoppe.” Journal of Libertarian Studies, vol. 21, No. 3, Fall, pp. 25-42; http://mises.org/journals/jls/21_3/21_3_2.pdf; http://www.academia.edu/1360109/On_Immigration_Reply_to_Hoppe;
https://mises.org/system/tdf/21_3_2.pdf?file=1&type=document
Bagus, 2003; Bagus, Howden and Block, 2013; Barnett and Block, 2005, 2008, 2009; Batemarco, 2014; Baxendale, 2010; Block versus Posner, 2008; Block and Caplan, 2008; Block and Garschina, 1996; Block and Humphries, 2008; Block and Posner, 2008; Davidson, 2008; Davidson and Block, 2011; Hanke, 2008; Hazlitt, 1979; Hollenbeck, 2013, 2014A, 2014B; Hoppe, 1994; Hoppe, Hulsmann and Block, 1998; Howden, 2013; Huerta de Soto, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2010; Hulsmann, 1996, 2000, 2002a, 2002b, 2003, 2008; Murphy, 2011, 2018A, 2018B; North, 2009; Polleit, 2010; Reisman, 1996, 2009; Rothbard, 1975; 1990, 1991, 1993; Salerno, 2010A, 2010B, 2011; Shostak, 2017A, 2017B.
Bagus, Philipp. 2003, ‘The Commons and the Tragedy of Banking’, November 12, http://mises.org/story/1373
Bagus, Philipp, David Howden and Walter E. Block. 2013. “Deposits, Loans and Banking: Clarifying the Debate,” American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Volume 72, Issue 3, pages 627–644, July; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajes.12023/abstract; http://bastiat.mises.org/2013/07/fractional-reserve-banking-paper/
Barnett, William II and Walter E. Block. 2005. “In defense of fiduciary media— a comment; or, what’s wrong with “clown” or play money?” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics; Vol. 8, No. 2, Summer, pp. 55-69; http://mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae8_2_4.pdf
Barnett, William and Walter E. Block. 2008. “Time deposits, dimensions and fraud,” Journal of Business Ethics; www.WalterBlock.com/publications; http://www.springerlink.com/content/100281/?k=walter+block&sortorder=asc&v=condensed&o=20; www.WalterBlock.com/publications
Barnett, William and Walter E. Block. 2009. “Financial Intermediaries, the Intertemporal-Carry Trade, and Austrian Business Cycles; or; Crash and Carry: Can Fraudulent Time deposits lead to an Austrian Business Cycle? Yes.” Journal Etica e Politica / Ethics & Politics; Vol. XI, No. 1, pp. 455-469; http://www2.units.it/~etica/2009_1/BARNETT_BLOCK.pdf
Batemarco, Robert. 2014. “Austrians, Fractional Reserves, and the Money Multiplier.” September 2; https://mises.org/library/austrians-fractional-reserves-and-money-multiplier
Baxendale, Tony. 2010. Free Banking, the Balance Sheet and Contract Law Approach; March 15; http://www.cobdencentre.org/2010/03/free-banking-the-balance-sheet-and-contract-law-approach/
Block, Walter versus Eric Posner. 2008. “Posner vs. Block on fractional reserve banking.” November, 29; http://archive.lewrockwell.com/block/block114.html;
Block, Walter and Bryan Caplan. 2008. “Walter E. Block versus Bryan Caplan on Fractional Reserve Banking.” Nov 1; https://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block110.html
Block, Walter and Kenneth M. Garschina. 1996. “Hayek, Business Cycles and Fractional Reserve Banking: Continuing the De-Homoginization Process,” Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1995, pp. 77-94; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae9_1_3.pdf.
Block, Walter and John Humphries. 2008. “Humphries vs Block on fractional reserve banking.” November 17; http://alsblog.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/fractional-reserve-banking/
Davidson, Laura. 2008. “Fractional Reserve Banking Is Indeed Fraudulent,” November 17; http://archive.lewrockwell.com/orig9/davidson-l1.html
Davidson, Laura and Walter E. Block. 2011. “The Case Against Fiduciary Media: Ethics Is The Key,” The Journal of Business Ethics. Vol. 98, Issue 3, pp. 505-511;
http://www.springerlink.com/content/j76323752648720g/; http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0590-2; 10.1007/s10551-010-0590-2
Hanke, Steve. 2008. “Banking Crises: Plus Ça Change…” GlobeAsia, November, pp. 168-169; http://www.freemarketfoundation.com/Hanke%5CBanking%20Crises–Plus%20%C3%87a%20Change,%20November%202008.pdf
Hazlitt, Henry. 1979. “Gold versus Fractional Reserves Part 1 .” The Freeman. May;
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https://mises.ca/posts/blog/gold-verses-fractional-reserves-part-2/
Hollenback, Frank. 2013. “Insuring Deposits, Ensuring Insolvency.” July 24;
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Hollenback, Frank. 2014A. “Confusing Capitalism with Fractional Reserve Banking.” August 6;
https://mises.org/library/confusing-capitalism-fractional-reserve-banking
Hollenback, Frank. 2014B. “The Fraud in Fractional Reserve Banking.” November 26; http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=7e6cc2f6072b7ebfaa847047f&id=189c14aa12&e=53fc31c1bb
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Hoppe, Hans-Hermann, with Guido Hulsmann and Walter E. Block. 1998. “Against Fiduciary Media,” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 19-50, http://www.mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae1_1_2.pdf
Howden, David. 2013. “A Simple Math Question for Bankers.” December 28;
http://mises.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=7e6cc2f6072b7ebfaa847047f&id=b10182ff5e&e=cb339c58df; http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2013/12/the-best-critique-i-have-ever-read.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+economicpolicyjournal%2FKpwH+%28EconomicPolicyJournal.com%29
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Hulsmann, Jorg Guido. 2002a. “Free Banking and the Free Bankers.” Review of Austrian Economics. Vol. 9, No. 1. pp. 3-53; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae9_1_1.pdf
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Murphy, Robert P. 2018B „George Selgin Misunderstands Rothbard’s Position on Fractional-Reserve Banking“ September 10. https://mises.org/wire/george-selgin-misunderstands-rothbards-position-fractional-reserve-banking
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Rothbard, Murray N. [1962] 1993. Man, Economy, and State. Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, AL
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Salerno, Joseph T. 2010A. Money, Sound and Unsound. Auburn, Ludwig von Mises Institute
Salerno, Joseph T. 2010B. “White contra Mises on Fiduciary Media,” May 14;
Salerno, Joseph T. 2011. “Dr. Joseph Salerno Explains Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Money (But Were Afraid to Ask)”, The Daily Bell, July 3; http://www.thedailybell.com/2602/Anthony-Wile-Dr-Joseph-Salerno-Explains-Everything-You-Ever-Wanted-to-Know-About-Money-But-Were-Afraid-to-Ask
Shostak, Frank. 2017A. “Money Creation and the Boom-Bust Cycle.” January 2;
https://mises.org/blog/money-creation-and-boom-bust-cycle
Shostak, Frank. 2017B. “Why Fractional-Reserve Banking Would Be Limited in an Unhampered Market.” January 16; https://mises.org/blog/why-fractional-reserve-banking-would-be-limited-unhampered-market
I am in enthusiastic support of publication of this paper, pretty much as is; well, with a minor revision. This is an important paper and deserves to be published. It is beautifully written, and makes a substantive contribution. The only recommendation I would make is that the author cite more of the literature in support of his thesis. I don’t require that each and every publication on the following list be mentioned by this author, and integrated into his paper, but, at least he should be aware of this literature, and utilize more of it.
Best regards,
Walter
4:02 am on October 6, 2019
