Whatever Happened to Justice?

Another great book from Richard Maybury, this one deals with the history and practice of the Common Law. He reviews how judges of old felt that the Higher Law existed independently and eternally and their job was to discover it. He talks about how law was slowly evolved, versus “political law” which is the decree of government and changes from day-to-day. The book is filled with great quotes from the Founding Fathers and other luminaries.

I’ll keep this review short and just say that the book is fascinating, it’s a part of history that you almost never hear about and it really shows how wise our ancestors were. If you are interested at all in society and justice you really should read this book.

 

Too Big To Exist

During the financial crisis of 2008, we heard a lot about financial institutions that were “too big to fail”. After the crisis, we passed the Dodd-Frank law, and now those banks are even bigger. Own goal!

However, I sometimes wonder if there should be a “too big to exist” rule. When any entity – bank, government, company, individual – gets too big, it starts to have undue influence. At this point, any misstep by that entity can spell misery for millions. Also, they can use their strength to basically take what they want. Maybe there should be a cap on how much money and power one entity may have. Of course, given that governments can also be “too big to exist”, I’m not sure who would enforce such a rule.

The whole idea is problematic. Suppose we limit all companies to $1 billion in annual revenue. Apple sells a million iPhones one year for $1000 each (note that at this rate, it will take 300 years for everyone in the US to get one, and over 7000 years for everyone in the world to get one). Now up walks the one-millionth-and-first customer. The customer wants an iPhone. The Apple salesman would like nothing more than to sell that phone. The price is agreeable to both parties. They make the exchange and – men with guns arrive to lock the salesman up in a cage. It seems a little harsh. As a libertarian, I could not support this kind of violence visited upon someone engaging in non-violent behavior.

However, these huge institutions are scary. The power they have is dangerous. As Lord Acton said, “power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Only a saint could be trusted with that power, and there aren’t many of them (especially at the highest echelons of government and industry). They can crush political opponents, buy off the news media, and basically have their way pretty much anywhere. Power of that magnitude attracts the worst sorts of people, and turns even nice people into power addicts.

This is why I’ve changed my opinion on supra-national institutions, like the UN, the EU, and other trans-national organizations. It’s just too much power. The UK doesn’t actually need the EU to trade with Europe, or anyone else (I’ve always found the argument odd. Politicians are basically saying “force us politicians into the EU so that we politicians don’t put trade barriers up.” As if they just can’t stand the temptation).

I wonder how large these institutions could grow in a totally free market, without coervice government intervention. The Robber Barons of the early 20th century perfected the art of using government force to secure their fortunes in ways they could not do in the market, and it’s been off to the races ever since. In a free economy, the only way to get rich is to make a whole lot of other people very very happy (like Steve Jobs did), not by using government coercion to forceably appropriate other people’s wealth (like Goldman Sachs).

Economics in One Lesson

I’ve heard about this book for a long time, and I finally got around to reading it.  I was not disappointed!

The author starts with Bastiat’s observation – that you must consider that which is seen and that which is unseen, when you make an observation about economics.  Much of economic policy is about moving money around, taking it from one group and giving it to another, and then looking at the latter group and saying “see how much better off they are!” And that’s true. But you need to balance the equation by seeing how much worse off the former group is. And the sum tells you whether you’ve made society as a whole poorer or richer.

Hazlitt’s book first appeared in 1946, but it sounds like it was written today. He tackles the ideas that we can tax ourselves into prosperity, that labor-saving machinery and advanced manufacturing techniques make us poor, and that the government needs to stabilize the market, among other things. In other words, he demolishes almost every dumb thing that politicians and journalists believe in. Read this so you can laugh at your TV.

Every politician should be required to read this before they take office!