Wading Through Pervasive Food and Agriculture Myths

Jayson Lusk

"You're over 15 times more likely to die drowning in your own bathtub than you are from the effects of food pesticide."

"GMO crops reduce pesticide use."

"Some natural, organic pesticides are more toxic than some synthetic ones."

"98% of all farms in the U.S. are family farms and 91% of all farms are small farms. There are more farms today than a decade ago, and the household income of these farms is higher too."

Government Coercion Used By Corporations To Deter Competition and Increase Profits

This is how government harms everyone. We all are paying more for health care partly because of these anti-competitive laws.

Berlin Government Admits to Protecting Taxis from Uber Competition

Berlin Government Press Release

Here is the release using Google Translate:

Prohibition for the protection of the passenger

13:08:14, press release
, the State Department of Civil and Regulatory Affairs Berlin (LABO) the Uber BV has delivered a prohibition order and ordered the immediate enforcement of this Order. This excess may not use smartphone app or similar deals more or convey through this app offers violate the Passenger Transport Act now.

At the same time for each violation, a penalty payment in the amount of 25,000 Euros was threatened. Is the penalty recovered, then the Administrative Court may also order replacement obsessive against those responsible. Protecting the passenger has priority. The LABO as the competent supervisory and licensing authority can not tolerate that this goes in the context of requiring approval of passenger transport in the care of non-approved drivers in unlicensed vehicles and is subject to a disclaimer of insurance in case of damage. Moreover, available also serves to protect the driver, since the motor vehicle liability insurance does not cover the risk of passenger transport. The basic idea of the protection of the taxi trade also apply. Continued pursuit of the passenger without permission is also an offense, which is punishable by a fine of up to 20,000 euros. The injunction is not yet final. Uber may appeal against the order and apply against the immediate enforcement of judicial Eilrechtsschutz.

More Social and Economic Myths Debunked

The Assholes Who Call Themselves "U.S. Government" Race to the Bottom With Currency Wars - James Rickards

Mainstream Media Admits Women Make Less Because They Work Fewer Hours Than Men

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This will not, however, stop the political class from exploiting the "wage gap" by saying it's unfair and they need to force everyone else to pay women to "fill the gap".

Why Price Gouging is Good

Mish Points Out the Fallacy of the U.S. Dollar (Fiat Currency)

Mish wins the debate in just over a minute starting at 13:30.

Over-Regulation Hinders Competition and Stifles Economic Growth

The Economist

This article show clear examples of how government is ruining society. The most amazing thing is how the authors propose that the government should "do something" to fix this! Here are some quotes from the article:

"A Florida law requires vending-machine labels to urge the public to file a report if the label is not there. The Federal Railroad Administration insists that all trains must be painted with an “F” at the front, so you can tell which end is which. Bureaucratic busybodies in Bethesda, Maryland, have shut down children’s lemonade stands because the enterprising young moppets did not have trading licences."

"Hardly anyone has actually read Dodd-Frank, besides the Chinese government and our correspondent in New York (see article). Those who have struggle to make sense of it, not least because so much detail has yet to be filled in: of the 400 rules it mandates, only 93 have been finalised. So financial firms in America must prepare to comply with a law that is partly unintelligible and partly unknowable."

"Complexity costs money. Sarbanes-Oxley, a law aimed at preventing Enron-style frauds, has made it so difficult to list shares on an American stockmarket that firms increasingly look elsewhere or stay private. America’s share of initial public offerings fell from 67% in 2002 (when Sarbox passed) to 16% last year, despite some benign tweaks to the law. A study for the Small Business Administration, a government body, found that regulations in general add $10,585 in costs per employee. It’s a wonder the jobless rate isn’t even higher than it is."

Government Destroys Competition, the Poor Suffer

To those who still think government helps the poor. While competition is the main driver of high quality and low price goods and services, many business owners hate it. So they go to the one place where they can get their competition shut down: government.

IP laws, by the way, have the same effect and exist for the same purpose.

Social Cooperation: Why Thieves Hate Free Markets

Mike Maloney - Debt-Based Currency

A major negative with Mike Maloney is that he is associated with Rober Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad) who is a total fraud. But he does have some interesting points about debt-based currencies.

Another red flag is that he makes money selling gold, so extreme caution is in order in taking financial advice from him.

Women Paid Less? Think Again...

How Government Promotes Poverty

How can a poor person step up the economic ladder when it takes a $2000 license from the government to braid hair?

How can a poor person step up the economic ladder when to start a food truck you have to get so many permits?

How can a poor person step up the economic ladder when they can't find an unskilled job because minimum wage laws price them out of the market?

How can a poor person step up the economic ladder when rich people get monopoly protection from the government to keep people from competing with them?

How can a poor person step up the economic ladder when to run a taxi cab you have to pay the government hundreds of thousands of dollars for a license?

Poor people used to be able to pull themselves up the economic ladder more than today due to so many regulations and fees.

Are the Interests of Employees in Conflict With Their Private Employer?

Mises: Myth of Wage-earners vs Capitalists

It's Not OK For Government to Rob an Individual, But It Is OK for Government to Rob Everyone

Another example of the utter insanity of the notion called government.

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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia exposed the deeply antidemocratic nature of rent control in Pennell v. City of San Jose (1988). If the government thinks some high social end is served by allowing tenants to sit on someone else's property in perpetuity, then it should use public funds, after democratic deliberation, to buy or lease the premises for market value which it can then lease out to particular tenants. The correct way to handle this issue, he wrote, is by "the distribution to such persons of funds raised from the public at large through taxes," and not to use "the occasion of rent regulation to establish a welfare program privately funded by" landlords.

Why Government Spending Does Not Create Wealth

Stay In Cash?

Daily Bell's 2012 Economic Predictions

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I Love Greed - Walter Williams