The Ethics of Halloween

Also available at mises.ca

Every Halloween people are engaging in free-market anarchism whether they like it or not.

RBC complicit in the LIBOR scandal?

Also available at mises.ca

U.S. state officials have issued a subpoena to the Royal Bank of Canada (among others) for participation in the LIBOR scandal. In addition, various Canadian regulatory bodies (including the Competition Bureau, an oxymoron if there ever was one) have launched their own probes into the matter.

Does Mark Carney Know What He's Doing?

Also available at mises.ca

Columnist Joe Castaldo of Canadian Business asks this same question. While I can't answer with one hundred percent certainty that Carney doesn't know what's he doing, I can infer from his actions. If Austrian economics is considered the only "school" describing the economic reality we all interact with, then it's fair to say that Bank of Canada Governor is completely off-base with his approach to monetary policy. Whether it's due to cognitive dissonance or an evil ploy by Goldmach Sachs to enslave the world through debt (or somewhere in between) is more or less irrelevant for the topic at hand. For I'm not interested with the reasons why Mark Carney acts the way he does, I'm concerned with how he's acting.

The Canadian Bank Bailout

Also available at mises.ca

This will come as no surprise to regular readers, but in the chance that you happened to find this post via Google or some other search engine, allow me to describe as plainly as possible the hows and whys of the 2008 Canadian bank bailout.

Headlines for October 16

Farmers’ group calling for more competition in processing sector: “With only two players in the industry controlling 80 per cent of the national capacity, it’s obvious. Those two players have undue influence on the rancher and the farmer and even the consumer,” Well said. But that's only half the equation. The next part in this line of reasoning is realizing that government's can't (and won't) help.

Ex-chief calls reserves 'concentration camps': Well they pretty much are. The only real difference is that aboriginals are allowed to leave.

Headlines for October 15

Dalton McGuinty resigns: “My conclusion is that of late, we’re generating a lot more heat than we are fire.” Therefore, I'm leaving. Just can't handle the criticism. “Are you people with me or not?” No, we're not. Good riddance. Thanks for nothing you jerk.

Review: "New Liberalism" by Matthew Kalkman

A spectre is haunting the Liberal Party - the spectre of new liberalism. Although claiming to be non-partisan, Matthew Kalkman has written a book Bob Rae is touting as the blueprint for a reengaged Liberal Party. In addition, Kalkman calls modern conservatism a "contradiction in terms."[1] Nevertheless, at just over one hundred pages, New Liberalism is nothing more than a political pamphlet for the political and economic fascists looking to justify their actions. Kalkman aids this process by defending fascism as the logical extension of the liberal philosophy. Although Kalkman never uses the 'f' word, the system he describes is undeniably totalitarian - even if he doesn't realize it. And it's likely Kalkman doesn't realize it.

Born in 1988, Matthew Kalkman has spent his entire life in school. He has an L.L.B. from Durham, a MSc from the London School of Economics and studied French at Université Laval. Currently he works in "environmental law" somewhere in Vancouver. A prolific author, Kalkman writes passionately and plainly. New Liberalism is an easy read but unfortunately it's filled with statist propaganda. The reason Kalkman may not realize how much of an apologist he is for the status quo, is because Kalkman sincerely believes that the government works in the people's best interests. This was the only rationale I could fathom from his book, as his calls for Keynesianism and global governance are perhaps the most foolish positions a young person (or any person for that matter) can take. However, if one reads the book from the premise that government is fundamentally good and looks after "society's interests," then Kalkman's worldview becomes easier to digest. However wrong it is.

Rick Mercer On XL Foods

I think Rick Mercer is waking up.

Deferring Justin Trudeau

Well it seems I'm a little late to the party. Justin Trudeau announced his bid for the Liberal leadership last week, and now here I am a week later commenting on it. But like I said before, focusing on the Liberal leadership race is a disgusting habit, akin to shooting heroin. So perhaps it was best that I let the news sink in for a week, instead of devoting my scarce time and energy to denouncing a parasitic politician that, to be quite honest, I could care less about. I sat down to write my Trudeau post a couple times, but I never felt that motivated. I enjoyed writing about Tommy Douglas, Canadian Idealism and Jack Layton much more than any attempt at Justin Trudeau. Maybe later, when he wins and develops more concrete opinions, I'll jump on the bandwagon and rip apart his statist ramblings. You can be sure I'll be all over the 2015* election when it's Harper vs. Mulcair vs. Trudeau (assuming he wins, which is less of an assumption than a predetermined reality).

So for now, allow a couple of my favourite alternative media outlets to summarize my thoughts:

A Brief History of Tommy Douglas

Also available at mises.ca

Tommy Douglas, the so-called "Greatest Canadian," was actually born in Scotland in 1904. At age six, his family relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Later, Douglas became a Baptist minister before becoming a politician. Most what of is taught or written about Tommy Douglas is blatant propaganda. The goal of this post is to give a more rational outlook on the man's works and accomplishments. Although best remembered for his socialist policies, other items - such as his Masters thesis on eugenics - are equally important for defining who Tommy Douglas was and the kind of world he wanted to create.

Mark Carney, Liberal Leader of Canada?

Also available at mises.ca
 
Don't make me laugh. I believe Mark Carney when he says he has no interest in running for the leadership of the federal Liberal Party... and it's not often that I believe Mark Carney. The man is a pathological liar or at the very least a skilled propagandist. Carney remains an unelected bureaucrat, the head of the Bank of Canada and the Financial Stability Board. Why he would want to relinquish his crème de la crème status to dwell in the murky waters of partisan debate is beyond the scope of reason.

Now I'm not saying it won't happen. It's just very unlikely. However, if Mark Carney decided to run as the Liberal leader, and let's say he won, that would mean Canadians would be treated to a full-scale Tory attack on the BoC governor.

And that could be interesting...

My Opinion Matters? The Liberal Caucus Wants My Feedback

But not really. The Liberal Caucus want to give the impression that our vote counts, that our opinion matters and that our ideas can influence the Party elites.

In the words of George Carlin, it's all bullshit folks and it's bad for you.

But that doesn't mean we can't have fun with this little survey.

A Critique of Canadian Idealism

"Freedom has substance only in the state." - Robert Meynell

"Nothing, perhaps, is so dangerous intellectually in the policy sciences as an economist who knows only economics, except, I would add, a moral philosopher who knows no economics at all." - Peter J. Boettke

Robert Meynell has written a well-researched book about Canadian Idealism. Canadian Idealism is a Hegelian philosophy best exemplified by such thinkers as C.B. Macpherson, George Grant and Charles Taylor. It is through these thinkers that Meynell presents his case for Canadian Idealism as the correct way to organize society.

With a forward by Jack Layton, it's apparent from the onset that Canadian Idealism and the Philosophy of Freedom is not dealing with "freedom" as libertarians describe it. Throughout the book, it's obvious that Meynell nor any of the thinkers he writes of, give any indication that Austrian economics even exists let alone that the body of knowledge 'solves' the 'dilemma' of individual liberty versus civic unity. And that's the core problem with Canadian Idealism as a philosophy - it ignores or misunderstands economics. So despite their best intentions,

The body of economic knowledge is an essential element in the structure of human civilization; it is the foundation upon which modern industrialism and all the moral, intellectual, technological, and therapeutical achievements of the last centuries have been built. It rests with men whether they will make the proper use of the rich treasure with which this knowledge provides them or whether they will leave it unused. But if they fail to take the best advantage of it and disregard its teachings and warnings, they will not annul economics; they will stamp out society and the human race.