3 Ring Binder

It does fit on there nicely . Get yours here .

(From the Prelinger collection at archive.org) Don't bother hitting play unless you have an hour to spend on this delightful slice of 1939 America.  It was fun to watch even if I couldn't stand the kid protagonist. From an original ad for the film, Here's a family of folks you know - friends who live just around the corner from everyone. Doing the Fair - because that's what everyone is doing this year. Thrilled by its beauty . . . amazed at its wonders . . . the Middleton Family, from Everywhere, U.S.A.! There are Babs and Bud, overflowing with the exuberance of 18 and 14 . . . romping through Wonderland like two kittens across a rug. There are Father Tom and Mother Jane, trying unsuccessfully to be calm and judicious about it all. And there's Grandma, whose eyes, bright with the memories of other Fairs, grow brighter still with the vision of a new Tomorrow for her dear ones. Watch the pages of your favorite magazines for the diverting adventures of t...

I didn't watch any part of the recent rescue of the Chilean miners, but it could not have elicitied a bigger emotional response from me than  this piece in today's Wall Street Journal. No matter how much you scoff at the idea, the capitalists who were able to contribute their free-market innovations to the rescue efforts are similarly fighting to survive under the crushing weight of government interference. I understand that mens' bodies survive even when the government destroys their motivation, but the incredible products of their minds, risks, and efforts may never see the light of day. The proper role of the government is to protect our individual rights which include the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. When our individual rights are protected, men thrive, not merely survive.

I suggest something from the new spring line, Laissez-Faire Capitalism . Torsia, our headless model, is sporting the new woman's t-shirt in verdant, capitalist  green (other colors are available).  For more t-shirt styles boldly announcing your commitment to individual rights, including private property and the separation of the economy and state in one neat package check out the  Capitalism  section . Feeling more activist-minded? Consider passing out buttons or bumper stickers . I never thought that I would need to become a defender of capitalism . The proliferation of statists spewing collectivist slogans are actually referring to failings of an over-regulated, mixed economy, yet, they are in not burdened by that truth in their attempts to malign capitalism. I wanted to make a small effort to directly contrast their false notions by showing my support for the one social system in which individual participation...

For the first time in the history of civilization, one government recognized that all people, regardless of the conditions of their birth or wealth were equal under the law, that each has unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It was from these principles that our Founding Fathers’ framework guaranteed that neither race nor sex could exclude a man from his natural rights. The United States of America was and remains the best experiment in government—one founded on the recognition of individual rights. Such individual freedom to act, free from coercion, was the springboard for tremendous advances in every sector of the economy and the major driver of prosperity in this nation. It ingrained a can-do attitude and rooted self-sufficiency as a major component in the culture of our country. As a result of being able to direct the way we live as individuals, we, as a whole, have prospered. Because men were able to make their own way based on voluntary exchanges w...

I think mine is a better title for yesterday’s Boston Globe article, “ Why Capitalism Fails .” Of course I had to read it so I, too, could understand what exactly the author meant, not only by capitalism, but also by its failure. Although it was a five page article (as the web crow flies), I didn’t have to look too far to find the second answer. The author reveals that capitalism’s failure is in its inherent instability. While the article carried an awfully big stick with its title, it did not explain what capitalism is. Perhaps this is because it is a seemingly self-evident, oft- spoken term. But it is clear throughout the article that the author uses “capitalism” as a synonym for our “mixed economy”. It is not. With its Potemkin village of a title, the article is not about the failure of capitalism, but about the recently rediscovered brilliance of the late economist Hyman Minsky by some currently popular economists. Minsky, a lesser-known economist who shared educational experience...

I added this terrific blog to my sidebar a while ago, but I really needed to introduce and highlight it. Check it out . It's an important reminder of not only the great successes of the capitalists featured, but also what is in danger of being lost if we continue to ignore or evade how actual wealth is produced: not by forced government redistribution, but through the efforts of men left to pursue their own values.

Having just come home from a whirlwind tour of a small bit of Manhattan at Christmas time with my husband and daughters, ages 10 and 15, I have accumulated and would like to share with you the following bits of wisdom. Don’t: 1) Bring anyone under 14 (Could also be read as “Don’t bring anyone whose legs are not at least as long as yours, who thinks she needs to eat every 40 minutes, or thinks that the Harajuku Lovers solid perfume tops are the height of holiday fun”.) All right – you can bring them as sharing NYC with your kids is half the fun, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. 2) Show up at Rockefeller Center and expect to get on the ice. If you want to skate at Rockefeller Center, get in line by 8:00AM for the 10:00 session. Sure, this endeavor blows over 1/3 of your time budget, but it is one of the quintessential New York experiences (which we didn’t have). 3) Stand in a cordoned-off line around the corner from any department store to see the windows. This will eat up an inordinat...

Head over to SmartMoney.com and read some of the articles of Jonathan Hoenig . It'll be worth your while. via HBL .