Economics, as a branch of the more general theory of human action, deals with all human action, i.e., with mans purposive aiming at the attainment of ends chosen, whatever these ends may be.--Ludwig von Mises
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Famous Economist: Frédéric Bastiat (1801-50)
Frédéric Bastiat
A Short Biography
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Recommended Reading: Walter Williams' column
the latest column from Walter Williams
Straight Thinking 101
Just about the most difficult lesson for first-year economics students, and sometimes graduate students, is that economic theory, and for that matter any scientific theory, is positive or non-normative. You might ask, "What's this business about positive and normative?" It's easy. Positive statements deal with what was, what is or what will be. Normative, or subjective, statements deal with what's good or bad, or what ought to be or should be. Confusing the two leads to considerable mischief.
Who Pays the Taxes?
"For 2004, the CBO found that the top 1 percent of all taxpayers paid 37 percent of all individual income taxes...the next highest 4 percent of the population bore another 16 percent of the tax burden. In contrast, the lowest quintile (the 20 percent of households with the lowest incomes) bore less than 1 percent of the tax burden, and the next quintile bore less than 5 percent."
from: The Trouble with Taxing Those at the Top
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Blog Welcome
Some will be class related. Others will be of general interest to those wanting to learn more about the subject of economics.