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On Wednesday the House passed a bill that would make price gouging by oil and gas companies a federal crime. The legislation called for jail time and fines of up to $150 million a day for charging “unconscionably excessive prices” and taking “unfair advantage” of consumers. As frequent readers of this website already know, this proposed

[This Study Guide to Human Action , Chapter II is also available in PDF .] CHAPTER II. THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCIENCES OF HUMAN ACTION CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Praxeology and History Praxeology and history are the two main branches of the sciences of human action. History is the collection and systematic arrangement of all data of

In response to mounting controversy over the student loan industry, the House recently passed the Student Loan Sunshine Act by a large margin (414 to 3). The Act would require lenders to disclose any financial relationships they have with educational institutions, and it would prohibit certain questionable activities, such as lenders giving

[This Study Guide to Human Action , Chapter VI is also available in PDF .] CHAPTER VI. UNCERTAINTY CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Uncertainty and Acting Action implies uncertainty of the future. If the future were known, there would be no impetus to action. The praxeologist can recognize this truth without taking a stand on the philosophical question of

On July 3, doctors announced that Andrew Speaker, the tuberculosis patient who sparked an international outcry when he flouted orders and boarded a jet for Canada, might not be so dangerous after all. The CDC confirms that Speaker’s TB, though difficult to treat, is not nearly as drug-resistant as officials thought when they tracked down Speaker

For some time I have been trying to defuse the hysteria over the US current account deficit (e.g., 1 , 2 , and 3 ). Using economic arguments and (I hoped) funny analogies, I tried to show that there is nothing necessarily bad about foreigners selling us more final goods and services than we sell to them. My refrain was always that yes, a massive

In response to a qualified plug that I gave to his book Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse , Peter “Dr. Doom” Schiff sent me a complimentary review copy. (For those worried about trade imbalances, you can relax: I sent Schiff a copy of my own book in return.) I haven’t yet finished the book, so I will postpone a proper

CHAPTER IV. A FIRST ANALYSIS OF THE CATEGORY OF ACTION CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Ends and Means The end (or goal or aim) is the result sought by an actor. The means is whatever is used to attain the end. Ends and means do not exist in the physical universe, but rather are the product of a valuing mind as it surveys its physical environment. Praxeology

On September 18 the Fed cut its target for the fed funds rate by 50 basis points (0.5 percentage points), from 5.25% to 4.75%. The move surprised many analysts who had been expecting a more modest cut of 25 basis points. For those versed in the Austrian theory of the business cycle, as developed by Ludwig von Mises and elaborated by Friedrich

CHAPTER V. TIME CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. The Temporal Character of Praxeology In a logical system (such as mathematics) all of the implications are coexistent and interdependent. It is not true that the axioms of geometry “cause” its theorems to be true, even though a limited human mind must work step by step through a geometrical proof. In the sense