The US Center for Medicare Services recently published a database of physician Medicare billing histories. One interesting bit of information from data release is the fact that a leading source of expenditures for big billers is drugs. As it turns out, Medicare incentivizes physicians to choose the most expensive drugs by reimbursing them for the…

C4SS Media presents Joel Schlosberg‘s “The Forever of Anti-Capitalism” read by James Tuttle and edited by Nick Ford. Some radicals not usually thought of as economists foresaw the essential principle. Howard Zinn envisaged a time when “[c]ertain basic things would be abundant enough to be taken out of the money system and be available — free — to everyone.” Even…

The entrepreneur is given considerable accolades in today’s political discourse. Republicans laud them as role models, paragons of the protestant work ethic. Democrats celebrate the jobs they add to the economy. Libertarians of all stripes love them for their independence and key role in markets. It seems that only advocates of the various forms of…

The following article was written by Colin Ward. The split between life and work is probably the greatest contemporary social problem. You cannot expect men to take a responsible attitude and to display initiative in daily life when their whole working experience deprives them of the chance of initiative and responsibility. The personality cannot be successfully…

C4SS Media presents Christiaan Elderhorst‘s “Bitcoin Must Self-Regulate — The State Can Only Destroy” read by James Tuttle and edited by Nick Ford. “Currently there is no system by which Bitcoin marketplaces can be held accountable. Resorting to government legal systems might indeed be the only way by which Mt.Gox customers can receive the restitution they deserve. What…

Consumerism is often derided by leftists. It’s viewed as an outgrowth of capitalism and markets more generally. There is truth in the notion that commercialism is a product of markets, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. As Ellen Willis stated: First of all, there is nothing inherently wrong with consumption. Shopping and consuming are enjoyable…

C4SS Media presents Thomas L. Knapp‘s “Future Of Bitcoin “In Doubt?” I Doubt It.” read by James Tuttle and edited by Nick Ford. “The only entities and organizations with anything to fear from Bitcoin and its offspring are governments (which rely on the ability to tax) and the political class (including pseudo-”private” parasites who make their livings sucking…

From a free market anti-capitalist perspective, Jeremy Rifkin’s account of “The Rise of Anti-Capitalism” [New York Times, March 15] gets it almost right. Rifkin’s thesis that “The inherent dynamism of competitive markets is bringing costs so far down that many goods and services are becoming nearly free, abundant,” in a process which “is about to…

In 1975, two leftists, one of whom had been a top GOP insider and a founder of the American libertarian movement, collaborated on a book published by a leading Washington, D.C. left-wing think tank and the Unitarian Universalist Association advocating devolution of political power from the federal, state and city levels to self-sufficient local neighborhoods,…

On both sides of the argument over the efficacy of the Universal Basic Income (UBI), there is the claim that the UBI might encourage unemployment. The critics of UBI claim this is a defect, but the Left often argues that employment is not the only value we should have, and that a universal net will…

Joe Nocera devoted a recent column (“Will Digital Networks Ruin Us?” New York Times, January 6) to Jaron Lanier‘s “universal theory” that the tendency of “network efficiencies” to benefit but also destabilize large organizations are the root cause of a host of problems in domains with nothing else apparently in common. Such brittleness and dysfunction is everywhere,…

This is the final part of a trinity of posts on Lynn Stuart Parramore’s recent Atlernet article called “3 Things That Make Libertarian Heads Explode“. The first two posts in the series dealt with selective contentions about her thoughts regarding the libertarian attitude towards inequality and public goods. This one is about her thoughts on…

Historien håller på att upprepa sig på ett fasansfullt sätt. Europas romska befolkning står inför ökad fientlighet, diskriminering, marginalisering och fattigdom. Jag har förut skrivit om den etniska registreringen av romer i Sverige, utförd av den svenska polisen. Vi som bor i Sverige har under de senaste månaderna också märkt en tillströmning av utfattiga romer…

History is repeating itself in a terrifying way as Europe’s Romani population faces increased hostility, discrimination, marginalization and poverty. I have previously written about the ethnic registration of Romani people perpetrated by Swedish police. Those of us living in Sweden have in recent months also seen an influx of destitute Romani people making their way here…

Com a falência do banco de Bitcoin Mt. Gox, mais de 400 de seus clientes expressaram interesse em entrar com um processo coletivo contra a empresa-mãe e seu dono, Mark Karpeles. A Mt. Gox era o maior mercado de Bitcoins do mundo e, embora o funcionamento da criptomoeda ainda seja incompreensível para várias pessoas, seu…

Wie opkomt voor vrijheid steunt vreedzame en vrijwillige uitwisseling tussen mensen en strijdt tegen gewelddadige beperking van deze uitwisseling. Het hoeft echter niet direct te betekenen dat een systeem van vreedzame, vrijwillige uitwisseling “kapitalisme” genoemd hoeft te worden. Er zijn uiteraard sommigen die vinden dat dit overduidelijk is wat “kapitalisme” betekent. Ik kan ook niet…

In the wake of Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox’s bankruptcy filing, more than four hundred of its customers have expressed interest in filing a class action lawsuit against the parent company and its chief, Mark Karpeles. Mt. Gox was the cryptocurrency’s largest marketplace. Although Bitcoin’s functioning is still incomprehensible to many its value is real. Mt.Gox’s…

Un articolo sincero sul collasso di Mt. Gox, il mercato dei cambi di Bitcoin, suonerebbe più o meno così: “Ehi! Il mercato dei cambi più importante di Bitcoin è scomparso nel nulla… e invece di collassare, i Bitcoin ancora si vendono a 500 dollari! Una moneta robusta, con grandi capacità di ripresa! Un successo! Grande!…

The following article was written by Colin Ward and published originally appeared in “Patterns of Anarchy,” 1966. You may think in describing anarchism as a theory of organisation I am propounding a deliberate paradox: “anarchy” you may consider to be, by definition, the opposite of organisation. In fact, however, “anarchy” means the absence of government, the absence of authority. Can…

Uma cobertura jornalística mais razoável do colapso do Mt.Gox, um dos maiores mercados de Bitcoin, seria mais ou menos assim: “Uau! Um dos maiores mercados de Bitcoin da internet acaba de desaparecer e, em vez de entrar em colapso, o Bitcoin ainda é comercializado por cerca de US$ 500! Que moeda robusta e resistente! Que…