I found this picture care of facebook. It shows a recent student protest (19th of March) in favour of retaining freedom of association and in favour of repudiating compulsory collectivism. Well done to all those involved in this event defending voluntary student unionism (VSU).
From Bloomberg:-
Bernanke and the four Fed governors voted yesterday to become creditors to Bear Stearns Cos., a securities firm that isn’t a bank, by invoking a law that hasn’t been used since the 1960s. Three days earlier, the Fed said it would swap Treasury notes on its balance sheet for privately issued mortgage-backed securities held by Wall Street firms.
“It’s a re-drawing of the relationship of the Federal Reserve with the rest of the financial system,” said Vincent Reinhart, former director of the Division of Monetary Affairs at the Board. Risks of so-called moral hazard, where firms will now come to count on bailouts by a federal agency, “are considerable,” he said.
I don’t think taxpayers should bailout failing businesses and I don’t make an exception for banks. However if a central bank is going to offer finance to bail out a business such as this then I think they should do so only on the condition that they receive an equity stake (which they should offload on the market at some later point) and that the board sack the CEO. This would at least mitigate some of the moral hazard.
The Liberal Democratic Party (Victorian Branch) will be holding an informal meeting on the 21st of June at 6:30pm. This will be an opportunity for supporters to meet and discuss options for moving the party forward, as well as other general issues. Interested non-members are welcome. The venue is the Curry Club Cafe, 394-396 Bridge Road, Richmond 3121. Prices for meals vary, however they are generally reasonable. Please RSVP to ldpvictoria@gmail.com
I am not an advocate of the death penalty but sometimes a crime comes along that really makes the idea feel especially appealing. Read more »
Hi, at long last I have got onto this blog.
Well folks, how very good and pleasant it was to meet our fellow travellers at the blogbash a couple of weeks back, and ‘give to airy nothingness a local habitation and a name’. Congratulations and thanks to skepticlawyer for organising it.
I particularly liked meeting the people behind the net names, finding out how people came to be libertarians, hearing everyone’s interesting approach. It was very enjoyable indeed to hear different libertarians air their views on issues of practice and theory affecting us. Roll on the next one I say.
John Howard’s contributions to the History Wars demonstrate that he does not understand the fundamental issues at stake in the debate. As such, the Prime Minister should refrain from taking part in the debate. The PM’s comments on the debate are not actually relevant; indeed they are attempts to use a deeply philosophical academic debate for political advancement.
For any locals who read this blog or Catallaxy, I’ll be speaking as a guest of Rockhampton City Council on Thursday night
from 7pm. Location is Northside Library, 154 Berserker St North Rockhampton. Once again drinks and nibbles are provided, although you’ll need to RSVP to 4927 0955 for catering purposes if you want to attend. I’ll be talking about the role of blogging in undermining traditional requirements for a physical cultural centre (a big city, that is) and how people in regional Queensland can go about joining the growing conversation.
I’m a guest on tonight’s episode of Insight, which goes to air at 7.30pm on SBS.
I’m not sure how much I’ll finish up saying - these things are always vulnerable to editing - but it promises to be interesting. I have a general policy of not watching television shows in which I appear (I dislike being reminded that it makes me look fat), so readers will have to fill me in.
Enjoy!
UPDATE: The show will be repeated on Friday August 25 at 1pm and Monday August 28 at 2pm for those who missed it first time around.
Regular readers of this blog who enjoy skepticlawyer’s contributions may like to meet her in the flesh, if only to learn that not all bloggers are pale geeks and nerds (this one actually plays quite a bit of sport, and has a nice North Queensland tan).
On Thursday, August 24 I’ll be a guest of Melbourne University and - I suspect - the Melbourne Writers’ Festival. I’ll be talking on taking a libertarian approach to publishing and writing… which means I should be able to get nicely warmed up on how the Australia Council’s arts funding policies produce all sorts of market distortions, not to mention rent-seeking.
The event is free, drinks and nibbles are provided - you’ll need to rsvp to rose.michael@unimelb.edu.au for catering purposes if you want to attend. It’s at the Gryphon Gallery in the 1888 Building, corner of Grattan and Swanston Streets at 6:30 for 7:00 pm.
See you there!
