Chuck Grimmett

I decided to link to a few articles that I think are worth reading. If you have some time, look through them.

My trip to NY and two weeks of FEE seminars came to an end on Friday. I was originally scheduled to fly home at 7:30, but I managed to get a flight at 5:30 (which I was thankful for because LGA had a 2-hour backup for take-offs). I had a great time and learned a lot. I also had the privilege of seeing two TSA personnel harass a man for making a comment under his breath. 

…not so spectacular this year.

This July 4, people all across America will be at cookouts and celebrations, their hearts swelling with patriotism for their country and everything in it. Many people will watch fireworks, sing the national anthem, honor the flag, and listen to stories of how the founding fathers inspired a nation to gain its independence. The media will once again rave with support for the United States’ military presence in the middle east and lecture on how the all-powerful state is protecting us and our “freedoms”. We will read in the paper and watch on television the importance of patriotism, obeying the “law”, and paying tribute to all of our “civil servants”. 

A friend of mine was reading New Ideas from Dead Economists, a book by Todd Buchholz that explains and critiques economic thought from Adam Smith to Keynes. In it, there is a section about Karl Marx and his theories. In explaining Marx’s labor exploitation theory, Buchholz points out that Marx rests his claims on the premise that the value of a product is determined by the amount of labor needed to produce it. (Classical economists like Smith and Ricardo also believed this.) Buchholz writes later on the page that critics of Marx argue that this premise is wrong, but he does not go on to explain any of these arguments. My friend asked me what these arguments were, so I did my best to explain them for him. 

I spent the last week in Chautauqua, NY with my friend Brad Akin. I had a great time. We spent the week fishing, jetskiing (I was able to get the jetski up to 53mph!), kayaking, and loitering around searching the internet.  Brad introduced me to Andriaccio’s Stuffed Olives Asiago which are quite possibly the tastiest appetizers I have eaten. In between eating lots of pizza and doing the above mentioned things, I had time to take some photos with my new Canon 40D.