Mark Skousen's Personal Website for the Best of Money & Economics
Today’s Orange County Register published a point-counterpoint debate between Mark Skousen and Robert Kuttner on “Public vs. Private Spending: How to Get the Economy Growing Again.” See the attached file, that includes an ad to this year’s FreedomFest.
Public vs. Private Spending: How to Get the Economy Growing Again
I’m very proud to announce the publication of my latest book, “A Viennese Waltz Down Wall Street: Austrian Economics for Investors,” published by Laissez Faire Books. See the letter from LFB publisher Jeffery Tucker below, and check out all the details of the book here.
Dear Readers:
The central message of the Austrian school of economics, writes Mark Skousen in this new and wide-ranging book, is that economics is about human beings. That outlook has direct implications for financial markets and personal investing. And this is why the Austrian school has had a huge impact Wall Street.
A Viennese Waltz Down Wall Street, then, is a tutorial on both economics and investment that sheds new light on both fields.
Consider the opening metaphor of the dance. This is the image that Skousen uses to illustrate the direction of prices in financial markets. It is not random, but neither is it entirely scripted. There is a great deal of improvisation and uncertainty. But what makes it all work is that great institution of the mutual benefit of buying and selling. This is what makes markets dance.
Economics and investing are the two fields that Skousen has followed closely during his long career. This book weaves the two together to show how you can use good economics to anticipate market turns. But just as importantly, it shows how you can use investing knowledge to understand economics.
You can download the e-book here.
CONTENTS
We hope you enjoy this wonderful book, and thank you for being a member of the Laissez Faire Club!
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Tucker
FreedomFest, “the world’s largest gathering of free minds,” is pleased to announce that George Gilder has won the Leonard E. Read Book Award for his new work Knowledge and Power (published by Regnery). This annual award is granted to the “libertarian book of the year” which best advances the principles of liberty.
“Knowledge and Power is a revolutionary work in the tradition of Hayek’s famous essay ‘The Use of Knowledge in Society’ and Thomas Sowell’s influential book Knowledge and Decisions,” states Mark Skousen, economist and producer of FreedomFest. “Gilder makes the argument that decision-makers must reject the deterministic/mechanistic systems of human behavior and build their policies and economic models on the concepts of human creativity, free will and the unexpected.” His entire book is built around his thesis that “the freer an economy is, the more this human diversity of knowledge will be manifested….Capitalism is not chiefly an incentive system but an information system.”
The Leonard E. Read Book Award will be presented to Mr. Gilder at this year’s FreedomFest, July 10-13, 2013, in Las Vegas. The award also comes with a gift of a one-ounce American eagle gold coin, valued at approximately $1,500. For more information on the annual conference, which attracts over 2,000 attendees each year, go to www.freedomfest.com.
About Leonard E. Read
The Read Book Award is named after Leonard E. Read, the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), the first modern free-market think tank in the United States, and its monthly publication The Freeman. Mr. Read (1898-1983) is the author of hundreds of essays, his most famous being “I, Pencil.” He was a voracious reader and his FEE library contained thousands of books. For more information on the Foundation for Economic Education, go to www.fee.org. (Note: This award is not affiliated with FEE, and the selection of the Read Book Award is exclusively a decision by FreedomFest.)
About George Gilder
George Gilder is one of the original pillars of supply-side economics and author of several bestsellers, including Sexual Suicide, The Spirit of Enterprise, Microcosm, and the Israel Test. His 1981 bestseller, Wealth and Poverty, had a major influence on the Reagan Administration in the 1980s. He is editor of the Gilder Technology Report, and a senior fellow at Seattle’s Discovery Institute, where he directs Discovery’s program on high technology and democracy. Gilder is a frequent writer for major business publications, including Forbes and the Wall Street Journal.
By Mark Skousen
Editor, Forecasts & Strategies
Keynote Address at Annual International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE), April 18, 2013, Orlando, Florida
“It is business that creates wealth, not countries or governments. It is businesses that decide how well or poorly off we are.” —Shlomo Maital, MIT managerial professor
Tomorrow my wife Jo Ann and I celebrate our big 40th (ruby) anniversary. We were married on April 19, Patriot’s Day, in 1973 in Utah.
Last week we went to Hawaii to celebrate. When we arrived at the Marriott Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu, we were given a small room with only a queen size bed and no view of the famous Waikiki Beach. I asked the desk clerk if there was any chance we could have a room with a king bed. He said nothing was available.
I suspect he knew that we used Priceline to get a discount on the room. [Read more…]
Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business, John Mackey and Raj Sisodia, Harvard Business Review Press, 368 pages
Ever since the robber barons stalked the earth and Balzac expostulated that “behind every great fortune is a crime,” the media has attacked Wall Street, Madison Avenue, and anything to do with corporations. In the latest Gallup poll on the trustworthiness of various professions, business executives come out little better than lawyers and used-car salesmen, far below the ethical standings of medical doctors, engineers, and police officers.
Even as the global marketplace has raised the standard of living a hundredfold in the past century, the accusations keep pouring in—that capitalism promotes inequality, materialism, greed, environmental degradation, and short-termism on Wall Street, and that fraud, deception, and corporate welfarism would run rampant if it weren’t for Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, and a host of government regulatory agencies. [Read more…]
We are delighted to announce Daniel Brackins as the winner of the FreedomFest Slogan Contest for his suggestions “FreedomFest: For the 100%!” We believed his slogan concisely summed up the inclusive nature of FreedomFest — we welcome all people, from all parties of thought, for coherent, insightful and open discussions…all while having tons of fun in Las Vegas. We also believe that the true principles of liberty are a benefit to everyone in the world.
Daniel will receive a genuine silver dollar, the symbol of FreedomFest, as his prize for coming up with the winning slogan.
Other slogans that made the top round for selection:
“FreedomFest: It’s not about left or rights. It’s about what’s left of our rights.”
“The Barbarians are at the Gate”
“Round up the usual suspects.”
“We the Market.”
“Breath freedom.”
“Live FreedomFest, or Die Hard”
We hope to see all of you at FreedomFest for our first conference at Caesar’s Palace, July 10-13, 2013. This year’s theme is “Are We Rome?” and it promises to be the absolute greatest FreedomFest yet. To register and find out the latest news on planned events, speakers and debates, plus the incredible Anthem Film Festival, visit http://www.freedomfest.com
Dear FreedomFest Friends,
We’re getting a huge response to our announcement that John Stossel is bring his #1 Fox Business show to FreedomFest, with hundreds of attendees signing up so far.
And that’s just the beginning of what the Washington Post calls “the greatest libertarian show on earth.”
One of the reasons people keep coming back to FreedomFest is to enjoy our unique panels and debates you won’t find at any other conference. Here’s 11 new events for this year’s show, all in keeping with our theme this year “Are We Rome?” [Read more…]
I just returned from the Global Financial Summit in the Bahamas, where over 200 attendees came from all over the world to learn about new investment opportunities and market solutions to the world’s problems. We were welcomed by the cabinet members of the Bahamian government, who emphasized how the Bahamas is a first-rate financial center and investment paradise. It has no tax on income or investments (but does impose a high 42% import duty). I visited Albany, a new development for the superrich such as Tiger Woods. I am not surprised they are moving there in droves, given the huge tax increases imposed in 2013.
My family and I lived in the Bahamas in the mid-1980s and I saved enough in taxes to buy a flat in London (without giving up my citizenship). My story can be found here.
Here’s a short summary (expect more detail in the March Forecasts & Strategies newsletter): [Read more…]
Big News! John Stossel Coming to FreedomFest!
Dear FreedomFest attendees,
Lots of news to report about this year’s big show. First and foremost:
When we ask past attendees, what famous libertarian they want to speak at FreedomFest, John Stossel is their #1 choice – by far.
Your wish is our command: We are happy to announce that John Stossel is coming to FreedomFest and will be taping a special edition of his Fox Business show, STOSSEL, at FreedomFest on the first day of the conference, Thursday, July 11, 2013 (just think 7-11). And you all are invited! [Read more…]
Here is my first book review on Barrons — on John Mackey’s new book, “Conscious Capitalism,” which I regard as revolutionary and encourage everyone to get a copy at either a Whole Foods store (always fun to visit) or on Amazon:
BARRONS
| SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2013
A worthy successor to The Wealth of Nations
Reviewed by Mark Skousen
We tend to regard capitalism in these cynical times as the worst economic system, except for all the others. By contrast, in Conscious Capitalism, Whole Foods Market Co-CEO John Mackey and Bentley College marketing professor Raj Sisodia put forward what could be the most ambitious, indeed revolutionary, model for capitalism ever conceived. Had their application of higher consciousness been in the boardroom a generation ago, we might have avoided the suffocating regulations of Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank, and the dire straits of companies like General Motors, Sears, Citibank, and even Enron.
Conscious capitalism, according to Mackey and Sisodia, is “a way of thinking about business that is more conscious of its higher purpose, its impacts on the world, and the relationships it has with its various constituencies and stakeholders.”
by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia
Harvard Business Press
368 pages, $27
Although they call free enterprise the source of “unprecedented prosperity for humanity,” they challenge the two celebrity philosophers of capitalism, Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman. They reject the Randian notion that “selfishness” and “greed” are virtues, and deny the Friedman view that the only responsibility of capitalism is to maximize profits for its shareholders.
“Business is not about making as much money as possible,” the authors declare. “It’s about creating value for stakeholders.” Companies must develop sterling reputations to attract loyal customers, employees and suppliers, and generate community goodwill. If they do, superior returns can be achieved in earnings and stock price as a byproduct, not as a primary goal. [Read more…]
Since 1980, Skousen has been editor in chief of Forecasts & Strategies, a popular award-winning investment newsletter. He also is editor of three trading services, Skousen Private Equity Trader; Skousen High-Income Alert and Fast Money Alert.
Movie reviews, theater reviews, and commentaries by Jo Ann Skousen, author, editor, professor and Mark's wife of 41 years. She is the Festival Director for the Anthem Libertarian Film Festival and the entertainment editor for Liberty Magazine.
Skousen Investor CAFÉ is a weekly electronic newsletter written by Dr. Mark Skousen. Mark offers commentary on the markets, the economy, politics and other topics of interest and what they mean to individual investors. Sign up for FREE here.
Anthem is the only film festival in the country devoted to promoting libertarian ideals. Anthem shows films and documentaries that celebrate self-reliance, innovation, commerce, individual rights, and the power of persuasion over force. We are looking for the year's best films about personal and civil liberty.