1447: Bob Murphy – Rent Control Creates Slumlords

If landlords can’t charge a market rate, they’ll cut corners to maintain profitability. Because rent controls encourage landlords to reduce their maintenance expenses, apartments in rent controlled areas aren’t painted as often, repairs aren’t made as quickly, graffiti doesn’t get erased as quickly, and the washer/dryers in the basement don’t get replaced when they break down. —Robert P. MurphyDownload Print Quality (7680×4020) 269KB  |  Normal Quality (3840×2010) 138KB
If landlords can’t charge a market rate, they’ll cut corners to maintain profitability. Because rent controls encourage landlords to reduce their maintenance expenses, apartments in rent controlled areas aren’t painted as often, repairs aren’t made as quickly, graffiti doesn’t get erased as quickly, and the washer/dryers in the basement don’t get replaced when they break down. —Robert P. MurphyDownload Print Quality (6146×7680) 303KB  |  Normal Quality (3073×3840) 170KB

If landlords can’t charge a market rate, they’ll cut corners to maintain profitability. Because rent controls encourage landlords to reduce their maintenance expenses, apartments in rent controlled areas aren’t painted as often, repairs aren’t made as quickly, graffiti doesn’t get erased as quickly, and the washer/dryers in the basement don’t get replaced when they break down.

Under rent control, there are no market penalties for shoddy service because there is a long line of potential tenants. Thus rent control does not eliminate but rather creates “slumlords” who in a market system would have to compete to attract and retain tenants.

—Robert P. Murphy

1442: Ron Paul – The Most Evil of All Taxes

The most sinister of all taxes is inflation. When you create money out of thin air to pay the bills, the value of the dollar goes down, and the poor and the middle class get hit with a higher cost of living. It is the most evil of all taxes. —Ron PaulDownload Print Quality (3840×2010) 2.13MB  |  Normal Quality (1920×1005) 210KB
The most sinister of all taxes is inflation. When you create money out of thin air to pay the bills, the value of the dollar goes down, and the poor and the middle class get hit with a higher cost of living. It is the most evil of all taxes. —Ron PaulDownload Print Quality (3840×2744) 2.95MB  |  Normal Quality (1920×1372) 272KB

The most sinister of all taxes is inflation. When you create money out of thin air to pay the bills, the value of the dollar goes down, and the poor and the middle class get hit with a higher cost of living. It is the most evil of all taxes. —Ron Paul

1424: Antony Davies – About Unintended Consequences

The thing about unintended consequences is it doesn't matter whether your intent is good, it doesn't matter whether the regulation that you're imposing is well thought out, it doesn't matter whether lots of people are in favor of the regulation. It is the fact that the coercion takes away from people their abilities to make decisions for themselves that causes the unintended consequence. —Antony Davies Download Print Quality (7680×4020) 196KB  |  Normal Quality (3840×2010) 108KB
The thing about unintended consequences is it doesn't matter whether your intent is good, it doesn't matter whether the regulation that you're imposing is well thought out, it doesn't matter whether lots of people are in favor of the regulation. It is the fact that the coercion takes away from people their abilities to make decisions for themselves that causes the unintended consequence. —Antony Davies Download Print Quality (7680×7680) 277KB  |  Normal Quality (3840×3840) 144KB

The thing about unintended consequences is it doesn’t matter whether your intent is good, it doesn’t matter whether the regulation that you’re imposing is well thought out, it doesn’t matter whether lots of people are in favor of the regulation. It is the fact that the coercion takes away from people their abilities to make decisions for themselves that causes the unintended consequence. —Antony Davies

1415: Hannah Cox – Strangling Capitalism

You can't strangle an industry with regulations, mandates, red tape, bureaucracy, and government control and then blame capitalism when it sucks. —Hannah CoxDownload Print Quality (3840×2010) 3.06MB  |  Normal Quality (1920×1005) 203KB
You can't strangle an industry with regulations, mandates, red tape, bureaucracy, and government control and then blame capitalism when it sucks. —Hannah CoxDownload Print Quality (3840×2744) 4.34MB  |  Normal Quality (1920×1372) 263KB

You can’t strangle an industry with regulations, mandates, red tape, bureaucracy, and government control and then blame capitalism when it sucks. —Hannah Cox

1386: Thomas Sowell – Pay is Not a Reward for Merit

People born into families with every advantage of wealth, education, and social position may be able to achieve a high level of productivity without any great struggle that would indicate individual merit. Conversely, people who have had to struggle to overcome many disadvantages, in order to achieve even a modest level of productivity, may show great individual merit. But an economy is not a moral seminar authorized to hand out badges of merit to deserving people. An economy is a mechanism for generating the material wealth on which the standard of living of millions of people depend. Pay is not a retrospective reward for merit but an incentive for contributing to production. —Thomas SowellDownload Print Quality (7680×4020) 250KB  |  Normal Quality (3840×2010) 142KB
People born into families with every advantage of wealth, education, and social position may be able to achieve a high level of productivity without any great struggle that would indicate individual merit. Conversely, people who have had to struggle to overcome many disadvantages, in order to achieve even a modest level of productivity, may show great individual merit. But an economy is not a moral seminar authorized to hand out badges of merit to deserving people. An economy is a mechanism for generating the material wealth on which the standard of living of millions of people depend. Pay is not a retrospective reward for merit but an incentive for contributing to production. —Thomas SowellDownload Print Quality (6146×7680) 317KB  |  Normal Quality (3073×3840) 175KB

People born into families with every advantage of wealth, education, and social position may be able to achieve a high level of productivity without any great struggle that would indicate individual merit. Conversely, people who have had to struggle to overcome many disadvantages, in order to achieve even a modest level of productivity, may show great individual merit. But an economy is not a moral seminar authorized to hand out badges of merit to deserving people. An economy is a mechanism for generating the material wealth on which the standard of living of millions of people depend. Pay is not a retrospective reward for merit but an incentive for contributing to production. —Thomas Sowell

1378: Thomas Sowell – Government Planning

“Planning” in political rhetoric is the government’s suppression of other people’s plans by superimposing on them a collective plan, created by third parties, armed with the power of government and exempted from paying the costs that these collective plans impose on others. —Thomas SowellDownload Print Quality (3840×2010) 2.68MB  |  Normal Quality (1920×1005) 210KB
“Planning” in political rhetoric is the government’s suppression of other people’s plans by superimposing on them a collective plan, created by third parties, armed with the power of government and exempted from paying the costs that these collective plans impose on others. —Thomas SowellDownload Print Quality (3840×2744) 3.66MB  |  Normal Quality (1920×1372) 272KB

“Planning” in political rhetoric is the government’s suppression of other people’s plans by superimposing on them a collective plan, created by third parties, armed with the power of government and exempted from paying the costs that these collective plans impose on others. —Thomas Sowell

1374: Walter Block – Youth Unemployment & Minimum Wage

In 1948, white teenage unemployment in the U.S. was 10.2%, while black teenage unemployment was only 9.4%. This was when the effective minimum wage rate was much lower. Today, in a much less discriminatory epoch, but where teenagers are “protected” by a more stringent minimum wage law, white youth unemployment is 13.9%, while black youth unemployment is an astounding and shameful 33.5%. —Walter Block, The Case for Discrimination, 2010Download Print Quality (7680×4020) 214KB  |  Normal Quality (3840×2010) 115KB
In 1948, white teenage unemployment in the U.S. was 10.2%, while black teenage unemployment was only 9.4%. This was when the effective minimum wage rate was much lower. Today, in a much less discriminatory epoch, but where teenagers are “protected” by a more stringent minimum wage law, white youth unemployment is 13.9%, while black youth unemployment is an astounding and shameful 33.5%. —Walter Block, The Case for Discrimination, 2010Download Print Quality (7680×7680) 309KB  |  Normal Quality (3840×3840) 284KB

In 1948, white teenage unemployment in the U.S. was 10.2%, while black teenage unemployment was only 9.4%. This was when the effective minimum wage rate was much lower. Today, in a much less discriminatory epoch, but where teenagers are “protected” by a more stringent minimum wage law, white youth unemployment is 13.9%, while black youth unemployment is an astounding and shameful 33.5%. —Walter Block, The Case for Discrimination, 2010

1364: Antony Davies – Venezuelan Inflation

To address its cash crunch, the Venezuelan government printed money, which gave birth to rampant inflation. Depending on whom you ask, Venezuela’s annual inflation rate exceeded something between 60,000 percent and 200,000 percent in 2019. To put that in perspective, a product that cost one dollar in January 2019 would cost between $600 and $2,000 by the end of 2019. —Antony Davies, James R. HarriganDownload Print Quality (7680×4020) 226KB  |  Normal Quality (3840×2010) 122KB
To address its cash crunch, the Venezuelan government printed money, which gave birth to rampant inflation. Depending on whom you ask, Venezuela’s annual inflation rate exceeded something between 60,000 percent and 200,000 percent in 2019. To put that in perspective, a product that cost one dollar in January 2019 would cost between $600 and $2,000 by the end of 2019. —Antony Davies, James R. HarriganDownload Print Quality (7680×7680) 332KB  |  Normal Quality (3840×3840) 303KB

To address its cash crunch, the Venezuelan government printed money, which gave birth to rampant inflation. Depending on whom you ask, Venezuela’s annual inflation rate exceeded something between 60,000 percent and 200,000 percent in 2019. To put that in perspective, a product that cost one dollar in January 2019 would cost between $600 and $2,000 by the end of 2019. —Antony Davies, James R. Harrigan

1356: Frank Dikotter – The Great Leap Forward

By unleashing China’s greatest asset, a labour force that was counted in the hundreds of millions, Mao thought that he could catapult his country past its competitors. Instead of following the Soviet model of development, which leaned heavily towards industry alone, China would ‘walk on two legs’: the peasant masses were mobilised to transform both agriculture and industry at the same time, converting a backward economy into a modern communist society of plenty for all.Download Print Quality (6144×7680) 480KB  |  Normal Quality (3072×3840) 223KB

1334: John Stossel – The Free Market is Magical

I viewed the marketplace as a cruel place, where you need intervention by government to protect people. But after watching the regulators work, I have come to believe that markets are magical, and the best protectors of the consumer. It is my job to explain the beauties of the free market. —John StosselDownload Print Quality (3840×2010) 8.55MB  |  Normal Quality (1920×1005) 313KB
I viewed the marketplace as a cruel place, where you need intervention by government to protect people. But after watching the regulators work, I have come to believe that markets are magical, and the best protectors of the consumer. It is my job to explain the beauties of the free market. —John StosselDownload Print Quality (3840×2744) 10.90MB  |  Normal Quality (1920×1372) 392KB

I viewed the marketplace as a cruel place, where you need intervention by government to protect people. But after watching the regulators work, I have come to believe that markets are magical, and the best protectors of the consumer. It is my job to explain the beauties of the free market. —John Stossel