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In Episode 48, Host Andrew Smith discusses the perversion of the Taking Clause, why the takings clause should be removed from the Constitution via a constitutional amendment, the Kelo case, and now Pleasant Ridge vs the City of Charlestown, Indiana.  He sets the record straight regarding the "fair market value" myth, and discusses why it is economically fallacious. Now most people agree that the Kelo decision was egregious. Most people would be appalled by the situation in Charlestown, but at the same time, most people thing that the use of eminent domain is the only way to cheaply and efficiently execute upon the construction of so-called public infrastructure projects.  Andrew also discusses why eminent domain actually costs alot MORE than voluntary transactions would costs for public infrastructure costs, and why it is logically fallacious to claim that any other way of constructing roads and other so-called public infrastructure could not otherwise occur.

Bureaucracies Operate Under a Different Incentive than Private Enterprise...  In private enterprise companies and even not-for-profits (with more than one donor) operate under the profit and loss motive - prices send signals to entrpreneurs, telling them what society most urgently demands be produced with the means of produciton.... Bureaucracies on the other hand, operate under the Budget Increase Motive - the sole goal is to spend their entire budget to insure they get a larger appropriation from congress the next year. Further, it prevents them from ever solving the problems... We discuss why...

Left-Wing Economist and Politicians use the fallacious claim that "low skill workers have no bargaining power" to justify the minimum wage, while simultaneously stripping bargaining power from them through overtime pay laws. They base their fallacious claim on another fallacy - the low skill labor buyers monopoly. In Episode 46 of TheMacroView Host Andrew Smith debunks both myths and explains where "bargaining power" comes from in the labor market. Getting back to the basics of economics - Andrew teaches listeners why low skilled workers have a tougher time earning raises, and what they can potentially do about it in a free market setting. Enjoy!

Bill Gates is Quickly Becoming a Common Theme on TheMacroView thanks to his continuous nonsense spewing in public interviews - and the use of his wealth by other outlets as examples of how so-called income inequality is worse than ever before... This time, once again, it is thanks to his own economic ignorance...  Either Bill Gates has intellectually regressed and adopted the fight of the Luddites - or he recently joined an Amish sect. Despite the evidence that technological advancement does not cause unemployment that he clearly witnessed from his own life's work, Bill is now claiming the robots will take the jobs of so many that the government should tax the productivity of robots in order to retrain people who lose their jobs. Oh the Irony... Bill why don't you just stick to technology and leave economic analysis to the pros...

In Modern Mainstream Economics, academics and the well-read politician may refer to a concept which they call friction or frictional costs. In doing so what they are referring to is the cost of living for the unemployed that is seeking a job. Examples they may cite as frictional costs include the cost of traveling around the city or town in an effort to find employment, moving from one city to another for better opportunities and/or a lower cost of living, and general living expenses incurred on a daily basis. What they often fail to realize, however, is that much of these so-called frictional costs are caused by government hampering the market with rules and regulations, with wage laws and distortive capital guarantees. In the unhampered market economy unemployment is voluntary – always – for the generally decent person without a long rap sheet of physical violence or property crimes. As Mises put it in his renowned treatise Human Action: A job seeker who does not want to wait will always get a job in the unhampered market economy in which there is always unused capacity of natural resources and very often also unused capacity of produced factors of production. It is only necessary for him either to reduce the amount of pay he is asking for or to alter his occupation or his place of work. In the unhampered market there is always employment to be found.

A recent article from HumanProgress.org highlighted the incredible increase in labor productivity and standard of living using the lightbulb. In tonight's episode we discuss the myriad of 19th, 20th and 21st century innovations that we often take for granted! The fact is that we have an incredible and unprecedented prosperity, the highest standard of living in human history... America has been the land of innovation for greater than 150 years! There are causes for concern though... We discuss what those causes are and why bold action is needed!

Tonight on TheMacroView Special Guest and Libertarian Leadership Coach Michael Pickens joins us to discuss the Future of the Libertarian Party... Everything from Michael's Success, How to create more successful campaigns, Candidates running or planning to run for office, Marijuana Legalization, Strategies to build coalitions, and Michael's end goal! Don't miss this special episode, with our very special guest! Michael is the former Vice-Chair of the California Libertarian Party, Chair of the Libertarian Party of Washington, and former Campaign Manager for Larry Sharpe Libertarian Candidate for the Vice Presidential nomination in 2016.

The hyperbole surrounding the climate science debate is one of the most frustrating parts of society today... Let's set the facts straight.   Assuming it is not a hoax, what do the models actually say? Tonight we go through the models and discuss, from a realistic standpoint, what the implications of climate change are likely to be... From hotter temperatures and melting permafrosts to rising sea levels and ocean acidification, we talk real numbers and bring everyone back to earth!  Don't miss out on this episode! You're sure to be entertained, educated and love it!

In the final part of this 4 part series we discuss equity risk measures, asset risk and portfolio level risk. Risk measures, as with all financial analysis are tools, not predictors. They can help the investor to assess and judge risk levels as compared to expected (judged) potential reward. They are not hard and fast rules, they are not perfect, they are not end all be all omniscient god-beings.  Investing involves risk, understanding how to minimize or mitigate risk, and specifically, how to assess what the risk of a particular investment may be - how to roughly measure such - and therefore how to make better informed judgements.  

Tonight we discuss Debt Risk Concepts such as the Recovery Rate, Probability of Default, Loss Given Default, and Where to Find Certain Items on a Company Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Cash Flow Statement. For anyone thinking of investing in corporate bonds these concepts are vital to the valuation.  You must be able to assess risk of default and the loss given default in order to determine what the value of the bond is, and make sure that you're not overpaying for the risk you are assuming.

In part two of this multi-part series, we discuss the Compound Annual Growth Rate while debunking the recent Oxfam Report claiming Bill Gates will become the world's first Trillionaire due to concentration of wealth trends, we discuss Cap Rates, and Commonly Used Valuation Ratios for Stock Market aka Equity Investing. Don't miss out - If you're interested in investing, you need to understand these basic valuation concepts so that you know if you're making a wise investment, or if your prospective investment is overvalued at the moment.

In the first part of this multi-part series, host of TheMacroView and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst discuss the foundations of investment valuation. Herein, he covers Present and Future Values, The Discount Rate, Discounted Cash Flow Analysis, Net Present Value, the Internal Rate of Return and the issues with the IRR, as well as the Modified IRR. For anyone that is interested in financial markets, the stock market, real estate investing, entrepreneurship or any other activity that involves judging the soundness of a decision to payout money now, defer consumption, in the hopes of reaping future rewards, this is a Episode should NOT BE MISSED!

Beyond his childish antics and smugness, besides the fact that he just has one of those faces, like Ted Cruz, that is really hard to like, and besides the fact that I think he is very likely using the Libertarian Party as a platform for self-aggrandizement, the reason why I truly dislike Austin and think he is not and very likely never will be a good candidate for the libertarian party, is the fact that he is unable to explain the tenets and benefits of the free market without stumbling all over himself and shifting into non-sequitur quips about the other major parties. The libertarian party needs a candidate, if they are ever to be successful, who can so clearly and concisely explain the benefits of the free market, the logic of economic liberty, that conservatives will be willing to back them despite a non-interventionist foreign policy, and that liberals that have been voting democrat, will say “you know what, that makes a lot of sense, I’ve never heard anyone explain the free market that way before, plus this Libertarian is truly committed to non-interventionism unlike the democratic party”.

In the final part of this 3 part series, we discuss how people knew that a certain commodity would be accepted for as a medium of exchange, Mises' regression theorem, recent money mischief conducting by governments around the world and why bitcoin is controversial in circles of economists coming from the Austrian tradition.   Government's around the world, including here at home, have still not learned from the mistakes of the past, they still think they can tool around with the currencies to breed prosperity. Why is money accepted? How do people know they will be able to buy things, and generally certain quantities of things, with their money?  Was Mises wrong, Was he right and is Bitcoin simply misunderstood? Could it be that he just didn't have the foresight to imagine the digital age upon us and the implications of such?

Last night we discussed the what money is, the problems it solves, and why it is naive to think that a wise and benevolent dictator could have possible come up with the idea of money... Tonight we discuss how money actually came to be, the qualities that were required of a commodity in order for it to become a money, and why gold and silver have historically served as money. Lastly, we debunk the Keynesian concept which states: "Gold has no intrinsic value", and introduce listeners to tomorrow night's discussion! Don't miss part two of this three part series!

Money is an universally accepted medium of exchange. What is Money? Why is there money? What problem does it solve? Did the government create money?  Carl Menger gave answers to these questions and many more about where money came from and why it exists... Tonight we explore these three key questions - tomorrow night and the following we discover much more... Questions such as why gold and silver emerged as money, how it happened, the problems with fiat currency, crypto-currencies... You do not want to miss the this series! Tune in to garner the knowledge you need to Spread the Logic of Liberty!

On the 5th and final part of this five part series on Understanding the Fundamentals of Financial Markets, we debunk the Deregulation Myth and use the Logic of Liberty to show how Government Interventions in Financial Markets Distort the Market and Hurt Everyone! From The Fed, The FDIC, and the SBA to the Community Reinvestment Act, The Graham-Leach-Bliley Act and Sarbanes Oxley, to Dodd-Frank, the Bank Bailouts and Wall Street Corruption, Government has fully distorted financial markets! Tonight, we not only show how, but discuss why it hurts people and has divided main street and wall street.

In the second to last episode of this 5 part series we discuss the role of losses, bankruptcy and the so called distressed asset market! Listeners will gain a firm foundation to understand why each of these cooperative forces help increase economic efficiency, abundance and prosperity. Often folks talk about the profit motive, or about corporate profits and their enormity without even mentioning losses or bankruptcy and the role taht it plays. Losses, bankruptcy and the resulting distressed asset market are the mechanisms by which scarce resources are reallocated away from entrepreneurs that have proven themselves incapable of delivering through the use of such resources, on consumer demands, or the most urgent consumer demands. New entrepreneurs replace them, often ones with better foresight and a more accurate finger on the pulse of consumers. This process, though it can be painful for those involved, is irreplacable. It is by far the most efficient manner by which capital and resources find their most efficient uses. 

In tonight's episode, part 3 of a 5 part series, we help listeners understand Complex Securities and Derivatives, their purpose, the markets they operate on, and how they played no part in the financial crisis. Instruments such as Mortgage Backed Securities, Credit Default Swaps, Collateralized Debt Obligations often get a bad wrap, as if they are inherently evil or destructive. The fact of the matter, like any financial instrument, is that these complex securities and derivative contracts are a ingenious innovation that help investors and financial institutions MITIGATE risk.  Further, during the financial crisis of 2008, these instruments helped to MINIMIZE the damage done by the Federal Government's Capital Manipulations of the past 2 decades and the Monetary Manipulation of the Federal Reserve Bank. Without such innovative products to help manage risk, the crisis could have been much worse. Tonight we help listeners get a handle on the concept of convertible debt, preferred stock, futures, options, mortgage backed securities, credit default swaps and collateralized debt obligations! Don't miss it!

On part two of this 5 part episode, we dive deep into the concepts of debt and equity securities, the concept of interest, and the role of the centralized securities exchange On last night’s episode, using a Crusoe Economics Thought Experiment, we hashed out the purpose of savings, lending and banking. We clearly showed the purpose of savings, how savings can increase productivity of labor, and how lending can transfer the benefit of savings to others who would like to increase the productivity of a society. We also introduced the role of a bank. Briefly, we’re going to go back to Robinson Crusoe’s Desert Island and discuss interest, and then to show the value of equity versus debt.