Politics

Who brings von Mises to the beach?

Erik Kain 2 Comments

Apparently Michelle Bachmann:

Ms. Bachmann is best known for her conservative activism on issues like abortion, but what I want to talk about today is economics. When I ask who she reads on the subject, she responds that she admires the late Milton Friedman as well as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams. “I’m also an Art Laffer fiend—we’re very close,” she adds. “And [Ludwig] von Mises. I love von Mises,” getting excited and rattling off some of his classics like “Human Action” and “Bureaucracy.” “When I go on vacation and I lay on the beach, I bring von Mises.”

I guess it’s time for her to do her Five Books.

The Five Books piece with Mitch Daniels was actually when I started to become somewhat fond of the Indiana governor. It’s a shame he’s not running.

Somehow I doubt Bachmann’s von Mises beach-reading would have the same effect on me.

Why another blog?

Erik Kain 18 Comments

So I’ve decided to pretty much write exclusively about education at Forbes. They frown on too much political writing outside of their established Op/Ed bloggers. I had hoped to essentially work my way toward a more generalist blog like the one I used to write at True/Slant but that is not in the cards, at least not for now. And until some other magazine or newspaper decides to hire me (hint, hint) I’m going to run my own generalist blog here. I want to be able to post as frequently as I please, and I don’t want to hog the front page, so American Times is moving here, and my Forbes blog will be called something else. If anyone has really killer education-themed blog names they’d like to suggest, feel free to shoot away in the comments.

Anyways, you should see me post quite a lot more frequently here than on the front page, and I will cross-post regularly as well. My Forbes blogging will continue as well, but will be much more focused on education and less on other issues that I tend to like to write about such as the war on drugs, healthcare, and so forth. I will try to link to those pieces from here as well.

Also, some music.