THE TEA PARTY ECONOMIST 05/14/2014

Houses Built by 3D Printers for $5,000 Each
A Chinese firm can build ten houses a day for under $5,000 each. The construction is based on cement and used materials. You can see them here. This is a revolution. Give this another decade — maybe less. This will hit the construction industry like a ton of 3D-made bricks. Want a weekend getaway home […] READ MORE

University Economists vs. Rothbard
For over 40 years, I have watched university economists attack Murray Rothbard in print. They never laid a glove on him. They had certain things in common. They never published anything comparable to his book, Man, Economy, and State (1962). They never published anything comparable to America’s Great Depression (1963). They did not publish widely […] READ MORE


Government-Created Drought in California: A Long, Dry Summer
Prices for agricultural produce in U.S. supermarkets will be up this summer. Why? Drought, plus government planning. Call it a drought of liberty. Utility rates in California will rise. Small businesses in the state will be hit hard. There will be 50% unemployment in some agricultural towns. Farmers are not planting. The water costs too […] READ MORE


A Jewish Farmer Has Re-Invented the Wheel
I realize that this sounds unbelievable. But it’s true. The media have covered it. There really is a Jewish farmer. He broke his pelvis in 2008. He bought a wheelchair. And he didn’t like the way it felt. It was too bumpy. So, he thought about this. What if he could design spokes that would […] READ MORE

Former Fed Employee Is Charged With Felony For Threatening To Kill Boss
Perhaps we should be more measured with our criticism of the Federal Reserve System. It is an emotional topic for many Americans, and it’s not hard to understand why. The Federal Reserve System is a direct cause of the systematic devaluation of the average citizen’s money and exacerbates the income gap by funneling freshly printed […] READ MORE

Money Up a Rat Hole: The “Space Fence” Boondoggle
Gravity was a popular movie. It was lots of fun, except for one thing: it’s going to happen. Statistically, it’s going to happen. The governments of the world have known this for over 35 years. Maybe you have heard of the tragedy of the commons. It’s where a valuable asset is not owned. There is […] READ MORE

High Fidelity Systems and Low Fidelity Ears
By the time you can afford Krell speakers, you’ll have AM radio ears. This is the grim reality of high fidelity. It’s a race against declining high-frequency hearing. Here is a very depressing pair of charts. Look at frequency perception at older ages. Here is an unbreakable rule: Do not pay more for any component […] READ MORE

Weekend Play-Pretend Warriors in Nevada
Cliven Bundy’s stand against the United States government has often been described as the equivalent of the Whiskey Rebellion. We can find this comparison all over the Web. Bundy has described himself as “just like Rosa Parks.” No, he isn’t. Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus. She did not pull […] READ MORE

The Global Warming Movement Has Run Out of Gas
The Secretary-General of the United Nations — do you know his name? — gave a speech over the weekend. He announced the following. Climate change is the defining issue of our time. If we do not take urgent action, all our plans for increased global prosperity and security will be undone.” http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47718#.U2c6tCiPNqJ This speech indicates […] READ MORE

California School District Assigns Essay On Whether Holocaust Was A Hoax
The Rialto school district in California is under fire over a stunning eighth-grade assignment that asked students to write an argumentative essay about the Holocaust and “whether or not you believe this was an actual event in history, or merely a political scheme created to influence public emotion and gain wealth.” The thoroughly debunked idea […] READ MORE