Baum quotes Cato chairman Niskanen as follows: "Ben Bernanke's next major challenge will be to avoid the recession that may be a consequence of deflating the demand bubble that he inherited from Alan Greenspan."

But does Bernanke want to deflate the demand bubble?

Simon Jenkins: "Modern government has a big hole in its ego, yearning to be filled by something called a 'threat to security'." (The Guardian, "Blair is wildly exaggerating the threat posed by terrorism")

Hoppe: The Paradox of Imperialism

"Democracy is a soft variant of communism..."

'The value of intellect increases markedly as one moves up the scale from cognitive knowledge to self motivated creativity.' (Quinn, Anderson & Finkelstein)

Baum: What's Liquidity? Is There Too Much, Too Little?

Derivatives Tails Are Wagging Corporate Bond Dogs: Mark Gilbert

"An erosion of self-esteem is one of the commonest symptoms of dispossession…. [It is sometimes manifested] in the company of sophistication and learning. It may then take the form of an excessive eagerness to demonstrate flair and worldliness; a facility to tag on to whatever the metropolis says is the latest movement, without asking the commonsense question: later than what?" Chinua Achebe, Home and Exile

Clarkson on education.

If someone is unable (or unwilling) to be a 'man of action' he may then try to become a man of learning and hope that the knowledge that he acquires and passes on will substitute for his lack of actions. Is this acceptable? Does it involve a form of self-deception in which one seeks to remove anxiety - regarding the lack of action - by delving into the world of books thinking that this activity is beneficial whereas the reality is that it is little more than a means of whiling precious time away; time in which many good actions could have been performed. Of course, learning is an action but what is meant here in terms of action is acting upon good pieces of 'basic' knowledge. If one is not acting upon the basic knowledge that one already has then is it correct to spend mcuh time learning 'advanced' knowledge? Reading can help one to better appreciate and understand life but can also become a way of living vicariously on a permanent basis.