yes, exactly
January 27th, 2008 by 
bkmarcus
individualism for the masses
BK Marcus is an amateur political economist with no formal education in the subject.
He works from Charlottesville, Virginia, as an editorial consultant for the Ludwig von Mises Institute.
He is no longer a house husband, nor a faculty spouse, but he is still a dilettante, and a layabout, at least in spirit.
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"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance."
Benjamin Tucker Marcus
June 18, 2008
January 28th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Do you agree with the idea that taxation is theft? I do.
This means that socialism acquires its money dishonestly, in a criminal manner (theft). So, for economists, what is the point of tracking the effects of billions of dollars that have been stolen from people?
January 28th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Private 1:
Yes, I absolutely think taxation is theft, but I'm not sure I understand your follow-up question.
Economics as a positive science is about the cause and effect of the world of exchange. The only relevance of a normative concept like "theft" is if it has a different effect on the economy than would voluntary exchange. This does turn out to be the case, of course. No surprise there. But you seem to imply that there's something either pointless or illegitimate to tracking those effects.
Every new dollar that the Fed creates is also a form of theft, as is every dollar, new or old, that the government borrows (though more indirectly). These different forms of theft can take different courses and have different degrees of impact. Right now, they're having a very big impact and people are only just starting to notice. The news is dark enough, sometimes, for me to sympathize with the escaped convict in the above comic strip. The erstwhile escaped convict.