Beautiful Anarchy

The Economics of Life Itself : Beautiful Anarchy is the writing platform of Jeffrey Tucker, in which he covers economics, art, popular culture, and politics from a pro-liberty, anti-state point of view.
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A Beginner’s Guide to Bitcoin Chaos Oct 18, 2018

I can’t remember a nuttier weekend in the history of Bitcoin than this one. That’s because the action gets more exciting by the day, with deeper plots, more options, growing complexities, and financial and personal drama all around. You know why? Because this technology matters enormously for the future of the world. It’s Day One in the birth of a new way of doing business. It’s extremely hard to write about this for the uninitiated without seeming to speak Klingon, but here is my attempt. My own Twitter and instant messaging blew up with questions, assertions, declarations, and anathemas. I...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote5 0

Money, It Turns Out, Is a Practical Art Oct 18, 2018

If you read on the topic of money’s history from any mainstream textbook, you will already know the drill. In the past, money took many forms. It was shells, pelts, salt, and various metals. Finally we got paper money, credit institutions, then central banks. At this point, we are told, history was complete. The final and best form had arrived. The state would be in charge of money forever. All that was left was to have it managed in a way that better served our needs. People argued about systems of government management. Maybe a rule of some sort, based...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote2 2

This Trade Treaty Got Better when the US Bailed Oct 18, 2018

People were stunned when the Trump administration unilaterally bailed on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade treaty in January 2017. It seemed like a deadly blow to this treaty that would have lowered tariffs among 12 nations. What is downright humiliating for Americans is that the treaty became better only after the US withdrew from it.  What did this move portend for the cause of free trade? Some despaired that it would signal a new trend toward protectionism, not only for the US but the world. There is a certain nationalist myopia in this judgment. Americans are inclined to believe that...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote6 1

Your New Mailman Works for Amazon Oct 18, 2018

There he was dropping off packages in the mail room. I picked up mine and walked away. Then I did a double take. The patch on his shoulder was not USPS, FedEx, or UPS. It was the familiar lower case “a” of Amazon. “Wait, do you actually work for Amazon?” “Yes, sir.” “The company that sells things online now has its own warehouse-to-doorstep delivery service?” “Yes, it’s been around for a year, but expanding by the day. I love my job. It’s a great company.” I am pretty sure I knew this, but it was only a news story until...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote8 1

Why We Love Farmers Markets Oct 18, 2018

Almost every small and medium-sized town has what are called farmers markets. We love them. Some are seasonal. Some open only on weekends. People shop under tents and pay vendors cash. It’s all very charming, a nice alternative to superstores. I just returned from one. I came home with a 4-pound Red Snapper, oversized Brussels Sprouts, beautiful red potatoes, fresh cheese made in the Mexican style, and tubs of spices – all for less than half what I would pay at a regular grocery store. Plus I enjoyed looking at foods and ingredients from all over the world. So delightful,...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote0 1

Beethoven’s Soundtrack to the Birth of Modernity Oct 18, 2018

As a kid, people were always trying to get me to listen to the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven. The adults decided they were good. I wasn’t buying it. To my kid ears, there was just too much happening in them. I had no context to understand them. They seemed long and pompous and had no real way to get where they were coming from or why they existed. Not for me. Not yet. I just listened again to the entire cycle, one through nine. It takes about six and a half hours. I felt transported, each symphony different from...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote1 0

Goodbye Net Neutrality; Hello Competition Oct 18, 2018

At long last, with the end of “net neutrality,” competition could soon come to the industry that delivers Internet services to you. You might be able to pick among a range of packages, some minimalist and some maximalist, depending on how you use the service. Or you could choose a package that charges based only on what you consume, rather than sharing fees with everyone else. Internet socialism is dead; long live market forces. With market-based pricing finally permitted, we could see new entrants to the industry because it might make economic sense for the first time to innovate. The...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote1 0

Dropping Traffic Rules and Signs Would Make Us Safer Oct 18, 2018

This morning, I was sitting at a stop light and heard a terrifying screeching. A black sedan headed my direction from the oncoming lane was careening across six lanes of traffic, with squealing brakes and tires, through the intersection, flying forward some 75 or so yards and finally landing against a pole with a mighty impact. Terror shot through everyone in the vicinity. Green means go. The problem was that there were cars in the way. What happened? The woman behind the wheel had been driving 45 mph and saw a green light ahead of her. Green means go. The problem was...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote1 0

Are You a Genius or a Fraud? Oct 18, 2018

One time, when I was a small child, I saw Hank Aaron go to bat. He had already hit his 500th home run. I was looking forward to seeing this genius do his thing. I was devastated when he struck out. Some genius, I recall thinking. As an eight-year-old, my first thought was that I could have done exactly what he did. Of course, Hank knew something that I, at the time, did not. Genius is about averages, not every time at bat. If every time you strike out, you imagine that you might be a fraud, you will make...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote0 0

Why Doesn’t James Scott Want to Talk about Property? Oct 18, 2018

One of the most exciting books of 2017 is James Scott’s Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (Yale 2017). It deals with all the salient questions (that I care about in any case). In prehistoric times, how did human beings discover how to feed themselves? How did we decide to become settled in one spot rather than move around as hunters and gatherers? And the biggest question: where did the state come from and why? Scott is properly seen as a critic of the modern state, if not a full-blown anti-statist radical. The core of Scott’s...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote1 0

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