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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  • Jeffrey Tucker

The Reinvention of Orchestral Music Jan 20, 2014

I was recently in an ornate orchestral hall built in the late Gilded Age, a setting designed to present an opera or symphonic music to a generation before World War I that craved such performance art. The concert I attended was sold out, with tickets running between $40 and $75. The place was vibrating with anticipation as the full orchestra with winds, strings, brass, and percussion came on stage, and a 25-voice choir—live acoustic music without conspicuous electronics—filed in behind. The cheers, even before it all began, were glorious. As I looked around the vast room full of wide smiles,...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote4 0

The Benevolent Disruptor Jan 20, 2014

I was standing motionless in one of those one-stop drug stores that sells everything from hair brushes to screwdrivers to sports drinks, in addition to offering prescription drug services. I was at the aisle dedicated to seasonal items. At this aisle, it’s scary monsters and witches in October, plastic turkeys and leafy decorations in November, hearts and chocolate in February, and beach balls and flip flops in May. This was the day following Christmas. Employees were busy taking off the shelves stockings, lights, nutcracker dolls, tensil for trees, and myriad items about Santa and his reindeers. They were putting them...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote2 0

Why the Fed chairmanship matters less than everyone thinks Jan 20, 2014

New Fed governor Janet Yellen “represents a strain of interventionist thinking that has not found expression at such a high level in Washington in decades,” gleefully announces Michael Hirsch in the National Journal. On the other hand, Larry Kudlow writing in the Daily Caller warns that “Yellen has a Phillips-curve reputation, and is guided by a trade-off between unemployment and inflation. This could bring her to an excessively dovish stance.” What a world in which one appointment could either save or ruin the entire economy! This is the legendary power of the central bank, vested with the awesome task of...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote3 0

Making The World A Freer Place Jan 20, 2014

Government is pretty darn dreary, and, in a strange way, the opponents of government mirror that same outlook on life. You need look no further than the typical news aggregator in the libertarian world. It’s mostly all factual but truly terrible. Wars, abuse, oppression, despotism, and it’s all real enough. A focus on problems instead of solutions can lead to a sense of hopelessness and despair. Countless times I’ve heard people say to me: the idea of liberty is great but totally unachievable, and so it’s pointless to try. But wait just a minute. In the last 15 years, we’ve...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote4 0

How to Apply for a Job Jan 20, 2014

In case you read no more of this article, please read the following sentence. The reason a company hires you is because it expects to obtain more value from you than it pays out to you in the form of wages and salary. If you understand that one point, you are well positioned to apply for a job and capture the right tone in your application. Your main message of the application should be: I will bring massive value to you and cost much less than you will gain from employing me. Implicit message should be there too: by not...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote7 0

Power Has Failed Us Jan 19, 2014

The morning after I saw “Catching Fire,” part two of the film series based on the Hunger Games novels, I was scheduled to give a lecture on the nature and functioning of the state. I had vast notes I had prepared over the previous six months for it. After seeing the movie, I was tempted just to toss them out; in fact, I nearly suggested that we all just leave the lecture hall and go to the movies. That’s because this one movie reveals more about the state than practically any book I could suggest. It’s a great thing when...

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote5 0

Admit It: You Don’t Like Government Jan 19, 2014

What do standing in line at the post office and doing the same at the airport security have in common? Both are rare times when average citizens are forced to deal with government directly. Admit it: we all hate it.

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote20 0

Society in Jail Dec 4, 2013

Jeffrey Tucker tells us of the time he was arrested and thrown in jail for rolling a stop sign.

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote10 2

The Real Health Care Failure Nov 27, 2013

A president stands disgraced. Congress is scattering. Bureaucrats are baffled. Pundits are reaching. Industry is scared. Politicians are scrambling to do something, anything, to make it better. One political party is in meltdown the other loving every minute of it, hoping to ride the calamity to electoral gains.

By Jeffrey Tucker Vote6 0

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