The Weebertarian

In this episode I wanted to discuss the "Gamestonk" situation.

Specifically  I wanted to talk about "Short Selling" a stock, and the effects it  might have on the stock market as well as a business' finances, both  positive and negative, because I think that the general perception that  short selling is negative is incorrect.

That, however, is not to  say that I am opposed to what WallStreetBets did. I don't know enough  about the situation with the Gamestop stock, or what hedge funds were  attempting to do by shorting it. I'm merely commenting on short selling,  and its market effects, as I understand them.

Today, I saw a meme from the EPI (Economic Policy Institute) about  the minimum wage, which is so old, I recall having seen it back around  2012 or 2013. This was before I had ever learned anything about  economics, or ever considered myself a libertarian, and I remember, even  back then, thinking that this meme immediately struck me as incorrect.

I decided to examine that meme again, due to it circulated again.

I'd briefly mentioned in a previous episode how I think that the  American poor are kind of spoiled by the high living standards that we  have in the US, and don't really understand real poverty.

In this  episode I'll elaborate on that, along with the fact that the poorest 20%  of Americans have higher living standards than the poor in any other  OECD nation.

https://fee.org/articles/the-poorest-20-of-americans-are-richer-than-most-nations-of-europe/

In this episode I talk about how, in Albion Online, buying relics that  are priced lower than total value of the components received from  salvaging them, then selling those components back onto the market to  make a profit is good for the economy.

In this episode, I talk a bit about the "broken window fallacy" in  economics, and attempt to relate that to the anime, "Girls und Panzer"  and "Bodacious Space Pirates", as well as talk a bit about insurance.

In this episode, I first wanted to issue a correction on a previous episode, in which I said slaves could vote in the south, when it should have been that slaves counted toward representation in the south.

Next, I wanted to read and comment on this FEE article, by Robert P Murphy, about how "Extreme Poverty Rates Plummet Under Capitalism".

https://fee.org/articles/extreme-poverty-rates-plummet-under-capitalism/?fbclid=IwAR37H3Abm6Tdf4hfAeR38uMH1pxkupRpk607lMl9byJUugZqbvdtyEwIx8E

In a few episodes of Tim Pool's podcast, he's recently mentioned  how Trump saved New York by making the city more appealing to the  wealthy, thus expanding the tax base, and increased police funding,  which in turn reduced crime. While that may be part of the story, I have  a tendency to agree with economists who oppose the assumption  that greater taxation and police funding cause reduction in crimes.

In  my rant, I touch on several subjects that are somewhat related to  crime, such as the drug war and alcohol prohibition, and the 2014 study  commissioned by the Obama administration to study gun ownership's  relation to crime.

Note: I promise, I don't  have anything against Tim Pool. I quite like his show and listen to it  daily, which also means that he happens to be a major source of topics  for me to discuss, whether I agree or disagree.

I've been seeing a lot of people talking about how  the Republicans have done nothing to protect free speech on social media  platforms, and I wanted to address the inconsistent applications of  property rights from the left-wing, right-wing, and moderates, and my  frustration with the desire to get people back on to platforms which  don't respect your free speech rather than letting companies that do  fill that niche.