Joakim Book

Have Our Screens Been the Only Major Tech Achievement since the 1970s?

“Take away styles and fashion—and the computer screens,” said mathematician Eric Weinstein in a recent interview, “how do you know you’re not in 1973?” The observation is classic for pointing to the slowing down of inventions that radically improve…

How The Fed Broke The Banks

Authored by Joakim Book via Reason.com, The Fed's anti-inflation measures had to hurt someone... The Federal Reserve is in the unenviable position of achieving its mandate by crashing the economy. It's not something it wants to do, as Fed Chair…

How the Fed Broke Silicon Valley Bank

The Federal Reserve is in the unenviable position of achieving its mandate by crashing the economy. It's not something it wants to do, as Fed Chair Jerome Powell meekly admitted in his exchange with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) last week. But it's…

¿Qué sucede cuando el progreso humano toma una pausa?

La vida en la Tierra mejora gradualmente en todos los sentidos. Las crisis energéticas, la inflación, las guerras, los déficits y las pandemias parecen sugerir que las cosas van mal. Cuando la gente (como un servidor) repite la constatación de que la…

What Happens When Human Progress Takes a Break?

Life on Earth is gradually getting better in every way, shape, and form. Dark times—like the present—are the major reason why that’s a hard sell for most people; energy crises, inflation, wars, deficits, and pandemics seem to suggest that things are…

The Four Worst Ways To Attack Bitcoin

In his latest book, Nouriel Roubini demonstrates the worst ways to try and attack Bitcoin... Finding fault with Bitcoin and Bitcoiners is easy. Every schmuck, stick, know-it-all pundit, wise-ass and establishment elite has a handful of complaints…

The West Must Never Again Go Totalitarian

The West can never again go totalitarian. We saw it happen generations ago. We fought two of humanity’s most destructive wars and faced the horror of industrial-scale extermination. Never again, said the world’s peoples in the late 1940s, and they…

The West Must Never Again Go Totalitarian

The West can never again go totalitarian. We saw it happen generations ago. We fought two of humanity’s most destructive wars and faced the horror of industrial-scale extermination. Never again, said the world’s peoples in the late 1940s, and they…

ChatGPT Isn't Coming for Your Job (Yet)

When ChatGPT was introduced to the general public at the end of last year, many people began to fear that artificial intelligence (A.I.) might soon make their job obsolete. Of course, horse-and-buggy-makers are gone, and farming requires something…

They Won't Leave Us Alone: The Invasion Of Politics

The temptation and crucial flaw of a totalitarian mind are that everyone must play a part in a superstructural battle between good and evil. Standing on the sidelines or taking a neutral position on present topics is not allowed; one may not merely…

No nos dejarán en paz: la invasión de la política

Read this in English La tentación y el defecto crucial de una mente totalitaria son que todo el mundo debe desempeñar un papel en una batalla superestructural entre el bien y el mal. No está permitido permanecer al margen o adoptar una posición…

They Won't Leave Us Alone: The Invasion of Politics

The temptation and crucial flaw of a totalitarian mind are that everyone must play a part in a superstructural battle between good and evil. Standing on the sidelines or taking a neutral position on present topics is not allowed; one may not merely…

La senadora que no sabía (pero pensaba que sí)

Read this in English Los legisladores tienen una extraña relación con la magia. Para conseguir lo que físicamente no se puede hacer, les gusta agitar varitas mágicas y fingir que sí se puede. La realidad pone un límite al poder político, una…

The Senator Who Didn't Know (But Thought She Did)

Authored by Joakim Book via The Mises Institute, Legislators have a strange relationship with magic. To achieve that which physically cannot be done, they like to wave magic wands and pretend that it can. Reality puts a limit on political power, a…

The Senator Who Didn’t Know (but Thought She Did)

Legislators have a strange relationship with magic. To achieve that which physically cannot be done, they like to wave magic wands and pretend that it can. Reality puts a limit on political power, a realization that always sits poorly with those in…

Work Habits for the Bossless

How to work when you don’t have a boss Fish allegedly don’t notice water. Elite athletes don’t know the physics formulas that govern how their bodies achieves excellence. And those of us in independent work forget that the tools that takes us through…

How To Talk To Family Members About Bitcoin This Thanksgiving

I don’t... That’s it. That’s the article. In all sincerity, that is the full message: Just don’t do it. It’s not worth it. You’re not an excited teenager anymore, in desperate need of bragging credits or trying out your newfound wisdom. You’re not a…

The Best Ever Libertarian Gift Guide

Until next year's, because capitalism is always making things better. "Eye-eye-eyeeeeee don't want a lot for Christmas," she said. "There is just one thing I need," she said. It's the secular holiday anthem for the ages. And it's based on a lie. No…

How I'll Talk To Family Members About Bitcoin This Thanksgiving

This is an opinion editorial by Joakim Book, a Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, contributor and copy editor for Bitcoin Magazine and a writer on all things money and financial history. I don’t. That’s it. That’s the…

The Amazon Forest Is Not About to Disappear

The entry for “space” in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy from Douglas Adams’ classic story goes: Space … is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it’s a long way down the road to…