The more I read BusinessInsider.com, the more I'm convinced it's a venue for clueless half-wits. Endless fealty to Elon Musk is the easy example.(Actual BI article titles:"11 Fascinating Things Tesla Billionaire Elon Musk Said in the New Book About His Life, "10 Things We Learned From Elon Musk This Week," "9 Decisions That Shaped Elon Musk's Extraordinary Career." One could go on and on, and on further still with the cardinal enumerations and never see the horizon.) Other examples of BusinessInsider's intellectual inertia are more subtle.
To wit, someone named Aurelia End (I have no idea if it's a nom de plume, nor do I care) posted a July 26 missive titled "Greece's Newest Headache: How to Lift Capital Controls." Ms. End, like so many BusinessInsider scribes holds curiosity, skepticism, and critical thinking at arm's length. Hence her forwarding the following useless space-filling quote from BusinessInsinder's stable of space-filling economists. This particular economist, Diego Iscaro, happens to work for IHS. According to the putatively quotable Mr. Iscaro, as transcribed by Ms. End, the problem with capital controls is that they are "easy to implement but very difficult to lift." For IHS' sake, I hope Mr. Iscaro is an easy to dispense contractor, not a difficult-to-fire employee, if that's the best he can offer.
Actually, the problem with capital controls is multifaceted and far more nefarious than Mr. Iscaro's musings and Ms. End's dictation lead us to believe.
The problem is that capital controls are misery incarnate. They violate every aspect of human nature.Tell a person he can't leave, his mind is consumed with leaving. When it becomes known one person is detained, a contagion spreads; everyone scans for an exit. Clamp down the proles with capital controls and consumption, investment, and production shrivel. A perverse Zeitgeist arises: Everyone's mind is consumed with one thought -- get the hell out. Confidence wanes, fear reigns, and trust disintegrates. Economic activity grinds to a halt. That's the trouble with capital controls.
To wit, someone named Aurelia End (I have no idea if it's a nom de plume, nor do I care) posted a July 26 missive titled "Greece's Newest Headache: How to Lift Capital Controls." Ms. End, like so many BusinessInsider scribes holds curiosity, skepticism, and critical thinking at arm's length. Hence her forwarding the following useless space-filling quote from BusinessInsinder's stable of space-filling economists. This particular economist, Diego Iscaro, happens to work for IHS. According to the putatively quotable Mr. Iscaro, as transcribed by Ms. End, the problem with capital controls is that they are "easy to implement but very difficult to lift." For IHS' sake, I hope Mr. Iscaro is an easy to dispense contractor, not a difficult-to-fire employee, if that's the best he can offer.
Actually, the problem with capital controls is multifaceted and far more nefarious than Mr. Iscaro's musings and Ms. End's dictation lead us to believe.
The problem is that capital controls are misery incarnate. They violate every aspect of human nature.Tell a person he can't leave, his mind is consumed with leaving. When it becomes known one person is detained, a contagion spreads; everyone scans for an exit. Clamp down the proles with capital controls and consumption, investment, and production shrivel. A perverse Zeitgeist arises: Everyone's mind is consumed with one thought -- get the hell out. Confidence wanes, fear reigns, and trust disintegrates. Economic activity grinds to a halt. That's the trouble with capital controls.
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