elections, tomatoes, grapes

I'm more present than usual on the Mises.org/blog today.


First there's this post from editorial veep, Jeffrey Tucker, about how the election futures markets are registering price changes after the debates. He calls my prediction markets article a cautionary note.

Then there was today's Daily Article on the Taco Bell boycott: "Well meaning or not, the boycott of Taco Bell by misguided activists, in the name of helping labor, is deeply ignorant and very destructive."

Which reminded me of "Angus Black" on Cesar Chavez and the wrath of grapes, so I posted this comment:

Rothbard on boycotts:

As the pseudonymous free-market economist "Angus Black" admonished liberals at the time of the grape boycott: if you really want to improve the lot of grape workers, don't boycott grapes; on the contrary, eat as many grapes as you can stand, and tell your friends to do the same. This will raise the consumer demand for grapes, and increase both the employment and the wages of grape workers.

But this lesson, of course, never sunk in. It was and still is easier for liberals to enjoy a pseudo-religious "sense of belonging" to a movement, and to "feel good about themselves" by getting a vicarious thrill of sanctification by not eating grapes, than actually to learn about economic realities and what will really help the supposed objects of their concern.

Making Economic Sense, Chapter 38: "The Legacy of Cesar Chavez"