the __earthinc

On December 7 in the Parliament, based on the Hansard, Deputy Minister for International Trade and Industry Jacob Dungau Sagan was asked whether the government intends to abolish a policy that grants exclusive permits for imports to limited entities and effectively, the granting of monopoly power to several companies over certain commodities such as sugar [...]

It is easy to dismiss the triviality, for instance, of choosing a pair of high heels out of hundreds as excesses of modern life defined by free market. How does one sympathize with a dilemma of a purchaser who faces a petty option between consuming Coke and Pepsi? Such inconsequential puzzles seem so shallow for [...]

Ask a layperson what he or she thinks of the definition of economics. If they do not say it is the art of making money, many of them will mention that it is a study of supply and demand. In truth, economics is larger than either popular but otherwise misleading definitions. More accurately, it is [...]

Why? KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – An influential opposition leader running for a key post in Malaysia’s Islamist party has “guaranteed” a commitment to a free market economy and protecting the rights of the country’s multi-racial communities. Husam Musa, vice-president of the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), the country’s second largest party in mass membership, is [...]

After millions of percent of inflation[0], Zimbabwe finally gets on the path of freer market as well as dollarization to fight inflation: Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) — Zimbabweans will be able to trade in any currency they choose and the government will abandon price controls with immediate effect, acting finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said today. Chinamasa, [...]

Behind every crisis, there is an opportunity as the cliché goes and the opportunity presented by the period of high energy prices has been satisfyingly utilized. Whatever goals scored by economic liberalism in this country, it is definitely one point up: PUTRAJAYA, Dec 19 – Fuel prices in the country will be determined by the [...]

Not all dilemmas are really dilemmas. Open up the lid and upon closer inspection, the dilemma unravels without much investment in effort. One such apparent dilemma concerns the production of food and biofuel. There is really no dilemma between food and fuel however. Free price is the scissor to cut the fake Gordian knot. In [...]

During a visit to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on July 17, 1969, Trudeau met with a group of protesting farmers, angry that the federal government was not doing more to market their wheat, to one of whom he responded, “Why should I sell your wheat? It’s your wheat.” [Pierre Trudeau. Wikipedia. Accessed May 14 2008] How many [...]

The Doha Round is a trade negotiation on a global scale which seeks to lower trade barriers with the ultimate goal of promoting free trade among members of the World Trade Organization. The birth of the Round was difficult and development surrounding the Round is riddled with seemingly insurmountable challenges. In Cancun, Mexico for instance, [...]

While it broke the then political noise level some weeks back, discussion on welfare state never took off in a satisfying manner. PAS was the one that rolled the ball but apart from rhetoric and how Islam advocates a welfare state, actual details have been sparse and it is unclear how much thought has gone [...]