Video

Merry Christmas from CEI!

by Mytheos Holt on December 22, 2011

in CEI Projects, Video

In the spirit of encouraging free markets, limited government, and individual liberty, we at CEI present the following for your viewing pleasure:

Fred Weekly: Research & Development

by Marc Scribner on December 7, 2011

in Economy, Video

In this installment of “Fred Weekly, CEI President Fred L. Smith, Jr., discusses the importance of applying technical concepts to commercial development and vice versa. Fred explains that the feedback loop between science and commerce has been one of the greatest forces for improving human life in all of history. Watch it below:

Fred Weekly: Residual Claimant Problem

by Marc Scribner on December 5, 2011

in Economy, Video

What’s the best way to reward individual innovation? In the latest episode of “Fred Weekly,” CEI President Fred L. Smith, Jr., says that entrepreneurial organizations are generally better than political institutions at rewarding those responsible for creating value. Watch below:

Fred Weekly: Give Thanks for Capitalism

by Marc Scribner on November 22, 2011

in Economy, Video

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, CEI President Fred Smith gives thanks in the latest installment of “Fred Weekly” for all the prosperity and opportunity capitalism has afforded us in our Age of Abundance.

Fred Weekly: Conflicts of Interest

by Marc Scribner on November 18, 2011

in Video

In the latest episode of “Fred Weekly,” CEI President Fred Smith discusses conflicts of interest and trade-offs in business and politics.

It Gets Better: Sears Catalog Edition

by Ryan Young on September 22, 2011 · 1 comment

in Economy, Video, Zeitgeist

I forget who I’m paraphrasing here, but the two iron laws of modernity are 1) things are getting better, and 2) people think they’re getting worse. The short video at the bottom of this post is one way to prove the first law to victims of the second law. It’s a rough cut adapted from a recent talk Don Boudreaux gave; I eagerly await the full version.

When I took macroeconomics in graduate school, the professor circulated a Sears catalog from 1900 or so around the classroom. Most of the prices were given in cents, not dollars. Now imagine that you could buy anything you wanted from that catalog today at those low prices. They’re still too expensive. Take these vacuum cleaners pictured below:

[click to continue…]

Mark Haines RIP

by Ivan Osorio on May 25, 2011

in Culture, Video, Zeitgeist

Like other regular viewers of CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” I was saddened to learn that Mark Haines, the show’s longtime co-host, passed away unexpectedly last night. I’ll miss watching him on weekday mornings. I always enjoyed his direct, no-nonsense approach to interviews. Indeed, this morning, Haines’s CNBC colleague Joe Kernen said that one of the most valuable things he learned from him was not to relent when an interviewee tried to evade a question. That doggedness provided some memorable on-air moments, including this one. It gets really interesting at 4:50.

My full blog post on the above interview is here.