In years gone by, many world leaders—even though they should have known better—viewed the annual conferences of the World Economic Forum as benign gatherings of the political elite, as an opportunity for policy-makers to meet and discuss the pressing economic and social issues which confront many nation-states and humanity as a whole more generally.  After all, the organization bestowed upon itself the grandiose title of the World Economic Forum.

In Part 1 of this post, Bob Ingraham portrayed the unique leadership of George Washington, without which our Republic would not exist. In this second part, Ingraham further explores the conspiracy conducted against Washington by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and others.  The defeat of this conspiracy provides context for the insights concerning parties and faction set forth in Washington’s famous Farewell Address.

PART 1:

On February 22^nd, our nation will observe the 290^th anniversary of the birth of George Washington. In former and better times that birthday, as well as Abraham Lincoln’s, were rightfully celebrated as separate national holidays, days wherein we might contemplate the individual accomplishments of these two great leaders. To revive that tradition, and to provide a lesson which has great relevance to the crisis of today, we offer this short essay on the subject of leadership, in honor of the Father of our Nation.

Part 7 — Abraham Lincoln Conquers Inflation

Abraham Lincoln in 1861:

“On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men—to lift artificial weights from all shoulders—to clear the path of laudable pursuit for all—to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life.”

Part 6 — American Economics

The Divine Command from the Book of Genesis: 

   27.—So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

   28.—And God blessed them, and God said unto them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Part 5 — The Anglo-Dutch Financial Empire

In 1461, only nine years after the birth of Leonardo da Vinci, Louis XI ascended the throne of France, this at a time when the radiance of the Italian Renaissance was approaching its zenith. The reign of Louis coincided with—and was a lawful product of—that Renaissance. This was the beginning of the modern sovereign nation state and the beginning of modern economics. Louis authored a book, Le Rosier des Guerres (“The Rosebush of Wars”), wherein he defined the raison d'être of the state to act on behalf of the Common Good;  to act in such a way as to advance and improve the conditions of life of the people. 

Part 4 — Hayek and Keynes: Two Peas in a Pod

“Come One. Come All. It’s the ‘Thrilla in Manilla’. It’s the great Ali vs. Frazier rivalry. Get your tickets today!”

This is how the imaginary rivalry between Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes has been popularized,—sort of as a Battle of the Titans, only now in the economic arena. But unlike the real Ali and Frazier, who bloodied each other unmercifully, this is a delusory myth designed for the credulous. The only blood that will be spilt will come from the victims of British imperial economics.

Part 3 — Hayek’s Constitution of Liberty:  The Worship of Oligarchical Culture

In this installment of the Hillsdale/Hayek series, my intention was to report on Hayek’s magnum opus, The Constitution of Liberty. I must begin, however, by claiming that I, Robert Ingraham, deserve some form of literary Purple Heart for having subjected myself to such a mind-damaging experience. The book is excruciatingly boring, shallow, and repetitive beyond belief. Written fifteen years after the Road to Serfdom, the Constitution contains nothing new whatsoever; only the same catchphrases and slogans, but now drawn out to an interminable 571 pages.

Part 2 — The Road to Serfdom:  Hayek—the Imperial Sophist

The first thing to understand about the “Austrian School” is that it doesn’t exist. What Hayek, von Mises and others put forward is not Austrian at all; it is imperial British Economics, specifically the economics of the 19^th century British Empire.