February 8, 2013 – 9:15 am
ADDENDA: I have added in three extra paragraphs, because I came to realise a key part of the argument, and a key relevant distinction, was missing. As economist Frank Mehrling has observed (pdf): All monetary theories (at least all those of which I am aware) build from some underlying parable about the nature of money. One [...]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Economics, History, Law, Taxation, Wales
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Also tagged Angkor Wat, Anglesey, bitcoin, Chartalism, coins, copper coins, Dror Goldberg, fiat money, gold standard, hyperinflation, legal tender, Modern Monetary Theory, monetary economics, money, silver standard, transaction utility
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January 16, 2013 – 9:30 am
Conservative humourist P J O’Rourke once observed, after flying over West and East Germany, that one should probably try to avoid public policy mistakes you can see from 20,000 feet up. Then there are public policy mistakes one can see from orbit. The two Germanys and the two Koreas constituted natural public policy experiments. Take [...]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Economics, History, Politics, Public Policy, Sexuality, Society, Technology
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Also tagged Botswana, Castro regime, Chiang Kai-shek, china, CPC, Cuba, cult of personality, DPP, East Germany, hyperinflation, Ian Smith, KMT, Latin America, legitimacy, Mao Zedong, Nelson Mandela, North America, north korea, P J O'Rourke, Rhodesia, Robert Mugabe, south korea, Taiwan, West Germany, Xavier Marquez, Zimbabwe
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My nomination for the most misleading metaphor in modern philosophy is John Locke’s notion that, in a state of nature, one mixes one’s labour with something to rreate property. In John Locke’s words: The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his. Whatsoever then he removes out [...]
By Lorenzo
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Posted in Australia, Economics, History, Law, Middle east
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Also tagged australia, comparative advantage, corruption, Economics, Elinor Ostrom, India, insurance, John Locke, John R Commons, Karl Marx, Law, permit raj, slavery, warranties
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As a result of discussions on Twitter with Kat Gallow (who blogs at Curl) I have been thinking about why I love Property Law (yes, #propertylawnerd alert). As Kat noted, property law has a bad reputation amongst law students as dry and boring. However, I believe that nothing is further from the truth. I’m going [...]
October 26, 2011 – 7:08 pm
Once upon a time, I was a lawyer who acted for mortgagees. I used to repossess houses and call on guarantees. Sometimes I’d get mortgagors calling me in distress, saying, “How can the bank take my property? It belongs to me.” Sigh. Well, yes you do own it – but it is subject to the [...]
By Legal Eagle
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Posted in Law, Public Policy, Society
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Also tagged banks, greed, lessee, mortgagee, mortgages, mortgagor, NAB, public relations disaster, repossession, Residential Tenancies Act, rights of tenants, sheriff, Supreme Court of Victoria, tenants, warrants for possession
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August 30, 2011 – 9:06 pm
Just because we have freedom of speech doesn’t mean we get to say anything we like, wherever we like. If people don’t like swear bears (to take one example) on their property, then those swear bears will receive no further invitations to visit. This is not a constraint on freedom of speech, but the enforcement [...]
It was reported in The Australian today that a women has won the right to possession of her dead husband’s sperm with a view to using the material to conceive a child via IVF. The full judgment is available here: Jocelyn Edwards; Re the estate of the late Mark Edwards [2011] NSWSC 478. The facts [...]
By Legal Eagle
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Posted in Children, Law, Marriage, Motherhood, Parenthood, Society, Technology
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Also tagged Assisted Reproductive Technology Act, bodily property rights, Children, death, gametes, IVF, Jocelyn Edwards, Mark Edwards, parenthood, possession, property law, reproductive technology
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A while ago back on the blog, we were having a debate about whether the idea of property, and private property in particular, is a peculiarly human thing. Certainly, I think animals have a notion of territory. Sometimes they have a very strong notion, and will chase any interlopers off their territory. Our dog had [...]
By Legal Eagle
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Posted in Animals, Australia, Economics, Environment, Law, Public Policy, Society
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Also tagged animal rights, animals, apes, endangered species, Environment, environmental concern, environmentalism, John Hadley, Law, Leadbeater's possum, property law
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I am a quintessential liberal (with a small ‘l’) in relation to religious belief. I don’t much mind what someone else believes, as long as they (a) don’t harm others and (b) leave me well alone to my own rather quirky beliefs. One thing I particularly dislike is being preached at. The more someone tries [...]
By Legal Eagle
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Posted in Free Speech, Human/Civil rights, Law, Religion, Tort
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Also tagged christianity, freedom of speech, human rights, nuisance, preachers, private law, Rundle Mall, shopowners, utility of property
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January 5, 2010 – 6:16 am
Well, finally managed to drag myself off to see James Cameron’s Avatar, which — it’s fair to say — divides people. In the red corner (US political colour configuration), we have Miranda Devine irritated at untoward greeniness, while in the blue corner we have this selection of links over at Hoyden About Town. Other (slightly) [...]
