The Books I Used To Write the Second-Longest Paper I Ever Wrote

When I was a senior in college, I wrote the second-longest essay of my life -- and it wasn't for a class. It was for a cash prize of $5,000.

In December 2009, I heard about the Atlas Sound Money Project Essay and, broke as the economy, I jumped for the cash prize. I did not win the first prize. A kid from Dartmouth did, if my memory serves me correctly. I also did not win the one of the two second prizes ($1,000), or one of the three third prizes ($500).

I had to choose between the following topics:

Essay Topics:

- “Money and the Free Society: Can Money Exist Outside of the State?”
- “The Ethical Implications of Monetary Manipulation”
- “Monetary Policy and the Rule of Law in the United States”

I choose the last one.

But cleaning up my desk this evening (how it surfaced to my desk 4 years later, I have no idea), I decided to discard the paper I had notes on and preserve the memory through this blog post.

Here are the books I used to write the 20-page essay, which was supposed to be "accessible to the educated laymen, but rigorous enough as to be used in college and university courses." That had my writing style written all over it.

Economics Reading List for Sound Money Essay 

-The Alpha Strategy

-How the Fed Works (50 pages)

-Essentials of Economics

-Gold Wars

-Honest Money (Esp. Biblical Monetary System)

-Housing Boom and Bust

These aren't the only sources I used. I also completed Robert P. Murphy's "Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism," some excerpts from some newsletters I was receiving at the time, and more. Besides the Murphy book, only other books I read in their entirety for this essay was "The Alpha Strategy" (which I have offered free of charge since November 2009), "Gold Wars," "Honest Money." I skimmed through the Sowell Book. I probably didn't cite the Faustino Ballve book nor the How the Fed Works book.

I also have some handwritten notes on this paper, such as "banks are good - fractional reserve isn't," "sell back gold to the public," "FDIC out of commission," "FED = Insurance Agency," "prevent recessions," "prices of goods will fall," "gov = tax in gold," " = pay in gold," and "no government mandate for gold-only. Gold is standard, but other metals are usuable (sic)." Corresponding page numbers were in parentheses next to these notes.

The Atlas Foundation's original blog post announcing the competition was published on December 2, 2009. The deadline to submit the essay was January 15, 2010.  You can read the blog description here.

I'll publish the essay on a later date. 

College Students Taking Jobs That Require No Degree

After four years of college, many graduates are ending up in jobs that only require the ability to operate a cash register with a smile.

After commencement, a growing number young people say they have no choice but to take low-skilled jobs, according to a survey released this week. And while 63% of “Generation Y” workers — those age 18 to 29 — have a bachelor’s degree, the majority of the jobs taken by graduates don’t require one, according to an online survey of 500,000 young workers carried out between July 2011 and July 2012 by PayScale.com, a company that collects data on salaries.

Trading caps and gowns for mops || MarketWatch

College Students Reject Jesse Jackson's Ideas

Finally, someone spoke up against the reverend:

During the moments preceding Jackson’s speech and continuing into his introduction, students representing the OU organizations Students for Liberty and Young Americans for Liberty passed out fliers urging those in attendance to “help the poor; reject Jackson’s ideas.”

“We heard Jackson was coming to speak, and we thought, ‘Well, he’s kind of wrong about everything,’” said Nathan Kelly, a junior studying English education and a member of Students for Liberty.

And these kids are smart! They don't just offer something for nothing:

ederal assistance for poverty creates dependence on the government rather than effectively eliminating poverty, he said.

Instead, local initiatives that create ways for the poor to help themselves should be emphasized, Hennen said. These include abolishing minimum wage laws and removing barriers on trading.

“Instead of throwing money at the problem, Rev. Jackson could advocate a platform of individual empowerment and sound economic logic to mitigate the destructive forces of poverty,” the flier states. “We applaud Rev. Jackson’s crusade against poverty, but his remedies amount to a weak placebo.”

Students urge crowd at poverty rally to ‘reject Jackson’s ideas’ | The Post @ Ohio University

Video: Skip College, It may not be Worth It