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Economic Philosophy
A Category Archive (631 entries)
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May 22, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Vipul Naik drew my attention to Brian's comment on my last immigration post:If you are a good libertarian, you will care only about your own freedom and well being. The freedom of others is only of concern to the extent... MORE
May 21, 2013
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
A while back on Twitter, I asked:Question for people who think my views on immigration are "crazy": Would the same views remain "crazy" if I were Haitian?Brad Trun, blogger at Libertarian Realist, wrote a direct and forthright reply. Some will... MORE
May 20, 2013
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
Thanks for all 115 answers to my "how to spend a billion dollars" challenge. Two general observations:1. When you claim that X is most efficient way for the federal government to spend an extra billion dollars, you should point to... MORE
May 16, 2013
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
My Ph.D. students' responses to the following question on their final exam disappointed me:In the modern U.S., what is the most efficient way for the federal government to spend an extra billion dollars? What is the maximally utilitarian way for... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In case it's unclear, nothing in my analysis of conformity and virtue implies that I personally am especially virtuous. The fact that I hold many unpopular views does however mean that my virtue is unusually easy to assess. If you... MORE
May 15, 2013
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
Consider a world where 80% of people are Conformists, 10% of people are Righteous, and 10% are Reprobates. The Conformists are epistemically and morally neutral, so they believe and support whatever is popular. The Righteous are epistemically and morally... MORE
May 14, 2013
Business Economics
David Henderson
Sari, Ed. My friend Edward Lopez, who blogs here, linked on Facebook to a great story from the New York Times about an entrepreneur's solution to the challenge of dry-cleaning saris. It's neat and the piece is short. Then Ed... MORE
May 10, 2013
Economics and Culture
Bryan Caplan
In a just world, no researcher would be fired for truthfully stating that some kinds of immigrants have low IQs.In a just world, however, researchers would be fired for arguing that people with below-average IQs should be denied their basic... MORE
May 9, 2013
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
Robert Rector and Jason Richwine's new Heritage report on the fiscal effects of immigration has been widely criticized (see here, here, and here for starters). I'm honestly surprised that the report is not worse. Rector and Richwine may get a... MORE
May 7, 2013
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
The first Scrooge [before the visit of the three ghosts] satisfied only the requirements of the first morality, which I call mundane morality, while the second Scrooge [after the ghosts' visits] enthusiastically embraced the second morality, which I call magnanimous... MORE
May 2, 2013
Family Economics
Bryan Caplan
In Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, I advise people to "privatize natalism."You don't have to be Bill Gates to strategically design wills, trusts, and one-shot gifts. A middle-class income is more than enough. Compared to the out-of-pocket cost of... MORE
May 1, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When I was a teenager, I viewed all of the following with antipathy: students not in honors classes, heavy metal fans, people who disliked classical music, stoners, athletes, cheerleaders, all but two of my teachers, car collectors, sports fans, smokers,... MORE
Economics of Health Care
David Henderson
Co-blogger Bryan Caplan made a good point yesterday about the alleged efficiency/equity tradeoff. He's right to emphasize it. Many economists smuggle in their "equality" value by equivocating between equity as equality and equity as some other value. I pointed this... MORE
April 30, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
From Matt Zwolinski: Guy stuck on the side of the road. Car tire blown out. Waves down passing car. Libertarian/Marxist in the car: "Sorry, buddy. What we need is structural change. In a [Communist Utopia/Freed market], there would be far... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Economics textbooks often speak of the "efficiency-equity trade-off." The definition of efficiency is fairly clear. But what exactly is "equity"? When cornered, most economists say that equity is a synonym for "fairness" or "distributive justice." In practice, however, most economists... MORE
April 29, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I incline to the view that giving charity to deserving strangers is morally good but not morally required. To use philosophical jargon, I hold that charity is supererogatory. However, the fact that I consider charity to be above and beyond... MORE
April 27, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The Atlantic profiles Vipul Naik, Michael Clemens, Michael Huemer, and other champions of free migration. Highlights:What if there was a program that would cost nothing, improve the lives of millions of people from poorer nations, and double world GDP? At... MORE
April 11, 2013
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
David Henderson
That could be the title of co-blogger Bryan's latest post, as commenter Rochelle essentially pointed out. Even though I'm not with him on all the particulars, I am with most. Here was my earlier version. My main purpose with this... MORE
March 30, 2013
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
The Mercatus Center, for which I have done a few studies, is about to release a study of the degree of freedom in the 50 states of the union. I'll probably have more to say once it's released, but enough... MORE
March 22, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Many moral philosophies seem to imply a duty to give away everything you don't need. Consider this statement by Nicole Hassoun over at Cato Unbound:I do not have property rights that extend so far that they allow me to withhold... MORE
March 20, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Over at Cato Unbound, philosopher Nicole Hassoun prompted me to sketch the main argument I plan to make in Part II of Poverty: Who To Blame. Namely: We should view people in the Third World as victims of First World... MORE
March 15, 2013
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
UPDATE: Paul Krugman makes the point that Matt Yglesias and I make. Personal Experience and Principle Various friends on Facebook this morning were celebrating the fact that Republican Senator Robert Portman has come out (no pun intended) in favor of... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Mike Huemer replies to his critics on Cato Unbound. My favorite part is his common-sense defense of common sense. His begins by methodically laying out the problem: [T]he recommendation to "rely on common sense morality" is just another way of... MORE
March 12, 2013
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
Unlike most opponents of the minimum wage, I admit that David Card and Alan Krueger's famous research on the topic is well-done. How then can I continue to embrace (and teach!) the textbook view that the minimum wage significantly reduces... MORE
March 11, 2013
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
David Henderson
See Update Below. While web surfing the other day, I came across work by Princeton economist Thomas C. Leonard. There's a lot of good work there. In this post, I want to highlight his review of Nudge by Richard Thaler... MORE
March 9, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Tonight I screened The Sixth Day, Schwarzenegger's 2000 cloning flick, for my twin sons. After the movie was over, I had them read this passage aloud:If you think clones are contrary to nature, think twice. Identical twins are naturally occurring... MORE
March 6, 2013
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
From my response to Mike Huemer's target essay on this month's Cato Unbound:As a free bonus, Huemer dulls the urge consequentialist libertarians often feel to stretch the truth, to make stronger claims about the benefits of libertarian policies than the... MORE
March 5, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've been having an extended Facebook argument with Bill Dickens about Mike Huemer's The Problem of Political Authority. To be fair, Bill is only responding to Huemer's piece on Cato Unbound, not the actual book, which he has not read. ... MORE
March 2, 2013
Economics and Culture
David Henderson
After we taped a segment for the John Stossel show last Tuesday, John and I took the subway to his beautiful apartment on the Upper East Side, where he had invited me to dinner with him and his lovely wife.... MORE
February 23, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
"Low-Immigration, Pro-Immigrant." So reads the masthead of the Center for Immigration Studies. I'm still trying to make sense of it. If someone announced a "low-in-law visits, pro-in-law stance," we'd laugh. If you like your in-laws, you'll welcome frequent visits. If... MORE
February 19, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
"I was just following orders." "I was only doing my job." "I had a legal obligation to act." The most self-righteous criminals often invoke fiduciary obligations to explain why their actions were morally required rather than morally forbidden.Mike Huemer, guest... MORE
February 17, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 As I said, this morning's Students for Liberty debate was a double-header. Here's my two minute opening statement for Topic #2: War.Pacifism in 4 Steps 1. In the modern world, there are no... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Today at Students for Liberty 2013 I did a double-header debate against the Center for Immigration Studies' Jan Ting. The format gave each of us a two minute (!) opening statement for each topic. Here's my opening statement for Topic... MORE
February 13, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Pericles: Have you seen the latest outrage our enemies have committed against us? We have to strike back.Socrates: Strike back against whom? Pericles: Our enemies, as I said. Socrates: Right. But how will we pinpoint the enemies who perpetrated this... MORE
February 6, 2013
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
My friend and colleague Dan Klein has written a guest reply to my recent post on economists' consensus. Here's Dan: v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} I was surprised to read Bryan's words: "Compared to non-economists, economists enjoy... MORE
February 4, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Instead of writing a guest post, Mike Huemer ended up just replying to your questions in the comments. His main reply is here, but don't miss the back-and-forth.... MORE
February 2, 2013
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
My "What Makes People Think Like Economists?" (Journal of Law and Economics 2001) also analyzes why economists disagree with each other. Key results (footnotes omitted):Overall, the SAEE evidence suggests that disagreements among economists are surprisingly random. There are 10 questions... MORE
February 1, 2013
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Bryan Caplan
In case you missed it: 1. Arnold Kling critiques Michael Huemer's new book. 2. Huemer responds, with a few extra lines from me, and Kling offers his rejoinder.... MORE
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
Justin Wolfers has skeptical comments on Gordon and Dahl's new paper on economists' ideology, featuring this cool graph:Since I remained a little unclear about the origin of the graph, I emailed Wolfers. He graciously responded, and gave me permission to... MORE
January 30, 2013
By now, I assume that everyone has read Michael Huemer's The Problem of Political Authority cover-to-cover. Well, almost everyone. Mike has generously agreed to field EconLog readers' questions. Please post them in the comments, and he'll respond in a separate... MORE
January 28, 2013
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Shortly after the Congressional elections of 2010, talk radio host Terry Gilberg of talk radio station KFYI in Phoenix had me on to discuss some of the implications of the Republican takeover, with the help of many Tea Party candidates,... MORE
January 25, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
My very favorite section from Mike Huemer's The Problem of Political Authority begins by distancing himself from other libertarian philosophers:The ideas of this chapter will strike many as too extreme and far too libertarian. Are we really forced to accept... MORE
January 22, 2013
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Jonah Goldberg tries to play missionary to his Socially Liberal Fiscal Conservative friends. He promisingly begins:Dear Socially Liberal Fiscal-Conservative Friend...[Y[ou know who you are. You're the sort of person who says to his conservative friends or co-workers something like, "I... MORE
January 20, 2013
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Bryan Caplan
A year ago I sent Mike Huemer the following comments on his book draft, then titled Freedom and Authority. He's incorporated many of my suggestions, but if you're curious to peer inside the revision process, enjoy. (Detailed comments using the... MORE
January 18, 2013
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Bryan Caplan
Michael Huemer, author of The Problem of Political Authority, has kindly agreed to take EconLog readers' questions about his new book. To get maximum value from the exchange, read the book first ($30.40 on Kindle, $37.72 in paperback on Amazon... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Over at Overcoming Bias, Robert Wiblin offers a tempting reward:Personally, I would like to think I take doing the right thing seriously, so I am willing to offer a monetary prize of £300 for anyone who can change my mind... MORE
January 17, 2013
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Bryan Caplan
I've read almost every major work of libertarian political philosophy ever published. In my view, Michael Huemer's new The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey is the best book in... MORE
January 16, 2013
Labor Market
David Henderson
Last week, co-blogger Bryan Caplan posed a challenge: "Tell me how to sell the abolition of the minimum wage to the typical Feeling American." The next day, Bryan gave what he saw as the best responses. I thank commenter Phil,... MORE
January 14, 2013
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
That's the title of James Buchanan's autobiography. I reviewed it in Reason in January 1993. Much of my review covers ground that will be familiar to those who have been reading the various blogs on Jim Buchanan over the last... MORE
January 9, 2013
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
I found out on my smart phone, shortly before boarding a flight from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. today, that Jim Buchanan has died. He was a good man and one of the most important economists of the last half... MORE
January 8, 2013
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
1. Suppose you lived in a society with a massive, age-old injustice. Think slavery. Are you the kind of person who would staunchly oppose this injustice anyway?2. Suppose a colorful, feel-good movement advocating a massive, new injustice suddenly became fashionable. ... MORE
January 4, 2013
Economics and Culture
Bryan Caplan
Steve Horwitz and Sarah Skwire have restarted a long-standing debate about the shortage of libertarian women. They make a very fair point: Libertarians should have been friendlier and more respectful to women - and turn over a new leaf forthwith. ... MORE
January 3, 2013
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
I've often heard people dismiss my dear friend and colleague Robin Hanson for his "Aspergers," his blindness to the way that most human beings feel and think. They're not entirely wrong, but Robin's latest post, a review of a Peter... MORE
December 5, 2012
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
Garett's main point - air travel terrorism has enormous social costs counting the effect on foreign policy - is clearly correct. The straightforward implication: Mildly reducing the risk of terrorism with major inconvenience for air travelers easily passes a cost/benefit... MORE
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
The U.S. birthrate is falling, and Ross Douthat largely blames decadence: [W]hile the burdens on modern parents are real and considerable and in certain ways increasing, people in developed societies enjoy a standard of living unprecedented in human history, and the... MORE
December 3, 2012
Economics and Culture
Bryan Caplan
Almost ten years ago, philosopher Roderick Long wrote an uncommonly wise piece on political correctness. The opening commands my instant assent:There are two ways of letting political correctness control your mind. One is to reject viewpoints, not because they're false,... MORE
November 30, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
UPDATE: I was wondering if anyone would catch the contradiction between what David says at about the 2:00 point and what he says at about the 5:30 point. Apparently no one did or at least no one who did bothered... MORE
November 20, 2012
Economic Methods
David Henderson
Some of Paul Krugman's best posts are on scientific method, specifically, how do you judge a theory. One of his posts today is beautiful, or, more correctly, would have been beautiful had he dropped the last line. In that line,... MORE
November 19, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Let C=total number of immigrants - legal and illegal - who annually enter the U.S. under existing laws.Let F=the total number of immigrants who would annually enter the U.S. under open borders.Under perfectly open borders, C=F. Under perfectly closed borders,... MORE
November 15, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Despite many areas of agreement, I think that left-libertarianism is basically wrong. One day I'll post an in-depth critique. Until then, I'm outsourcing the job to Daniel Shapiro and Steve Horwitz.Shapiro highlights:Being one's own boss is quite a risky proposition,... MORE
November 14, 2012
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Bryan Caplan
As expected, Jason Brennan's latest book, Libertarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2012) is excellent. The format works well for the blog age: thoughtful libertarian answers to a hundred and five frequently asked questions. My admittedly somewhat... MORE
November 12, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
My favorite quotation in the entirety of Larry Gonick's magisterial Cartoon History of the Universe series is from the Caliph Muawiya. Behold social intelligence:I never apply the sword when the lash suffices, nor the lash when my tongue is enough. ... MORE
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
I asked Steve Sailer:Steve, would you please name a few examples of citizenist policies that you think go slightly beyond the limits of our moral obligations to outsiders? A few examples of such policies that you think are just barely... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm pleased to see Steve Sailer engaging my 3 AM Dorm Room hypotheticals (here and here):"Biased in favor of" is hardly the same as "recognizes no moral obligations to non-citizens" and does not imply Poisoning Children. I also do not,... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
To trespass is to enter a piece of land without the owner's consent. What should we infer, then, when people argue that illegal immigrants are guilty of trespassing?At first glance, the trespassing shoe doesn't fit. The typical illegal immigrant:1. Occupies... MORE
November 9, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
Question for you: When was the last time you openly worried about "your side" treating "their side" unjustly? This could mean:1. "Your side" intellectually misrepresenting "their side."2. "Your side" politically oppressing "their side."3. "Your side" embracing positions that, taken seriously,... MORE
November 8, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
An interesting vignette from Steve Sailer:By "citizenism," I mean that I believe Americans should be biased in favor of the welfare of our current fellow citizens over that of the six billion foreigners. Let me describe citizenism using a business... MORE
October 26, 2012
Business Economics
David Henderson
UPDATE below. One of the lessons I tell my friends who want tips on speaking is one that, in the intensity of the moment, I often forget to do myself. Last Tuesday, I remembered. It is to lead with a... MORE
October 25, 2012
Macroeconomics
Garett Jones
Nobelist Thomas Sargent said this, about early tests of rational expectations macro models back in the 70's: I recall [future Nobelists] Bob Lucas and Ed Prescott both telling me that those tests were rejecting too many good models. That phrase, "[T]hose tests were... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've been reflecting on Garett's post on human evil and the welfare state ever since he wrote it. The most striking passage:Bryan notes that by some moral standards, we don't owe much to strangers in general; if that's right, how... MORE
October 23, 2012
Economic Education
Bryan Caplan
Earlier this month, Vipul Naik asked me to ask you about the persuasiveness of my case for open borders. Today Vipul posted an extended analysis of your responses. Very thoughtful, very careful, very fair. Read the whole thing.... MORE
October 15, 2012
Cross-country Comparisons
Bryan Caplan
My main complaint about Scott Sumner is that he still hasn't joined the faculty of George Mason's Economics Department. But I'm also unhappy about the distinction he frequently makes between "size of government" (or "redistribution") and "market freedom." The latest... MORE
October 12, 2012
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
David Henderson
I just received my review copy of Lanny Ebenstein's The Indispensable Milton Friedman. It's a compilation of less-well-known, but, nevertheless, often very interesting, essays by Friedman. Yesterday morning, I did a "drop-in interviewer" spot on a local libertarian/conservative talk show... MORE
October 11, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Imagine you live in a democracy surrounded by a hostile majority. The median voter wants to deprive you of the rights to (a) accept a job offer from a willing employer, or (b) rent an apartment from a willing landlord. ... MORE
October 9, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Immigration restrictions probably have bigger effects on the world's economy than all other regulations combined. As far as I can tell, virtually every moral theory - utilitarian, libertarian, egalitarian, Rawlsian, Kantian, Christian, and Marxist for starters - implies that these... MORE
October 8, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I was just at a conference where several eminent economists embraced the following principle:The United States should adopt whatever policies maximize the per-capita GDP of the existing population of the United States, and their descendents.It was frustrating to listen. On... MORE
October 2, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
My post on "Tough Luck" sparked a Facebook conversation with the great Bill Dickens. Reprinted with his permission:Bill: You've got to be kidding me. The problem with most of your examples is simple. While Libertarians have to say tough luck!... MORE
October 1, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
"What if a poor person gets sick, doesn't have insurance, and can't get friends, family, or charity to pay for treatment?""What if an elderly person gets defrauded out of his entire retirement and the perpetrator vanishes into thin air?""What if... MORE
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Starting this week and for the next few months, Econlog will have a guest blogger, Luigi Zingales. Professor Zingales is the Robert C. McCormack Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and the David G. Booth Faculty Fellow. We have not met... MORE
September 25, 2012
Economic History
Bryan Caplan
I do not intellectually engage with apologists for Nazism or Communism. When I think someone does not deserve a reply, I simply don't reply. Still, Counterpunch's instantly infamous "Pol Pot Revisted" has a striking passage:The people now in charge of... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Here are Ilya Somin's interesting observations on my recent bleg, reprinted with his permission. Bryan, David Bernstein probably knows more about this than I do. But here are a few examples: 1. Moorfield Storey, one of the early leaders of... MORE
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Noahpinion has a great send-up of the people who comment frequently on blogs. It leads with, guess what? Libertarians. And the primary blog for libertarians is--you guessed it--our very own Econlog. The one on libertarians is hilarious, as are the... MORE
September 24, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
A searching question inspired by Vipul Naik: Consider the period between 1930 and 1964. What priority did libertarians give to the abolition of Jim Crow laws? How many even considered the issue worth specifically addressing?The first instances that come to... MORE
September 23, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
David Henderson
Still, I think it is unwise to dismiss altogether the case for group loyalty and adherence to group norms. My inclination is to approve of organizations that promote group objectives and attempt to limit individual choices, as long as participation... MORE
September 21, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Vipul Naik of Open Borders has started a thought-provoking series of posts on libertarians and immigration:I aim to consider three aspects to this issue in three separate blog posts. In the current blog post, I consider the extent to which... MORE
September 19, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Critics of libertarianism occasionally claim that, if libertarians are correct, the entirety of America rightfully belongs to the Indians. After all, we stole it from them, didn't we?Unfortunately, the preceding question is missing a lot of scare quotes. Yes, "we"... MORE
September 16, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
Critics of the free market often object to commercialism on aesthetic grounds. Caruso, Vohs, and Baxter's recent paper in the Journal of Experimental Psychology ("Mere Exposure to Money Increases Endorsement of Free Market Systems and Social Inequality," 2012) suggests that... MORE
September 11, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
One of my Facebook "friends" (really a friendly acquaintance) linked today to an excellent piece on Salon. It's Jeremiah Goulka's "Why I Left the GOP." In it, he tells how he was a Republican as a young adult and even... MORE
September 9, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
1. Hanson replies to my claims about his Tautological Fallacy.2. The top two results for the Name Robin's Creatures survey are Sentients and Intelligent Agents. Background: Robin initially did a small Facebook survey. The top two choices were Agents and... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The great libertarian scholar Ronald Hamowy died yesterday. I only met him once, but I read most of his work while I was an undergrad. Though he had a long and productive career, I'm fondest of his early writings for... MORE
September 8, 2012
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
Consider the following argument:1. Cars are mechanical horses.2. Horses are faster than walking.3. Therefore, cars are faster than walking.Pretty plausible, right? Unfortunately, this argument is logically as awful as:1. Cars are mechanical horses.2. Horses eat oats.3. Therefore, cars eat oats.Both... MORE
September 6, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When my favorite economists change, I usually think they change for the worse. Dan Klein is a glowing exception. I've always liked his work. But in recent years (see e.g. here, here, and here) Dan's metamorphosized from very good to... MORE
September 5, 2012
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
Why doesn't everyone just follow the rules? The obvious answer, in many cases, is that breaking the rules has concrete advantages... if you don't get caught. Why do people jaywalk? Because it's quicker than schlepping to the crosswalk. Why do... MORE
September 3, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
People are often taken aback when I argue that the First World's poor are usually undeserving. In modern political discussion, we're supposed to "propose solutions," not point fingers. Even when we're talking about politically connected banks, we usually discuss alternate... MORE
August 29, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Bill, that is, not Charles. Both co-blogger Bryan (here) and many of his commenters (here and here) have done a nice job of handling Bill Dickens' major criticisms of Bryan's views on poverty and the poor. I have a few... MORE
August 27, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The Sorites Paradox works in two directions.Top-down: 1,000,000 grains of sand is a heap of sand; a heap of sand minus one grain is still a heap; therefore one or grain of sand (or zero!) is a heap of sand.Bottom-up:... MORE
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
A few weeks ago Bill Dickens and I argued about poverty: see here and here for previous rounds. Now Bill's written a lengthy response to my last post. Italics indicate that Bill's quoting me. Enjoy! Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style... MORE
August 25, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Eubulides of Miletus is best-known for the Sorites paradox:The paradox goes as follows: consider a heap of sand from which grains are individually removed. One might construct the argument, using premises, as follows: 1,000,000 grains of sand is a heap... MORE
August 20, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
I didn't know that I would generate such discussion with my previous post about Ethel Rosenberg. Just to clear things up, Bryan Caplan's comment is, of course, right. He was referring to the socialist movement, not individuals, as being "born... MORE
August 17, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
The outstanding Jason Brennan on the Princeton University Press blog:Now, I freely admit that most bad voters do not recognize they are bad voters. If so, one might object, how can they have a duty not to vote? They do... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I often feel the need to save pacifism from the pacifists. Though the argument for pacifism is surprisingly solid, flesh-and-blood pacifists often make me cringe with their naive and even intellectually dishonest claims. Some even shamefully glide from pacifism to... MORE
August 16, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
Almost everyone thinks that Social Security is a great program. Why? Because they've been convinced by the kind of arguments Bastiat would mock. Arguments like:"Old people can't work anymore; government should give them money so they won't be poor.""If Social... MORE
August 15, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
Thanks to everyone who responded to my query about Bastiat's "What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen." For me, his essay is the pinnacle of economic profundity. You can call it obvious. But when I first started learning economics... MORE
August 14, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
In a number of posts, co-blogger Bryan Caplan has argued that many socialists are "born bad." I can't find the references quickly: I'm on a friend's computer and it just isn't working the way mine does. Of course, I don't... MORE
August 3, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
HT to LibertyPen.... MORE
August 2, 2012
Economic Methods
David Henderson
I had a smart aleck friend in high school, Jack McKay, who, when a teacher ordered us to go to the principal, whispered "Are you asking or telling?" I laughed out loud and, if I recall, got in deeper trouble.... MORE
August 1, 2012
Social Security
David Henderson
I get some of my best uninterrupted reading done on long flights and on a recent flight I read the latest issue of Reason magazine (August/September) cover to cover. It's excellent. I found virtually every article valuable. The highlight was... MORE
July 31, 2012
Economic Education
David Henderson
As co-blogger Bryan and many others have noted, today would have been Milton Friedman's 100th birthday. Over the years, I have posted appreciations of him and so I don't want to redo it. Instead, I'll link to a few and... MORE
July 24, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Arnold Kling
Bryan writes, Was Capital One's sales pitch fraudulent in this sense? No; at minimum, they're missing element #3 (falsity). As commenter Thomas DeMeo pointed out, the actual allegation may differ from Bryan's hypothetical. consumers were: Misled about the benefits of... MORE
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
I agree with Arnold's analysis of all three of his hypotheticals. But I doubt Capital One's sales pitch was analogous to:I tell you that a tree is about to fall on you, but if you give me all the money... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Bryan writes, Couldn't you just as easily say that consumers benefit from the peace of mind of Capital One's payment protection products, even though the products make little financial sense? Now it's my turn to raise some hypotheticals. (a) If... MORE
July 19, 2012
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
David Gordon has a fascinating piece on Social Darwinist defenses of capitalism:[I]t is difficult to find writers who called themselves "social Darwinists." But some of Obama's critics have gone too far. Jonah Goldberg, e.g., treats social Darwinism as largely a... MORE
July 18, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When I write about education, I suspect I come off as a philistine. You might even boil my position down to: "Students are bored, and aren't acquiring job skills, so their education is a waste of time and money." But... MORE
July 17, 2012
Business Economics
David Henderson
I don't think of Mitt Romney as a passionate man. But there is one area in which I think he shows some passion: defending businesses and corporations from hostile attacks. I saw this when he argued that "corporations are people."... MORE
Central Planning vs. Local Knowledge
David Henderson
For example, Uwe Reinhardt, an economics professor and advocate of government-controlled medicine, writes, "In short, free markets are not an alternative to rationing. They are just one particular form of rationing. Ever since the Fall from Grace, human beings have... MORE
July 4, 2012
Economics and Culture
Bryan Caplan
I've repeatedly argued that economic success and merit are moderately positively correlated. In plain English: Talented people who work hard usually enjoy considerably higher income and status. I hasten to add that in a free market, this correlation would be... MORE
July 1, 2012
My review [scroll down] of Robert Shiller's Finance and the Good Society is out in the latest issue of Regulation. A highlight about the finance portion: On the issue of crises, the main financial crisis in our future is likely... MORE
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
Two veterans of the Council of Economic Advisors object to my claim that political appointees have to toe a party line.Jeff Frankel:Bryan, When I was a Member of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, I never said anything I didn't... MORE
June 29, 2012
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
High-status academic economists often look down on economists who engage in blogging and punditry. Their view: If you can't "definitively prove" your claims, you should remain silent. At the same time, though, high-status academic economists often receive top political appointments. ... MORE
June 27, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Philosophers spend a great deal of time crafting plausible exceptions to widely-accepted moral rules. Sure, murder is wrong. But what if you could murder a man on his death-bed to prevent a plane crash? What if you could smother the... MORE
June 25, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When you challenge the morality of the status quo, people usually leap to its defense. After a few rounds of argument, though, defenders of the status quo often retreat to meta-ethics. Maybe immigration restrictions do seem wrong. But how are... MORE
June 22, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
This is one of the best of Milton Friedman, all in 2.4 minutes. He's not saying greed is good. He's saying greed is. The big question is which institutions harness that greed for good outcomes.... MORE
June 20, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When I was in sixth grade, a 1967 copy of The Pageant of World History by Gerald Leinwand came into my possession. While I learned a great deal from it, the book contains shocking omissions. Here's what Leinwand says about... MORE
June 19, 2012
Labor Mobility, Immigration, Outsourcing
Bryan Caplan
Jose Antonio Vargas, the Rosa Parks of U.S. immigration law, is one year over Obama's cut-off for semi-amnesty. But Vargas is too noble not to celebrate:Obama's temporary order, however incremental and incomplete, is the most significant development in the fight... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When I was at Princeton, every exam began with a strange ritual required by the Honor Code: Students had to sign a promise not to cheat. The promise reads:I pledge my honor that I have not violated the honor code... MORE
June 17, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Arnold doesn't share my conditional jubilation over Obama's semi-amnesty. Arnold's in blockquotes, my replies follow.Even if you want open borders, I am not sure that this is how you want your goals accomplished. I see no other politically possible way... MORE
June 16, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Here are six theses on extremely unjust laws that I dare you to dispute:1. Extremely unjust laws are conceivable.2. Extremely unjust laws exist.3. It is morally permissible to break an extremely unjust law.4. It is morally permissible to evade punishment... MORE
June 15, 2012
Business Economics
David Henderson
I've enjoyed the back and forth between co-blogger Bryan Caplan and Trevor Burrus. I'm starting to think that a good line for Vizzini to have used in "The Princess Bride," besides "Never get involved in a land war in Asia,"... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Trevor Burrus continues our previous exchange on merit and liberty (see here, here, here, and here for previous installments). Trevor misses one of my key points here:Bryan asks, if the question of merit is incidental to the case for free... MORE
June 12, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The meritorious Trevor Burrus responds to my defense of merit against his critique. Though he's not crying uncle, Trevor concedes a key point:Bryan argues that "the correlation between market success and merit is imperfect, [but] still fairly high." Great success... MORE
June 11, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The meritorious libertarian Trevor Burrus has unfortunately joined the ranks of libertarians against merit:Libertarians are often accused of advocating for a merit-based society. The free market, the argument goes, produces a distribution that more-or-less corresponds to how meritorious the people... MORE
June 10, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm happy to see all the feedback on my latest means-testing post, but I wish more readers engaged my original question. After presenting one simple means-testing formula, I asked:In the new political equilibrium, how much do you predict the full... MORE
June 9, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
Why not means-test Social Security and Medicare? On the surface, this seems like a perfect liberaltarian reform. Libertarians should favor drastic cuts in government spending, liberals should favor drastic cuts in government spending on the rich, and both should favor... MORE
June 8, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Thanks for many thoughtful comments on "If You Don't Like It." A few that particularly grabbed me:Tom P:I think we can give a friendlier interpretation to Roehling's terms. "Bargaining power": you spend many years working for a firm, developing human... MORE
June 7, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Suppose your boss screams all the time, has extremely bad breath, or requires all his employees to speak in a faux British accent. Even today, the law usually offers you no recourse - except, of course, for "If you don't... MORE
June 3, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
As a student of UCLA economist Harold Demsetz, I was invited to a conference in his honor. It occurred on Friday and Saturday. My travel and attendance there, plus my time spent on my Saturday lunch tribute to him, are... MORE
May 30, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Ilya Somin at Volokh Conspiracy methodically answers my questions about extremer extremists. My original suggested response umbrellas:1. Public relations. Views more extreme than your own are counter-productive because they alienate the moderates you need to convince to get better results.... MORE
May 29, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm an extremist. I freely admit it. The status quo is deeply immoral, and would remain so even if there were many moderate changes in the right direction. Many EconLog readers presumably think the same, even if they sharply disagree... MORE
May 25, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
After watching Carlos - a dramatization of the life of notorious terrorist Carlos the Jackal - I had an epiphany. Carlos supposedly turns to terrorism because the wicked bourgeois imperialists don't understand any language but violent resistance. But the only... MORE
May 23, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
[Warning: Downton Abbey spoiler near the end.]Once your children come of age, you are free to disown them. A parent can financially and emotionally cut off his own children with legal impunity. The children have the same right, but since... MORE
May 21, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Married couple economists Sidney Winter and Alice Rivlin came to the Naval Postgraduate School today and gave a joint talk. I'll blog on Rivlin's talk tomorrow. Today I want to focus on a true story that Winter told to make... MORE
May 18, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Reading Arthur Brooks' The Road to Freedom is eerily like having a conversation with myself. He never calls himself a libertarian, and certainly never mentions Ayn Rand or Thomas Reid. But the Hollywood pitch version of Brooks' book is "Rand... MORE
May 17, 2012
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
Life is full of suffering. At least that's what the Buddha tells us - and if you're a glass-half-empty kind of person, you'll find endless confirmation. In a statist society, our response often seems to be, "If there's a problem,... MORE
May 11, 2012
Regulation
David Henderson
In a comment at the Bleeding Heart Libertarians (BHL) site, "figleaf" wrote: Consider further that the privately owned Facebook restricts user liberty more than any fully-owned public university website. Therefore it's not as simple as private-sector = more liberty, public... MORE
May 9, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The Nazis were eugenicists and Malthusians (see Mein Kampf, chapter 4). They wanted to murder "the inferior" because they were convinced there wasn't enough food to go around. The Malthusianism told them that millions had to die; the eugenics told... MORE
May 5, 2012
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
Another great thing about my new daughter: she got me to start watching Game of Thrones. The first episode didn't hook me last year, but now I can't stop thinking about the show. I've even been inspired by the Night's... MORE
May 3, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Consider the so-called "God of the gaps" argument:1. There are many questions that science hasn't - and perhaps never will - answer.2. Therefore, God exists.You could call this this a straw man, and insist that no theist ever really made... MORE
May 2, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Philosophy professor (and fellow Canuck) Stephens Hicks has a thoughtful post on bleeding-heart libertarianism (BHL). The whole thing is not long and is well worth reading. Two highlights: As a political-philosophical method: BHL says we should start politics by dividing... MORE
May 1, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Suppose there are ten people on a desert island. One, named Able Abel, is extremely able. With a hard day's work, Able can produce enough to feed all ten people on the island. Eight islanders are marginally able. With a... MORE
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
In a comment on my last post, John Goodman went in a different direction from mine. I had pointed out that prisons make people poor or keep them poor. My idea was that many of the people in prison shouldn't... MORE
April 29, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Jason Brennan replies to the critics of bleeding-heart libertarianism, most notably David Friedman. David feels like he's nailing jelly to a wall:My complaint about the BHL, as may be obvious from the exchanges now going on, is that they insist... MORE
April 28, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Sometimes a comment on Econlog is so valuable that I think it needs to be highlighted. Most of the people I talk to who read this site regularly but who don't comment, don't read others' comments either. They would miss,... MORE
April 26, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Todd Seavey's awfully unhappy about the rise of bleeding-heart libertarianism. He begins by describing his recent experience with bleeding-heart non-libertarians:I saw a lecture by (charming, charismatic, funny) Brown professor of Africana studies Tricia Rose last night, and it was a... MORE
April 25, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I think Will Wilkinson failed to understand Matt Zwolinski's argument about the significance of the miniscule level of voluntary donations to the U.S. government. But this is also an ideal time to defend a related, underrated argument. I call it... MORE
April 24, 2012
Economic History
Bryan Caplan
Matt Yglesias amusingly mocked Calvin Coolidge's note cards in this video, but the actual speech is remarkable. The President of the United States sounds only two or three steps short of Lysander Spooner:Taxes take from everyone a part of his... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
My new baby has delayed my intended post on the Matt Zwolinski-Will Wilkinson debate, but late is better than never. Matt kicked it off:[W]hile government is, in principle, able to do some good, there are very often (almost always?) superior... MORE
April 21, 2012
Family Economics
Bryan Caplan
Valeria Jacqueline Caplan, my first daughter, my fourth child, was born one day early yesterday. Baby and mother are both doing very well. As usual, I welcome my child's birth with a reading from the book of Julian Simon:One spring... MORE
April 20, 2012
Family Economics
Bryan Caplan
The great Epicurus:Yet much worse still is the man who says it is good not to be born, but "once born make haste to pass the gates of Death." [Theognis, 427] For if he says this from conviction why does... MORE
April 19, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Today I appeared on Anthony Brooks' NPR show to discuss the ethics of having kids (audio now up). Philosopher Christine Overall, my sparring partner, emphasized that having a child is "ethically risky." Who knows what this child's life will be... MORE
April 18, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
To repeat:The "Catholic" approach has extremely high moral standards (e.g. Be celibate; give everything you have to the poor; love everyone), but enforces them loosely.The "Protestant" approach has moderate moral standards (e.g. Don't commit adultery; prudently give to the deserving... MORE
April 17, 2012
Political Economy
Arnold Kling
At Cato Unbound, Roderick Long defends Rothbard, Rand, and Mises against charges of absolutism. Daniel Klein expresses his disagreement with Mises and Rothbard. I am keen on liberty as a central principle and analytic fulcrum, and I depend deeply on... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've often heard people distinguish between two distinct ethical outlooks. They usually call them the "Catholic" approach and the "Protestant" approach, but the distinction has little to do with theology. Instead:The "Catholic" approach has extremely high moral standards (e.g. Be... MORE
April 13, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
In my defense of labels, I claimed that, "Will's implicit label is "label-avoidism." Adam Ozimek at Modeled Behavior explains the unique intellectual dangers of this label:[T]o define oneself as, for example, "of no party or clique", as Andrew Sullivan does,... MORE
April 11, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Will Wilkinson replies to my defense of labels against his attack:Bryan has sort of wrongly inferred that my aversion to specifically political labels flows from a much more general aversion to naming one's convictions. At the limit, Bryan makes it... MORE
April 10, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
This month's Cato Unbound discusses Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi's "Bleeding Heart History of Libertarianism." David Friedman's response is good enough to make me see utilitarianism in a more favorable light. Friedman agrees with Zwolinski and Tomasi that pre-20th-century libertarians... MORE
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
David Henderson
Commenter Ken B's positive comment on Tyler Cowen's TED talk motivated me to watch the whole thing. I agree that it's excellent. The talk is about 15 minutes long and moves along at a good pace. The basic message: don't... MORE
April 9, 2012
IQ in Economics
David Henderson
Bryan Caplan's latest post is a great response to some assertions made by Will Wilkinson and Tyler Cowen. When Michael Kinsley was writing regularly for The New Republic during the first Bush administration, he was brilliant. He usually attacked Bush... MORE
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
I'm a libertarian, a natalist, an atheist, a credentialist, an economist, an optimist, a behavioral economist, an elitist, a public choicer, a dualist, a Szaszian, a moral realist, an anti-communist, a pacifist, a hereditarian, a Masonomist, a moral intuitionist, a... MORE
April 7, 2012
Central Planning vs. Local Knowledge
David Henderson
Like co-blogger Arnold, I'm a big fan of Lauren Hillenbrand's book, Unbroken. I highly recommend it. I was shocked and disappointed, though, by the following statement from Arnold: When the inevitable movie arrives, it will be interesting to see whether... MORE
April 4, 2012
Family Economics
Bryan Caplan
Elizabeth Kolbert has a fun piece on the ethics of fertility, featuring Christine Overall, David Benatar, and me.Kolbert on Overall:Of course, people do give reasons for having children, and Overall takes them up one by one. Consider the claim that... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When they teach their subject, economists almost always start with microeconomics. Why? Because it's easier to reach clear-cut answers when you start small. Once you know what you're talking about, you can build on it. When economists can't give their... MORE
April 3, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've been having an extended Twitter discussion about the history of women's liberty with Cato's Jason Kuznicki (@JasonKuznicki), the Atlantic's Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo), and others. I find some of the issues hard to address in 140 characters, so I'm moving... MORE
April 2, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The end of the draft is arguably the greatest policy success of libertarian economics. Libertarians still have plenty of complaints about the U.S. military. But libertarian complaints about the way the military treats its manpower have virtually ceased. It's an... MORE
March 29, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I finally finished Crime and Punishment, and was rewarded with two more great Leninist diatribes that predate the dictator's birth. The first is a confrontation between murderous intellectual Raskolnikov and his sister:"Aren't you half expiating your crime by facing the... MORE
March 26, 2012
Growth: Causal Factors
Bryan Caplan
GDP is an agnostic statistic. If someone spends money on something, it counts as GDP. This agnosticism helps statisticians avoid controversy. But it's hard to see any other epistemic benefit. If we really want to measure output, we have to... MORE
March 23, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've never been a fan of John Stuart Mill. Yes, he had a massive IQ and a dreadful Tiger Dad. But his thinking is shockingly muddled. One especially cringeworthy example: In the span of two pages in On Liberty, Mill... MORE
March 20, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Jonathan Haidt kindly let me read an earlier version of The Righteous Mind last June. Here are the comments I sent him. I haven't seen the final version, so perhaps he revised the book in response.Hey Jonathan, I finally finished... MORE
March 19, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Ayn Rand's verdict on totalitarian motives* is remarkably similar to mine. From Galt's Speech:[I]f the ravages wrought by their acts have not made them question their doctrines, if they profess to be moved by love, yet are not deterred by... MORE
Economic History
Bryan Caplan
Historians often act like Lenin's tyranny was a bolt from the blue: Who would have expected a bunch of socialists to be so bloodthirsty? Admirers of Lenin, in contrast, often paint him as a great innovator - at least as... MORE
March 16, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Vipul Naik has just opened the virtual doors of his Open Borders website. The idea is to bring together the best philosophical and economic arguments for free migration, including a few by yours truly. (I'm honored to be quoted on... MORE
Economics and Culture
Bryan Caplan
If I prefer to live in a Bubble, why do I spend so much my time publicly promoting my own ideas? A true Bubble Boy, you'd think, would give up on the world; to say, with The Misanthrope's Philinte: Normal... MORE
March 14, 2012
Economics and Culture
Bryan Caplan
Ilyse Hogue has a shockingly libertarian piece on the Limbaugh boycott at The Nation. Not "civil libertarian," but hard-line my-money-my-choice libertarian. Background:Bill Maher spent a significant portion of last Friday's Real Time defending Rush Limbaugh. Well, not defending the man,... MORE
March 13, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm steering clear of the Cato-Koch dispute. But these remarks by Will Wilkinson are intriguing at the meta level: [I]n actual large-stakes political fights in Washington, Cato is generally on the Republican side. It would not be strange to spot... MORE
March 7, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Under the Jim Crow laws, discrimination was not merely legal. It was mandatory. It was illegal for blacks to live, work, and shop in certain places. Virtually everyone today regards this as an enormous injustice. So do I. But I... MORE
February 21, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Mike Huemer, my favorite philosopher, spoke at TEDx in Colorado. Enjoy.... MORE
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
Did the financial crisis of 2008 refute capitalism once and for all? I was just on Al Jazeera to debate this question. My opponents - and, I suspect, my host - thought so. Obviously I disagreed about capitalism. But even... MORE
February 18, 2012
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Rockford College philosophy professor Stephen Hicks asks me some questions. Here's the result. Here are the questions: Why did you become an economist or political-economist? Does liberal society need an economic theory, and if so why? Your books: Key themes... MORE
February 16, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Matt Zwolinski replies to me on Peter Singer's Drowning Child hypothetical. Matt:Bryan starts off by questioning whether we really have an obligation to save the drowning child. After all, we'd praise someone who rescued a kid in that way as... MORE
February 15, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I didn't want to goad Krugman by quoting Ayn Rand against him. So I waited for one day to pass. This passage from Galt's speech is one of Rand's best:"It's only human," you cry in defense of any depravity, reaching... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I regularly appeal to the moral intuition that we have a strong obligation to leave strangers alone, but little obligation to help them:What are you morally forbidden to do to a stranger? You may not murder him. You may not... MORE
February 14, 2012
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
Krugman makes fascinating concessions to David Brooks:David says,I don't care how many factory jobs have been lost, it still doesn't make sense to drop out of high school.True enough. But suppose we apply the same logic to another problem, say... MORE
February 12, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The disdain most Americans feel for illegal immigrants appalls me, but it does not surprise me. What does surprise me: Even though Americans will call a person a "criminal" for accepting a job from a willing employer, they still think... MORE
February 9, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The resource page for last week's Caplan-Smith debate is now up, complete with full video. Here's Karl's post-debate statement. It's basically a more detailed version of his original statement. But he does introduce two new points I want to answer:1.... MORE
February 7, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When re-reading my recent critique of Robin Hanson's "dealism," I realized that the following could come off as rather harsh:Robin has spent decades proposing unconventional policy deals. His track record is an abysmal failure.None of this means, however, that Robin... MORE
February 6, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Robin grants much of my critique of dealism. Then he offers a bet:Imagine that economists were surveyed and had to choose how they'd best like to describe economic policy recommendations, as: Morals - Arguing for the morality of actions,Deals -... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Robin Hanson often describes his normative view as "dealism." Forget talking about "right and wrong." Lets take people as they are, and help them hammer out mutually beneficial deals. Robin's latest word on this topic:My closest colleagues seem to mostly... MORE
February 2, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Thanks to everyone who attended last night's debate, and especially to Karl Smith for being such a good sport. In the near future, I'll put up a webpage of debate resources, including full video. For now, here's my opening statement... MORE
Economics of Health Care
David Henderson
If you've followed the news on the Susan G. Komen for the Cure controversy lately, you know that it has been getting a lot of flak. The foundation had been sending funds to Planned Parenthood to finance breast-cancer screenings and... MORE
February 1, 2012
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Bryan Caplan
In the comments, Mark V. Anderson asks:I would like to know why you think this book is so extra-special. I read the first chapter for which you provided the link. It was well written, but I saw nothing there that... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In 1865, a former slave owner mailed a job offer to one of his former slaves. Here's the highlight of the freedman's response:Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat... MORE
January 31, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Reihan Salam replies to my case for free immigration, emphasizing the importance of "social capital":It is possible that cash transfers are the most appropriate vehicle for addressing problems that stem from cultural and economic isolation and family breakdown, but my... MORE
January 27, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The Cato Journal's special immigration issue is now out. I have the lead article, entitled "Why Should We Restrict Immigration?" My piece sums up everything I've been saying about immigration since I joined the blog: (a) Common-sense morality implies a... MORE
January 26, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Next week, I'm going to debate Modeled Behavior's Karl Smith on "How Deserving Are the Poor?" Logistics:Date: Wednesday, February 1Time: 6:00-9:00 PMLocation: Johnson Center Meeting Room A, George Mason University (Fairfax Campus)My strategy, as usual, is to use an uncontroversial... MORE
January 19, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In the My Lai Massacre, a company of American ground troops killed between 347 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in a village suspected of harboring Communist guerrillas (the VC). After the massacre became public knowledge, Captain Ernest Medina denied giving... MORE
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
My friends Steve Horwitz and Don Boudreaux have taken strong exception to a recent piece by Jeff Sachs. But I think Sachs got this one right, at least on the particular passage to which Steve and Don take exception. Here's... MORE
January 12, 2012
Economic Education
David Henderson
Bryan Caplan's post earlier this week, "Eureka! Economic Illiteracy as Mental Substitution," is one of his best ever. And that's a high bar. Bryan applies the insight from Kahneman--that people answer the question they want to answer rather than the... MORE
January 11, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
On July 15, 1915, the New York Times ran an interview with legendary economist Irving Fisher. His response to the Great War was staunchly pacifist:After this war is over, of course, Europe will find herself prostrated economically, by the destruction... MORE
January 8, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
"Economic growth seems like an extremely good thing. But growth could have undesirable side effects so severe that growth is actually bad." This position is totally reasonable - and totally uninteresting. Could? Could?! If something seems extremely good, you need... MORE
January 7, 2012
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
David Henderson
The idea that humanity could turn tables on economic necessity--mastering rather than being enslaved by material circumstances--is so new that Jane Austen never entertained it. With an opening sentence like that, I thought, Sylvia Nasar's Grand Pursuit: The Story of... MORE
January 5, 2012
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In the comments, Olof Johansson-Stenman points out an error in my post on his consequentialism study:The third choice alternative is actually not "The extent to which the action infringes upon someone else's NATURAL rights" but simply "The extent to which... MORE
December 29, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Robin blogs a new piece based on a survey of Swedes. Its conclusion: most people are consequentialist. I don't buy this for a second. Consider the response options:How bad an action is, from an ethical point of view, depends primarily... MORE
December 26, 2011
Economic History
Bryan Caplan
Here's the most fascinating exhibit from the Holocaust Museum's "State of Deception" exhibit:(full-size version) The top and bottom read: "Hate and annihilation to our enemies. Freedom, justice, and bread to our people." But it's the four heads of the dragon... MORE
December 25, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Patria, parenti, amici, Voi dunque non avete? Country, family, friends, Possess you none of them? -Giuseppe Verdi, RigolettoI'm a staunch opponent of nationalism. But I'm also a family man. Isn't there a direct contradiction between the two? If I... MORE
December 13, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I just shared the sublime Downfall with my older sons. It's the German-language movie of the last days of Nazi Germany. (You probably already to know it from the countless Youtube parodies of Hitler screaming at his generals with funny... MORE
December 9, 2011
Family Economics
Bryan Caplan
Art Carden, who is also expecting another child, is inviting economists to join his new Julian Simon Club:Simon's research shows that fears and worries about "overpopulation" are senseless. Further, expressions of those fears and worries in comments like "it is... MORE
December 7, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Critics of my kids book occasionally argue that creating new life is, all else equal, morally questionable or objectionable, a position known to philosophers as anti-natalism. The most extreme proponent of anti-natalism is probably David Benatar, author of Better Never... MORE
December 5, 2011
Family Economics
Bryan Caplan
When I was promoting Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, one of the most common questions I heard was, "Are you going to have any more?" I always avoided a definite answer. But now I'm pleased to announce that my... MORE
November 26, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Only two days after Thanksgiving did I remember this wonderful passage on gratitude from The Brothers Karamozov:This legend is about Paradise. There was, they say, here on earth a thinker and philosopher. He rejected everything, 'laws, conscience, faith,' and, above... MORE
November 21, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Scott Sumner says much I agree with about nature, nurture, and behavior. When Ronald Green argues that obesity is caused by genes rather than laziness and lack of self-discipline, Scott retorts:Do you see the problem with Green's assertion? He asks... MORE
November 10, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
My lecture "Immigration Restrictions: A Solution in Search of a Problem" begins with the following hypothetical:Moved by the plight of Haitian earthquake victims, you go to Haiti to aid in the relief efforts. After two weeks, you're ready to go... MORE
November 9, 2011
Economic Education
David Henderson
News Flash: Harvard Has no Access to the Web and No Libraries Last Wednesday, Greg Mankiw blogged about the students who walked out of his Ec10 class. They have various complaints about it that you can read here. One student,... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Paul Kelleher's critique of my recent post on mobility and misanthropy is a rare pleasure. He begins by carefully explaining and defending a position on personal identity that I've repeatedly championed. Kelleher: The following claims seem true: I could have... MORE
November 8, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Scott Winship's written a good piece on ingenerational income mobility... with one highly objectionable passage. Ponder the underlying philosophy here:[R]educing the number of unplanned pregnancies would unquestionably reduce the number of children experiencing divorce and other disadvantages. Since it is... MORE
November 7, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
One of my closest conservative friends is chronically angry about (a) immigration and (b) affirmative action. The irony is that the immigration restrictions he so passionately favors are affirmative action - for native-born workers.Advocates of standard affirmative action see the... MORE
Economics and Culture
Bryan Caplan
[Warning: spoilers]Sci-fi thriller In Time has a simple premise: In the future, people become immortal as long as they don't run out of the crucial tradable commodity: time. Everyone is born with 26 years of life; to live longer, they... MORE
November 6, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Three items crossed my computer screen recently: --the launch of Libertarianism.org by the folks at Cato. It looks like a nice web site, one that invites exploration. --Tyler Cowen's link to a piece by Will Wilkinson. --two older pieces by... MORE
November 4, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Tyler, responding to Karl Smith, responding to Steve Landsburg, asks:[I]f government action to redistribute income is morally required, in the meantime is not greater private charity morally required too?Tyler's not impressed with Karl's position. Karl:If we want to be truly... MORE
October 28, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Suppose someone proposed a "Brother's Keeper Bill." According to this BKB, people earning at least double the poverty line would be financially obliged to give 20% of their income to any sibling earning less than the poverty line.I doubt many... MORE
October 22, 2011
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
David made me think a second time about second-best immigration policy. My thoughts on his:1. I think Bryan drastically understates the ability of even fairly low-skilled workers to come up with a substantial five-figure admission fee. (I'm assuming the fee... MORE
October 19, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
My betting partner John Quiggin seems to be in near-perfect agreement with my pacifism:When is violence justified as a response to manifest and apparently immovable injustice? My answer, with Martin Luther King is: Never, or almost never... In large measure,... MORE
October 17, 2011
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
Great hard-to-summarize post by Scott Sumner. Highlights:I'd like to make some observations about inequality. First as a person, then as an economist. These are based on 56 years of observing all kinds of people, in all sorts of different situations. [After... MORE
October 3, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
One of the highlights of the Mont Pelerin Society meetings that are ending in Istanbul tonight was a talk by Leon Louw of the Free Market Foundation in South Africa. Some high points: 1. He led off by stating, "I... MORE
October 1, 2011
Economics of Health Care
David Henderson
Stanford University health economist Victor Fuchs wrote an op/ed in the Wall Street Journal on January 26, 1996, titled "The Tofu Triangle." Here is my letter in response. The Journal published it on February 22, 1996, titling it "Equal Justice."... MORE
September 30, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Lots of good comments on my critique of Marsh. Some quick replies:PrometheeFeu: A lot of women either do not know about birth-control or more commonly do not know how to obtain or use it. Also, some disastrous education policies have... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
John Marsh replies to my critique of his most outrageous passage:Bryan thinks single-motherhood is a choice, I think it is more or less a given. In other words, if, like me, you wanted to reduce levels of poverty in the... MORE
September 23, 2011
Economic History
Bryan Caplan
A great debating point by Don Boudreaux:[Pat Buchanan] frequently asserts that 19th-century America's policy of relatively high tariffs, along with its impressive economic growth, proves that protectionism promotes prosperity. End of story; full stop; no further analysis is necessary. Fact... MORE
September 22, 2011
Central Planning vs. Local Knowledge
David Henderson
The abolition of consumers' choice in favor of universal rationing is a typical product of that onslaught, sometimes called Bolshevism. This was written by an economist in 1940 to oppose rationing during World War II. Who was the economist? You... MORE
September 19, 2011
Economics of Health Care
David Henderson
Background: There's been a lot of discussion on the blogosphere about Ron Paul's answer to a question about health care from Wolf Blitzer: was it a softball, how should Ron Paul have answered, etc. (For a post that links to... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Since you're nerdy enough to read EconLog, I assume you're familiar with Bizarro World, Bizarro Superman, and Bizarro Jerry. Now imagine adding a new figure to this mythology: Bizarrro Wolf Blitzer.* In Bizarro World, the masses and the mainstream media... MORE
September 18, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Philosopher Rod Long's gotten a lot of attention for his recent post on Bleeding Heart Libertarians, and it's easy to see why. Rod leads with Wolf Blitzer's "gotcha" for Ron Paul:Wolf Blitzer: You're a physician, Ron Paul, so you're a... MORE
September 16, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I don't respect the law. If my conscience says one thing, and the law says another, I often follow the law to avoid punishment. But in my eyes, legality per se has zero moral weight.My position is admittedly controversial. As... MORE
September 6, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
In a comment on my recent post on the debate between Nick Gillespie/Matt Welch and David Gordon, I challenged David Gordon to give instances where Gillespie and Welch have claimed that one must have certain tastes or attitudes in order... MORE
September 5, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
David (Henderson, not Gordon) writes:Nowhere in the definition of "tolerate" is there the idea of embracing or liking a particular group, practice, race, type of music, etc. "Tolerance," in short, seems to mean the belief in the idea of "live... MORE
September 4, 2011
Economics and Culture
David Henderson
I have a different take from Bryan Caplan's on the debate between Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch, on the one hand, and David Gordon, on the other. My take is informed by the further discussion that Bryan doesn't mention: Welch's... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
A while back I wrote of the "libertarian penumbra":Libertarians are famous for their internal disagreements, but they have far more beliefs in common than their core position requires. For starters, even non-consequentialist libertarians generally believe that libertarian policies have good... MORE
September 3, 2011
Fiscal Policy
David Henderson
A well-known sociologist shares information about a prominent Democratic Senator that made him despair--and gave me hope. For some reason, I'm on what is probably a very large e-mail list from Amitai Etzioni, the left-wing sociology professor at George Washington... MORE
August 31, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
From the original - and surprisingly Snicketesque - Pinnochio: "Tomorrow your five gold pieces will be two thousand!" "Two thousand!" repeated the Cat. "But how can they possibly become so many?" asked Pinocchio wonderingly. "I'll explain," said the Fox. "You... MORE
August 29, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
An economic model is just a story without any holes in it. A good economic model is a credible story without any holes in it.P.S. Why The Lord of the Rings is a great story but a terrible model.... MORE
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Last Thursday I gave a talk to the Tea Party Patriots of Monterey County. I had not had much connection with local tea partiers since the speech I had given at their July 4 event in 2009. My talk was... MORE
August 20, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Here's the third installment (for the first two, see here and here) in how I have fought my envy over the years (taken from The Joy of Freedom: An Economist's Odyssey.) The third thing that helps me when I feel... MORE
August 19, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Remember my pacifism debate with Ilya Somin? No offense to Ilya, but I heard that our hosts invited Robert Bidinotto first. Bidinotto refused, I'm told, because he's now focused on writing novels. And what's his novel about? A vigilante. But... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Freakonomics features a quorum of economist-parents on the "worst parenting mistake they ever made." My previously blogged position on parenthood and regret seemed to tie my hands, but I tried to wriggle out with careful choice of words:My closest thing... MORE
August 18, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
I promised in my post two days ago to tell the other two steps I used, and, truth be told, still occasionally must use, to fight my envy. Here's the next passage from my book, The Joy of Freedom: An... MORE
August 16, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
I totally agree with Bryan Caplan's post on envy. Well done, Bryan. And I can say from personal experience that I fought it in myself. Some excerpts from my chapter, "Whose Income, Who's Distributing?" in my The Joy of Freedom:... MORE
August 15, 2011
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
Hawks love the analogy between defensive war and individual self-defense. But as I keep saying, there's a big difference: so-called "defensive war" almost always involves the deliberate or reckless killing of innocent bystanders. Why They Die: Civilian Devastation in Violent... MORE
August 1, 2011
Central Planning vs. Local Knowledge
David Henderson
A much more accurate metaphor for the economy is an ecosystem. We are simultaneously independent and interdependent. We can no more fix an economy than we can fix a rainforest or a coral reef. At best, we can leave it... MORE
July 22, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
A puzzle inspired by last night's debate: Conservatives and libertarians were almost equally likely to praise "liberty." You'd think this shared value would facilitate a constructive dialog. But it didn't - not even for the subset of "economic liberty." Why... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
As expected, I greatly enjoyed last night's Libertarianism vs. Conservative Debate at Cato. I'm always impressed to see students publicly defend their cherished beliefs before hundreds of onlookers. I spent most of the Q&A mentally searching for constructive questions -... MORE
July 21, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Today, I attended this panel (the link already has an audio, so you can listen. I ask a question at one hour and 29 minutes in.) featuring Gara Lamarche, who I mentioned in this post. He was much more self-effacing... MORE
July 15, 2011
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
Almost everyone is incredulous at my pacifist opposition to so-called "defensive war." In last week's debate, Ilya Somin's case began with this supposedly clear-cut case of legitimate war. What could possibly be wrong with a country using military means to... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've set up the resource page for my recent "Liberty and Foreign Policy" debate with Ilya Somin, including the complete audio (now in mp3), my Powerpoint slides, and Somin's outline. Enjoy.P.S. Special thanks to Chris Baylor for organizing and handling... MORE
July 14, 2011
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
My sons and I read some sad stories together. Most recently, we shared Maus, Art Spiegelman's transcendent graphic novel about how his father survived Holocaust. In the process, I've noticed something: My sons' preferred response to evil is always "fighting... MORE
July 13, 2011
Economic History
Bryan Caplan
People frequently try to refute my pacifism by merely saying "Hitler." "If only Britain and France had declared war and unseated Hitler when he occupied the Rheinland in 1936!" they say. My quick reply is, "Yes, but I've got a... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Today I'm debating pacifism - another position I acquired in the process of blogging - with Ilya Somin at GMU's law school. My pacifist writings so far:1. Why libertarians should be pacifists, not isolationists.2. The common-sense case for pacifism -... MORE
July 12, 2011
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Arnold Kling
Bracing diagnosis, disappointing prescription. Having finished Uncharitable, I have that capsule review. As I see the diagnosis, donors evaluate non-profits on criteria that are not related to results. The big one is "percentage of donations that go to the cause."... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
From Gara Lamarche: it is values that move people to enthusiasm and action, not more sterile concepts of metrics and results. Read the whole thing. Rarely do I encounter a piece that I disagree with so broadly and so deeply.... MORE
July 11, 2011
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Arnold Kling
Uncharitable, by Dan Pallotta. Recommended by Amy Willis with regard to my discussion of nonprofits. So far (I am less than 1/4 through), the book says the following: 1. Organizations that seek to achieve charitable ends should be permitted to... MORE
July 8, 2011
Economics of Health Care
David Henderson
A few days ago, I posted on a John Goodman post in which he asserted that he knows of no theory of justice that would imply that the Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare, is a good idea. There followed a... MORE
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Arnold Kling
David French writes, In this category are all the things you do when a person typically thinks of "fighting poverty." Serve in a soup kitchen. Donate canned goods. Sponsor a child. Fight for the right candidates and public policies. Volunteer... MORE
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
You can now vote in Leah Libresco's religious Turing Test. Anyone care to predict the results? Propose a bet?Update: I just voted. Overall, amazingly credible answers - I suspect Leah is drawing heavily from ultra-sophisticated Ivy League Christians. The main... MORE
July 7, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Leah Libresco is moving forward with her proposed religious Turing Test - and she'd appreciate your comments on her draft. Stay tuned for the result.... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Christopher writes, imagine three axis [axes], one that runs from voluntary to coerced, one that runs from private means to public means, and one that runs from public ends to private ends. Now imagine three spheres: one tends towards voluntary,... MORE
July 6, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
A commenter suggested, among other readings, Susan Rose-Ackerman: an organization that binds itself not to distribute its surpluses to owners may be trusted more by customers and donors unable to judge service quality directly... Second...The nonprofit form provides a weak... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Picking up some comments on this post: 1. Non-profit is just a tax status. 2. One thinks of non-profits serving the poor, with for-profits serving the affluent. On (1), I can see it for hospitals. When I go to a... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
On July 13, I'm debating pacifism with Ilya Somin at the GMU law school. (The debate's open to the public). Yet last weekend I declared war on four nests of yellowjackets on my property. I won, but one stinger pierced... MORE
July 5, 2011
Political Economy
Arnold Kling
I am curious about the intuition that people have about non-profit work. The standard intuition is that going to work for a profitable company means that you are not serving people, only the profits of the company. On the other... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I often annoy other economists by giving advice. "Economists are supposed to describe behavior, not change it," they insist. But they couldn't be more wrong. Economics is inherently advisory. Anytime an economist notices a discrepancy between (a) the world as... MORE
July 1, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Libertarian Anthony Gregory has written the best article I've read this year. I've been trying to decide what excerpts to paste in and I found myself wanting to paste the whole thing in. I'll restrain myself and use a few... MORE
June 30, 2011
Family Economics
Bryan Caplan
I've got a question for perfectionist parents who strive to raise prodigies: Instead of pushing your kids to succeed, why don't you try to perfect yourself instead? Why don't you start taking piano lessons for three hours a day? Why... MORE
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
In an article today in The Freeman on-line, economist Steven Horwitz makes a case for allowing same-sex marriage. In doing so he makes the following statement: Government must treat all its citizens equally, and nothing paid for with tax dollars... MORE
June 26, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
On July 13 at 7 PM, I'll be debating GMU law professor (and my co-author) Ilya Somin on "What Liberty Implies for Foreign Policy." Location:George Mason Law School Room 221 3301 Fairfax Drive Arlington, VAI will defend pacifism. Ilya will... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I bet I would do relatively well on ideological Turing Tests. But whenever I say the words "I bet," my mind starts to imagine losing scenarios. If someone wanted to make me fail an ideological Turing Test, what kinds of... MORE
June 23, 2011
Economic Methods
Bryan Caplan
Leah Anthony Libresco is looking for partners and judges for an ideological Turing Test on Christianity and atheism:I'd like to put my money where my mouth is and play in an ideological Turing Test against a Christian blogger. We could... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
1. DeLong pretends to be Nozickian.2. I pretend to be conservative. Give me more examples of attempts to pass Ideological Turing Tests in the comments; I'll link to them.... MORE
June 22, 2011
Labor Market
Arnold Kling
Karl Smith asks, If we accept that the labor market would clear at One Cent Per Year. Then the question is why has the labor market not cleared while at the same time the wage has not dropped to One... MORE
June 20, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In a Turing Test, a computer tries to pass for human:A human judge engages in a natural language conversation with one human and one machine, each emulating human responses. All participants are separated from one another. If the judge cannot... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Mike Munger and Russ Roberts discuss what makes an exchange truly voluntary. Munger suggests that if my best alternative to doing business with you is a really lousy alternative, then many people would deny that my decision to do the... MORE
June 19, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Sophie Roell interviews Paul Krugman on his five favorite books. A couple of highlights: I think it's actually a point when you're quite vulnerable, because you are looking for someone who is going to offer you all the answers. Some... MORE
June 12, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
As I mentioned in a post last week, I was at a Liberty Fund seminar in Indianapolis last weekend at which we discussed Amartya Sen's The Idea of Justice. Before that, I had read only sections of his books and... MORE
June 5, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
One common criticism of pacifism is that it is "cowardly." What might this mean - and is it true?1. "Pacifism is cowardly" = "Pacifists are cowards." Given the unpopularity of pacifism - and the extreme unlikelihood that your pacifism tips... MORE
June 2, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
David Henderson argues that (thanks to the Gipper, no less), Medicare imposes price controls on health care:But what made it a system of price controls was that the government, along with DRGs, made it illegal for hospitals to charge even... MORE
May 31, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The Gilded Age was no libertarian paradise, and it certainly had far lower per-capita GDP than the modern world. Nevertheless, the Gilded Age was awesome in many important ways. Above all, as Goldin, Cameron, and Balarajan explain in Exceptional People:... MORE
May 22, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
For Matt Yglesias, my vision of the future - "Simon for people, Malthus for robots" - is a powerful argument for socialism:Another way of putting it would be Simon (i.e., plenty) for capital and Malthus (i.e., subsistence) for labor. That,... MORE
May 18, 2011
Economics of Crime
David Henderson
It wasn't until the U.S. government's crackdown on internet poker last week that I came to realize that the primary determinant of where I stand with respect to government interference in activities comes down to the answer to a simple... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Highlights from my reply to Greg Clark:I am pleased to in principle accept Greg's proposed bet: So if Bryan wants to bet even odds that farmland prices will be higher relative to average wages in 30 years time, I am... MORE
May 15, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
From the Free Dictionary:slav·er·y 1. The state of one bound in servitude as the property of a slaveholder or household.con·scrip·tion 1. Compulsory enrollment, especially for the armed forces; draft.To me, you'd have to be blind to deny the libertarian truism that... MORE
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
David Henderson
My title is a takeoff on the title of P.J. O'Rourke's panning of the movie Atlas Shrugged. He obviously didn't like it and, with an eye for detail, noticed the strange world in which cell phones exist but oil pipelines... MORE
May 14, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Who Was This Guy? As many long-time members of the American Economics Association (I was one for about 25 years) know, one of the famous economists to whom the AEA pays respects is Richard Ely. An annual lecture at the... MORE
May 13, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Don't miss this great post by the great Robin Hanson. The heart of it:[R]egulations hold some things to higher standards than others, even when the relevant consequences seem similar. For example we seem to prefer: Individuals over firmsNon-money over money... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
From my reply on Cato Unbound to Matthew Connelly:As far as I can tell, Connelly doesn't deny that fertility is good. But he's afraid of the consequences of admitting that fertility is good. After all, won't governments take advantage of... MORE
May 12, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
One of Murray Rothbard's strangest doctrines is that fractional reserve banking (i.e. virtually all banking with which First World consumers have any direct experience) is inherently fraudulent and should therefore be illegal. As he puts it in The Mystery of... MORE
May 2, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
To David's recommendation, I wish to add mine. One of my pet peeves is people who describe volunteer work and non-profit work as "giving back." Instead, working for a profit can be (and, I suspect, usually is) a higher form... MORE
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Today, while most Americans celebrate, quite appropriately, the killing of a mass murderer, Osama bin Laden, we are likely to hear encomiums to people in the U.S. military. In the May Econlib Feature Article, one member of that military, Major... MORE
April 27, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Check out Steve Sailer's appreciative review of Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids. In many ways, we see eye to eye. But passages like this show just how far apart we are. Steve:Let me say that Caplan has written a... MORE
April 26, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I don't have time just now to reply to the many new comments on my pacifism, but I can't let Tyler Cowen's critique go unanswered. At the outset, let me say that I realize how crazy and naive my position... MORE
April 25, 2011
Tyler Cowen argues with Bryan on pacifism. There is also a Lucas critique issue of how the bad guys start behaving once they figure out that the good guys are pacifist, and I don't see him discussing that either. I... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
It's time to reply to my critics. Here goes:Mike DC writes:Suppose some jerk burns a Koran, and devout Muslims respond with by killing every American they come across. Should I, and other Americans not organize for our collective defense? Whether... MORE
April 24, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Like Aeon Skoble, I think my co-blogger Bryan Caplan has overstated the case for pacifism and against defensive war. Also, in his article to which he linked, Professor Skoble makes some important distinctions that libertarians sometimes fail to make and... MORE
April 23, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I am a libertarian and a pacifist. Contrary to many, the two are not merely compatible; given the ugly realities of the world, the former implies the latter. As I've put it before:I'm a pacifist not because I oppose self-defense,... MORE
April 21, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
A key premise of my pacifism:2. The long-run benefits of war are highly uncertain. Some wars - most obviously the Napoleonic Wars and World War II - at least arguably deserve credit for decades of subsequent peace. But many other... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
How are GMU economists different from normal economists? Many ways, but here's one that's struck me lately:Them: Impossibly high intellectual standards for a handful of high-status research questions - and embarrassingly low intellectual standards for all other questions.Us: Reasonably high... MORE
April 18, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Suppose an economist tells you about an obscure tax loophole: You can reduce your taxes without going to jail. You've never taken advantage of it because you've never even heard about it. But when you investigate his factual claims, they... MORE
April 14, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
While you're waiting for Jason Brennan's The Ethics of Voting to arrive in the mail, check out his new article in The Philosophical Quarterly. In the book, Brennan merely argues that uninformed and irrational voters should voluntarily abstain. In the... MORE
April 13, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Jason Brennan is my favorite philosopher under the age of 40. Now he's published a marvelous book, The Ethics of Voting, with Princeton University Press. In 210 short pages, he raises and resolves a series of ethical dilemmas every potential... MORE
April 12, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
From Richard Posner, the man who possibly inspired me to stay in econ:Perhaps some politician will be bold enough to advocate that all entitlements programs, including social security as well as Medicare, be means-tested, as Medicaid is. There is no... MORE
April 8, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Today I turn 40. To ease the pain, I've decided to write a list of important lessons I've learned during my first four decades. In no particular order:Economics1. Supply-and-demand solves countless mysteries of the world - everything from rent control... MORE
April 7, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Don't miss this great profile of my favorite living philosopher, the noble Michael Huemer of the University of Colorado. Intro:Michael Huemer asks his students to imagine being a neighborhood vigilante. Suppose, he says, you live in a crime-ridden neighborhood, and... MORE
April 5, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Will any fundamentally new political philosophy emerge in the Western world during the next fifty years? If not, why not? If so, what is it likely to be?... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Robin Hanson on child labor:Kids work hard at school, housework, sports, practicing music, supporting clubs, etc. and none of this cruelty is prevented by "child labor" laws. Such laws only prevent getting paid to work; they don't even stop kids... MORE
April 3, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Matt Zwolinski responds at length to my two earlier posts on poverty and desert. I'm going to limit myself to his most telling points.1. Discerning desert is doubly difficult:It's important to distinguish between two kinds of problem we might have... MORE
March 29, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Another passage by Matt Zwolinski on poverty and desert that keeps coming back to me:[A]ny measures we take to diminish the likelihood of false positives - people getting welfare who don't deserve it - will probably increase the likelihood of... MORE
March 27, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Tyler Cowen writes:I am a moral realist and intuitionist, as is Bryan, but my view on applications is very different.[...]...Bryan wants to "coin" a large number of (non-trivial) moral truths this way, such as his claim that taxation is morally... MORE
March 26, 2011
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
I just discovered that I could conceivably co-author Pragmatic Pacifism with Robin Hanson. Robin:War is bad. Defending against war, that can be justified. But starting a war, well that is presumably very bad. Not that starting a war could never... MORE
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
David Henderson
I wrote this one evening in the fall of 1981 after watching an episode of "The Greatest American Hero" in which the key character interacts with the Lone Ranger. I had known nothing ab0ut the show but I was suddenly... MORE
March 25, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
While vacationing in Italy, I kept thinking about philosopher Matt Zwolinski's thoughts on the deserving and undeserving poor:[T]he mere fact that there is a valid moral distinction to be made does not entail that we want our public policies to... MORE
March 24, 2011
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
How many of you don't find the following passage from the NYT utterly bizarre?Admiral Hueber also said that the coalition was communicating with rebel forces. But later, when he was pressed on whether the United States was telling rebels not... MORE
March 17, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Since students actually know so little, I must explain the differences between Holocaust deniers, Holocaust minimizers, and Hitler rehabilitationists. I must explain propaganda and euphemism and anti-Zionism. I must acquaint them with fascism, eugenics, Romantic struggle and surrender, Einsatzgruppen and... MORE
March 10, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Like Jason Brennan, I think that truly "callous" libertarians are few and far between. But I keep thinking about reasons for the misperception. I already mentioned two. Libertarians are relatively unafraid to...1. Make a distinction between the deserving and the... MORE
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
David Gordon makes a category error. The other factor was more fundamental; we have discussed it already but now Rothbard elaborated on it in more detail. Crane and Koch, in a quest for political power, wished to compromise with libertarian... MORE
March 9, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Tyler Cowen (here and here) and co-blogger Arnold Kling have commented on what they see as the main failings of left-wing and market-oriented economists. I agree with much of what Arnold said and some of what Tyler said: my disagreements... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Ezra Klein sounds like my clone when arguing with the Secretary of Agriculture. Highlight:EK: You keep saying that rural Americans are good and decent people, that they work hard and participate in their communities. But no one is questioning that.... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Jason Brennan, my favorite philosopher of democracy, ponders the "case of the missing callous libertarians" at Bleeding Heart Libertarians: If you only read academic philosophy discussing orthodox right libertarianism, you might expect that libertarians are callous and indifferent to poverty...If... MORE
March 7, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've heard a wide variety of objections to my forthcoming book on kids. But the thinkers I most respect usually argue that the empirical happiness research is my Achilles heel. After all, they point out, the negative effect of kids... MORE
February 26, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
When Rand Paul ran for the U.S. Senate, my worst case rating of him, out of 10, was about a 4, and my best case was about a 7. One of my biggest concerns was that he seemed to waffle... MORE
February 23, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
A striking observation from my childhood friend Ghassan Bridi:Had we never invaded Iraq, we may have seen the people of Iraq today take to the streets and topple a despotic dictator in the second most populous Arab country on this... MORE
February 12, 2011
Economic History
Bryan Caplan
In Mao's Great Famine, Frank Dikötter joins the elite club of historians who live up to their duty to impose "the undying penalty which history has the power to inflict on wrong." On purely literary terms I still prefer Jasper... MORE
January 31, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Immigration restrictions are the single worst policy the First World imposes. They're a massive violation of human freedom with awful consequences. That's the main reason I write about the issue so frequently and so doggedly.But to be honest, I have... MORE
January 30, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Last week I saw the debate between my co-author Ilya Somin of the GMU Law School, and Will Thomas from the Atlas Society. The topic: Are there conflicts of interest between rational people? If you're inclined to respond, "Of course. ... MORE
January 25, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Last month I digested my position on the political externalities of immigration, but I'm happy to elaborate. David writes:I could imagine that leading to an additional 300 million people coming into the United States within a couple of years. My... MORE
January 24, 2011
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
The latest issue of Econ Journal Watch is out today and one of the articles is by David Gordon. It's titled, "The Ideological Profile of Harvard University Press: Categorizing 494 Books Published 2000-2010." In it, Gordon methodically goes through 494... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
What do you call a man you never met? A stranger.What are you morally forbidden to do to a stranger? You may not murder him. You may not attack him. You may not enslave him. Neither may you rob him.What... MORE
January 23, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Karl Smith calls this line from Will Wilkinson "liberaltarianism in one sentence":It's best to just maximize growth rates, pre-tax distribution be damned, and then fund wicked-good social insurance with huge revenues from an optimal tax scheme.Smith adds:A core hope of... MORE
January 17, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In his Cato Unbound essay "Against Overlordship," my colleague Dan Klein argued that the heart of the modern liberal position is the idea that the citizens of a country collectively own their country:Although they may not be fully conscious of... MORE
January 8, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Tyler (via Ken Feinstein) says I should raise my opinion of Kant. After reading this paragraph, I can only say: Done!The usual touchstone of whether what someone asserts is mere persuasion or at least a subjective conviction, i.e., firm belief,... MORE
January 6, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I largely agree with David Henderson's remarks on foreign policy (here, here, and here), but his initial post makes a rather improbable claim. Here's David:As I once said, after someone in a roundtable discussion had called me a pacifist, "If... MORE
January 5, 2011
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
It's time for a belated reply to Arnold's critique of pacifism. I wish Arnold would engage the three-premise argument I actually made, but I'll take what I can get. Here's Arnold:I just cannot buy into pacifism as some libertarians express... MORE
December 29, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Why is it the case that conservatives are most passionate about the two issues - immigration and war - where they are least libertarian? It seems like an improbably awful coincidence.... MORE
December 20, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
The topic of hate has come up in disparate places lately. On the one hand,Mark Thoma points to Daniel Little, who offers an analysis of conservatives as motivated by hate. On the other hand, Matthew J. Franck calls this "playing... MORE
December 18, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Even scholars well familiar with the horrors of the Great Leap Forward occasionally refuse to call Mao Zedong a murderer. Why not? Because Mao didn't know. People kept telling him that his crazy agricultural schemes were working wonders. What does... MORE
December 12, 2010
Labor Market
David Henderson
[Irving] Howe ends by saying of Trotsky that "the example of his energy and heroism is likely to grip the imagination of generations to come," adding that, "even those of us who cannot heed his word may recognize that Leon... MORE
December 9, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Jonah Goldberg's critique of the "No Labels" movement is a cogent defense of stereotype accuracy and a model of elegant ridicule.Stereotype accuracy: If I tell you I'm a conservative Republican, you'll have no idea what my views are on Buffy... MORE
December 7, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
"Behaviorism" describes a range of positions, but they all claim that we should focus on "observable behavior" instead of mere mental states. (For more, see here, here, here, and here). While this position is counterintuitive, it seems to work: One... MORE
November 29, 2010
Information Goods, Intellectual Property
Bryan Caplan
Last night I saw The Road, a truly bleak post-apocalyptic movie. [Warning: Minor spoilers.] As I watched, I realized that I was witnessing a mighty counter-example to my views on the propriety of statistical discrimination. In the movie, about 80%... MORE
November 28, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Libertarians set themselves apart from other political thinkers by habitually denying that government should do things. Denial is therefore at the heart of libertarian thought. Thanks to pop psychology, unfortunately, "denial" has come to mean "refusing to admit the truth"... MORE
November 23, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm a pacifist. I realize that it's an unpopular position, but I'm still surprised by how quick people are to dismiss the position with cliches. Here are three of the most common.1. "If you want peace, prepare for war." This... MORE
November 22, 2010
Economic Methods
Arnold Kling
My earlier post drew a number of helpful comments, including one from Karl Smith on his own blog. it is right that take the knowledge of market failure that we have and do what we can to alleviate what suffering... MORE
November 21, 2010
Economic Methods
Arnold Kling
Below is a metaphor I am working on. Feel free to comment.... MORE
November 9, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Public opinion research on philosophers was long in coming, but the results have been worth the wait. Here are a bunch of tables summarizing the correlations between philosophers' positions. Some are surprisingly low considering that they're near-tautological. "Moral judgment: cognitivism"... MORE
November 7, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Is paternalism a slippery slope or not? People like Thaler insist that it's not. Adam Ozimek ingeniously explains why disbelievers keep missing the evidence that the slippery slope is all too real. Evidence like... San Francisco's ban on the Happy... MORE
October 30, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Robin Hanson points out yet another way that, contra left-libertarians, big business faces exceptionally and unreasonably harsh regulation:Many of our regulations apply to big firms more strongly than small firms, and and even less to homes. For example, many regulations... MORE
October 6, 2010
Microeconomics
Bryan Caplan
In my "Solipsist's Guide to Comparative Advantage," I showed how, for all practical purposes, trade actually raises worker productivity. Notice, though, that my example shows the productivity effects of trade if you and I have different absolute advantages: you're a... MORE
October 5, 2010
Microeconomics
Bryan Caplan
According to extreme solipsism, you're the only person who really exists. Suppose this strange position were true. What would it imply for the Law of Comparative Advantage?Consider a standard textbook problem with two agents: you and me. By hypothesis, I'm... MORE
October 4, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Robert Edwards, IVF/"test-tube baby" pioneer, has won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. From the official press release:As early as the 1950s, Edwards had the vision that IVF could be useful as a treatment for infertility. He worked systematically to realize... MORE
September 28, 2010
Economics and Culture
Bryan Caplan
People aren't just rationally ignorant about politics and economics; they also seem to be rationally ignorant about religion. The latest Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll weighed, measured, and found wanting the religious knowledge of over 3000 adult... MORE
September 26, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In response to "Terrible Turnaround," Scott Sumner writes:Suppose that in 1943 we knew for a fact that dropping a bomb on Germany and Japan, and killing 3,000 civilians, would have caused them to surrender. Would the act have been morally... MORE
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
David Brooks wrote what I thought of as one of his strangest editorials last month and I didn't get around to commenting on it. Titled "A Case of Mental Courage," it led off with a gruesome story about a woman... MORE
September 22, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Rod Long replies to my "Why I Am Not a Left-Libertarian":Bryan's response focuses on the ways in which free markets would solve the problems I point to if they were really problems. But the whole point of my position is... MORE
September 20, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
We often have ethical arguments about when it's morally permissible for us to do seemingly terrible things to them. Examples:1. When is it morally permissible for us to deliberately drop a nuclear bomb on their civilians?2. When is it morally... MORE
September 15, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Out of all the reactions I've heard to Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, the most disturbing are all variations on "Except stupid people. They shouldn't have kids." I could snark, "You mean people like you?," but that would be... MORE
September 2, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Agree or disagree: "Selfish" is to "self-interested" as "cheap" is to "thrifty."Please explain your answer.... MORE
August 30, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Adam Ozimek offers two reductios against my claim that it's almost always good to create life. Reductio #1:[I]f you take seriously the notion that the utility of not being born is less than the utility of being born, it seems... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
If Brad DeLong himself has a few mistakes to confess, imagine how many I've made! I discuss quite a few in my intellectual autobiography, but here are my highlights (lowpoints?), in rough chronological order:1. I used to think Catholicism was... MORE
August 29, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
If someone gives another person $100, almost all economists agree that the recipient is better off. Hard-line neoclassical economists will say it's true by definition; the rest won't be so emphatic, but they'll confidently agree. Even happiness researchers will probably... MORE
August 22, 2010
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
No. Well, I think we saw some of that in the mosque controversy, where the president first set out a very clear and ringing principle, and then retreated from it significantly. Saturday, when he qualified his unqualified endorsement of Friday... MORE
August 18, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
On Facebook, Steve Horwitz writes:The next time you're engaged in a political discussion with someone who has very strong views different from your own, ask them if they can name two famous thinkers or politicians whose politics are opposed to... MORE
August 3, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Simple moral theories are almost always easy to refute with simple hypotheticals. Yet in the real world, right and wrong rarely seem ambiguous to me. The reason isn't that I think that consequences don't count. I take consequences seriously. My... MORE
July 31, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I just finished re-reading Paul Johnson's Modern Times. According to Johnson, moral relativism was the root of all evil in the twentieth century. I'm tempted to agree, but ultimately I doubt that meta-ethics played more than a supporting role in the statist horrors... MORE
July 20, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Convincing conservatives to legalize drugs is an uphill battle for the Libertarian Missionary. But how about for the Conservative Dissenter - the conservative who tries to convince other conservatives to abandon the drug war? I'm thinking of the late William... MORE
July 19, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
You've already heard from the Conservative Missionary - the hypothetical conservative debater eager to convert libertarians to his side. Now it's time for the Libertarian Missionary to take the podium. Why Conservatives Should Be LibertariansI agree with my conservative opponent... MORE
July 16, 2010
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
A number of commenters found, as did I, that Bryan's conservative missionary statement was quite powerful. (I'll give my own criticism or two in a later post but that's not what I want to focus on here.) The question is:... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I had a blast at Wednesday's Libertarianism vs. Conservatism Debate at Cato. It's great to see students who care enough about fundamental ideas to publicly argue about them. Some attendees would have preferred a more focused topic, but I would... MORE
July 12, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Last week, I posed the following challenge:[T]he inevitable existence of some statistical discrimination doesn't make the practice immune to criticism. You can grant that it's OK to some degree, but - even if the law is silent - still limited... MORE
July 9, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Which is more outrageous: cloning yourself and raising the clone as your son, or freezing your head in hope of achieving immortality? Why?... MORE
July 8, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Wordsmith Kerry Howley has a great piece on the Hanson family and cryonics in the New York Times Magazine:"I'm just really terribly curious," Robin told me in January over Skype. "Cryonics isn't just living a little longer. It's also living... MORE
July 7, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
No matter what they say, everyone engages in statistical discrimination. (See also here). Judging everyone as an individual is expensive, and relying on statistical generalizations is a cheap and effective alternative. You don't clutch your purse when you see a... MORE
July 4, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Tyler recently wrote:If you're very dogmatic in one area, you may be less dogmatic in others. I've also met people -- I won't name names -- who are extremely dogmatic on ethical issues but quite open-minded on empirics. The ethical... MORE
July 1, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The U.S. government does much more to abridge freedom of association than freedom of exclusion. But I still think freedom of exclusion is worth defending. Over at Cato Unbound, my friend David Bernstein has presented a libertarian defense of "the... MORE
June 30, 2010
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
"Worker Bee" Stings the Blogosphere The title I've chosen for this post could have been the title of a short recent piece by self-described "worker bee" economist Kartik Athreya. (The article, titled "Economics is Hard. Don't Let Bloggers Tell You... MORE
June 28, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
One of my conservative friends keeps telling me that, "The right to associate is the right to exclude." As a libertarian, I agree. But the subtext of his slogan is that libertarians focus far too much on government regulations that... MORE
June 16, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Back in 2008, I told my lunch buddies that the bailouts were worse than four years of 10% inflation. Now I think that's an understatement. Crazy new policy initiatives will probably end after the next election, but the idea trap's... MORE
June 7, 2010
Cross-country Comparisons
Bryan Caplan
My parents and teachers raised me to despise traditional Third World elites - not kleptocrats like Mobutu or Marcos, who were barely on their radar, but anyone who lived well in the midst of poverty. "The extremes of wealth and... MORE
June 6, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In "Cato Memories," I recalled the joy of cleaning the archives:In a footnote in Why Americans Hate Politics, E.J. Dionne wrote: "My thanks to Ed Crane and David Boaz of the Cato Institute for letting me read through their excellent... MORE
May 25, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Rand Paul is in the news for expressing (and then apparently recanting) what I've long seen as the standard libertarian view of civil rights legislation: 1. Government discrimination should be illegal.2. Private discrimination should be legal.3. Private discrimination is immoral.In... MORE
May 21, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Academic political philosophers use the word "liberalism" in a way that would baffle almost anyone else. (See here and here). Who counts? Virtually all the thinkers that normal Americans would call "liberal" + mainstream thinkers who call themselves "conservatives" and... MORE
May 6, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Mr. Human Biodiversity: The average IQ of immigrants from Mexico is 11 points less than ours. Therefore, let's hunt them down like animals and cast them back into the fiery chasm from whence they came!Dr. Mainstream Intellectual: Only a monster... MORE
May 2, 2010
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Last week the New York Times blog had a post referencing an article on Adam Smith by Amartya Sen. Those of Sen's thoughts that sounded correct were not news and those that sounded like news were ones that I wasn't... MORE
April 15, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
By modern American standards, the Amish are extremely poor, and subject to intense social pressure. It's legal to leave, but few do. The pressure on Amish women is particularly intense. Even their Rumspringa is heavily monitored by their parents, and... MORE
April 13, 2010
Economic History
Bryan Caplan
Since there's much misunderstanding of my argument about women's liberty during the Gilded Age (here, here, and here), I thought I'd write a postcard version. The key premises are just that in the Gilded Age:1. Taxes were much lower and... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
SydB asks a fair question: I'm confused. The conclusion that "women had more libertarian freedom in 1880 than they do today" is argued by only looking the law or situation in the 1880s. Huh? That's like saying "man A is... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
There's been a lot of pushback against my claim that women were freer during the Gilded Age than they are today. I'm standing my ground. Replies to leading criticisms:1. I'm ignoring marital rape. To be blunt, this issue is almost... MORE
April 12, 2010
Economic History
Bryan Caplan
I largely agree with David Boaz's recent attack on libertarian nostaglia. While many Americans were freer in the Gilded Age than they are today, plenty were not. But precisely who belongs on the list of people who have more libertarian... MORE
April 9, 2010
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Bryan Caplan
Robin's remarks on libertarian paternalism take me back to the great Balan-Hanson "Paternalistic Policy: Altruism or Arrogance?" debate. While I agreed with Robin's position, I found his arguments extremely frustrating. Why? Because Robin avoided specifics paternalisms (e.g. banning cocaine) in... MORE
April 8, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
My reaction to Sunstein and Thaler's "libertarian paternalism" has always been: It would be a massive improvement over the pervasive non-libertarian paternalism of the status quo. Imagine a world where you could opt out of Social Security by mailing in... MORE
April 5, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I used to call myself an isolationist, but I recently realized that pacifist is a much better description of my position. All of the following definitions aptly describe what I believe:pacifism: The doctrine that disputes (especially between countries) should be... MORE
March 31, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In last week's debate, David Balan surprisingly endorsed the old-fashioned view that only the "deserving" poor are entitled to taxpayer assistance. As the debate proceeded, however, he admitted that in the real world, a lot of undeserving poor would receive... MORE
March 30, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Tyler Cowen says he's found "the extreme tension in Caplanian thought":Bryan loves to stress the heritability of intelligence, income, and even life expectancy, among other variables. But how can your parents be your fault? This is a fundamental tension in... MORE
March 27, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The main recurring question in the comments on the Separation of Health and State Debate: What do we owe the deserving sick?Garett Harmon writes:Specifically, I feel like you sort of sidestepped the issue of what to do about people that... MORE
March 23, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm impressed: Cato's Michael Cannon bet Karen Davenport, and let her adjudicate the outcome:I bet Davenport $20 that I could convince her that the following two claims are true:We agreed on three rules. First, there would be no splitting the difference or... MORE
March 22, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Hard-core libertarians often describe themselves as "isolationists." As Murray Rothbard argued:Pending the dissolution of States, libertarians desire to limit, to whittle down, the area of government power in all directions and as much as possible... In foreign affairs, the goal... MORE
March 20, 2010
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Walter writes: I readily admit that "capitalism" has a bad press, and its historical use is none too salutary either. But, the enemies of libertarianism are always trying to take words away from us. They have already long ago stolen... MORE
March 16, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Don't miss Jon Haidt's response to my questions. It's in the comments, but I reproduce it here in its entirety. Dear Bryan, and other commentators: The question you ask is one of the most important ones we've been trying to... MORE
March 14, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm impressed to learn that Haidt backed up his Five Foundations theory with his own cash. The offer expired on August 1, 2009, but it ran for two years:IF ANYONE CAN DEMONSTRATE THE EXISTENCE OF AN ADDITIONAL FOUNDATION, OR SHOW... MORE
March 13, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In the comments, Jason Malloy points out that Jon Haidt recently added a battery of questions to test liberal puritanism. Here's Haidt's explanation:At Yourmorals.org we have always found that scores on the Purity/sanctity foundation are higher on the political right... MORE
March 12, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Will's latest blogging on Jonathan Haidt's "five foundations" theory of morals inspires me to publicly ask Haidt a question that's been bugging me: How hard did you try to include items about Ingroup/Loyalty, Authority/Respect, and Purity/Sanctity that would specifically appeal... MORE
March 3, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Mankiw's latest paper takes the ethical significance of merit (or, as he calls it, "Just Deserts") seriously. I'm tempted to propose that the two of us become the founding members of a W.D. Ross Club. Its purpose: to promote the... MORE
February 23, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
One objection to my meritocratic view of the market (work backwards from here) that I haven't heard: "What about the bloggers?" Some bloggers are great, some aren't, yet almost all of them earn the same wage - zero. You could... MORE
February 18, 2010
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there is within me an invincible summer." --Albert Camus I'm a congenital optimist. I can't tell you why exactly. Maybe it comes from my genes. Maybe it comes from figuring out... MORE
February 17, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Shikha Dalmia's reply on merit tacitly concedes most of my objections to her original piece. She began by defending the strong position that, "Markets don't reward merit; they reward value--two very different things." I replied that, "On the free market,... MORE
February 16, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Last week, I replied to the Reason Foundation's Shikha Dalmia's pro-market case against market meritocracy. She has kindly written a detailed reply, and asked me to post it here. Enjoy. Thanks, Bryan, for your spirited response. A few readers have... MORE
February 15, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In the latest Libertarian Papers, my long-time debate partner Walter Block adds a strange new epicycle to libertarian absolutism. Suppose, he asks, that "all-powerful Martians would blow up the entire earth" if various libertarian policies were adopted. He refuses to... MORE
February 14, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Almost all economists take one of the following three positions on normative economics:1. Economics should never be normative. Economics is about what is, not what should be.2. Economics should be normative about government policy, but not individual behavior. Economics is... MORE
February 12, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Economics rests upon subjective value theory. Once you take that theory seriously, how can you seriously believe that market outcomes are in any sense meritocratic? I'll tell you, in three easy steps.1. Let's start with the easiest case: meritocracy within... MORE
February 4, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
EconLog reader Justin Longo asked me to respond to Eggers and O'Leary's "Five Reasons Why Libertarians Shouldn't Hate Government." Here goes, point-by-point:E&O's Reason #1: Bad government leads to bigger, badder government.[I]n societies where people distrust large institutions--whether government or big... MORE
February 2, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Ayn Rand's newsletters used to end with a "Horror File" of monstrous but true quotations. I thought about the Horror File when Ron Bailey's Liberation Biology quoted Frank Fukuyama:Life extension seems to me a perfect example of something that is... MORE
January 29, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
"I want you to observe, that those who cry the loudest about their disillusionment, about the failure of virtue, the futility of reason, the impotence of logic - are those who have achieved the full, exact, logical result of... MORE
January 28, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Mike Huemer is excellent as usual at the Cato Unbound Rand symposium. Here's his take on the Objectivists' "survival vs. flourishing debate":The important question, however, is not which view is Rand's, but which view is more likely true. On this,... MORE
January 22, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Michael Huemer writes, What accounts for the continuing and increasing interest in the work of Ayn Rand? Clearly, the attraction of her ideas has much to do with it. This is true despite the fact that most people, even in... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Mike Huemer, my favorite philosopher in the world, is true to form in the Rand symposium at Cato Unbound. Highlights:Rand is the most popular libertarian thinker because of her great novels, not her comprehensive philosophical system:Rand, I believe, is the... MORE
January 20, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I recently attended my first funeral. Even though I never met the deceased, I cried. The only good thing to say about death is that it beats severe, chronic pain. I didn't need a lot of details about her life... MORE
January 11, 2010
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In The Virtue of Selfishness, Ayn Rand writes:No philosopher has given a rational, objectively demonstrable, scientific answer to the question of why man needs a code of values. So long as that question remained unanswered, no rational, scientific, objective code... MORE
January 2, 2010
Institutional Economics
Arnold Kling
In my follow-up to James Manzi's manifesto, I brought up a notion that I call soft rule-utilitarianism. In the comments, Manzi interpreted this as being close to what I would call hard rule-utilitarianism.... MORE
December 30, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Libertarians often highlight "the right to do wrong." We are often morally obliged to tolerate the wicked and foolish behavior of others. A quote wrongly attributed to Voltaire beautifully captures the intuition: "I disapprove of what you say, but I... MORE
December 27, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Stephen Kinsella offers an analogy to offend two disjoint movements in one swoop:I would love to see libertarian IP advocates have to live in a world that truly implemented their IP views fully, consistently--it would be like a communist USSR... MORE
December 21, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Even if I favored Obama's move towards socialized medicine, I'd still be repulsed by the bribes and opportunism of the legislation designed to take us there. I can see the appeal of coercing for a pure cause. I can't see... MORE
December 14, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Dan Klein has thoughts on studying the great minds of the past. This bears on the issue of whether or not one can or should distill Hayek (or any other famous thinker) to five blog posts, as Bryan blithely suggested.... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
If you think Rothbard was harsh on Hayek in Rothbard vs. the Philosophers, here's what he has to say about Leo Strauss's Thoughts on Machiavelli:First, something should be said about the manner, the texture, the methodology of this book, which... MORE
December 11, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I finally read that instant classic of bioethics, Leon Kass' "The Wisdom of Repugnance." While its proximate goal is to urge a ban on human cloning, Kass advances a much more general ethical position:[R]epugnance is the emotional expression of deep... MORE
December 10, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Today Tyler pointed me to the PhilPapers Surveys, the most fascinating opinion poll I've seen in years. Not only does it survey philosophers' views on thirty classic and modern controversies; it meta-surveys philosophers' views on philosophers' typical views! The PhilPapers... MORE
December 4, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
A British reporter just gave me the following hypothetical: Suppose a politician wanted to cynically take advantage of voter irrationality to gain their support for costly measures to fight global warming. What would his most effective strategies be?One of my... MORE
December 2, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I often wish the people around me were more selfish - or at least better at being selfish. I know how to deal with rational, self-interested actors. They're really quite charming. If I want them to change their behavior, I... MORE
December 1, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
1. Nationalism is evil:One big problem with nationalism is that it is a leading cause of mass murder. Fascism and Nazism were, of course, extreme forms of nationalism and the mass murders Nazi and fascist regimes committed were justified on... MORE
November 30, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Robin responds to my cryonic doubts as I expected: By changing the subject to hard science, where I grant that his knowledge vastly exceeds my own. Alas, as in past arguments, he doesn't answer my fundamental complaint: There's nothing in... MORE
November 22, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
As an undergraduate, I spent hundreds of hours pondering the foundations of morality, also known as "meta-ethics." In the end, the young Michael Huemer converted me to ethical intuitionism, a view I've held ever since. (BTW, a decade or so... MORE
November 20, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When you play with fire, you get burned. And when you philosophize with hypotheticals involving Nazis, you get misrepresented. In the Caplan-Hanson debate, I began:Let me begin with a disclaimer: Despite his moral views, Robin is an incredibly nice, decent... MORE
November 5, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In The Road to Serfdom, Hayek quoted Trotsky thusly: "Where the sole employer is the State, opposition means deaths by slow starvation." Libertarians have repeated this line ever since, often without realizing that the source is Trotsky, not Hayek. It... MORE
October 29, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I strongly oppose circumcision. In fact, I can't think of a good reason why we shouldn't punish it as child abuse. Whether or not you agree with my conclusion, I think it's hard to deny the following claim: Unless you... MORE
October 28, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Remember the Caplan-Hanson Liberty v. Efficiency debate? Robin stood firm for maximizing efficiency in all conceivable circumstances. I argued, in contrast, that ethical reasoning should begin with simple cases and tentatively generalize:Sensible moral reasoning begins with concrete, specific cases. For... MORE
October 24, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
A piece in Foreign Policy says that Ayn Rand's now big in India:Not only do Indians perform more Google searches for Rand than citizens of any country in the world except the United States, but Penguin Books India has sold... MORE
October 14, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The latest issue of Cato Unbound, with lead essay by editor Will Wilkinson, reminds me of my favorite Confucius quote:If a state is governed by the principles of reason, poverty and misery are subjects of shame; if a state is... MORE
October 9, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
James Buchanan, GMU's first Nobel, turned 90 this week. But it was only a few months ago that I discovered what has become my favorite Buchanan essay - "Before Public Choice," originally published in 1972 in Explorations in the Theory... MORE
October 5, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Some utilitarians argue that virtually everyone is a utilitarian; the only difference between people who call themselves utilitarians and those who don't is that the latter won't come out of the closet. Other utilitarians lament the fact that virtually no... MORE
September 29, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Scott Sumner is one of the great monetary thinkers of our age. But the news isn't all good - he's also a utilitarian. I am frankly mystified by the enduring popularity of a moral theory subject to so many simple... MORE
September 21, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm glad that Tyler's criticizing faux-agnostic economists, but I'm enough of a spoilsport to point out that he previously advised his readers to closet their inner economists - at least to their families.... MORE
September 20, 2009
Austrian Economics
Arnold Kling
Pete Boettke pens An Open Letter to Tyler Cowen (and Arnold Kling). He has some nice things to say about Tyler.... MORE
September 18, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Former President Carter Presents Us With a Teachable Moment One of the terms most misused in recent years is the charge of ad hominem. Once, when I testified before the Food and Drug Administration and quoted an FDA bureaucrat, Dr.... MORE
September 2, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Whenever a politician is exposed as an adulterer, the same meme always resurfaces: "We're all human, we shouldn't have 'unrealistic' expectations, everyone has moments of weakness, so let's forgive and move on..." Micha Gertner gives an eloquent version over at... MORE
August 29, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Will Wilkinson writes:It seems that Bryan thinks most opposition to markets in organs is a function of either ignorance of the likely consequences or perverse and exotic moral premises. This makes me wonder if he has ever debated this issue... MORE
August 26, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
At the Mont Pelerin Society, the Swedish economist who commented on my paper criticized me for stealth utilitarianism. Since economics by itself has no policy implications, any economist who gives policy advice requires a moral premise. Since I didn't explicitly... MORE
August 18, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Warning: Spoilers for the movie, Extreme Measures. In the 1996 movie, Extreme Measures, Hugh Grant discovers a plot to purposely destroy the health of healthy homeless men in order to use them for medical experiments. He confronts the doctor who... MORE
August 6, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I usually dislike movies based on true stories. But The Tunnel, a tale of five heroes who tunnel under the Berlin Wall to rescue their family and friends, is excellent. We don't just vicariously enjoy the excitement of digging to... MORE
July 31, 2009
Income Distribution
David Henderson
I was waiting for others to take up John Goodman's June 12 challenge, but I think I've waited long enough. Goodman mentioned Neil Wanless, who won a $200+-million jackpot in a lottery. Statists, both economists and non-economists, often argue against... MORE
July 22, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Whenever someone appeals to my charity, four questions pop into my head:1. Aren't you at least partly to blame for your problems?2. Can't someone closer to you help?3. Isn't there someone else in the world more deserving of my help?4.... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I went to my first Liberaltarian Roundtable dinner last night to see Robin Hanson debate Ezra Klein on health care. My favorite observation came from Brink Lindsey. He approximately said:There are two health policies that liberals and libertarians would both... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm grateful for the Wall St. Journal's coverage of EconLog, even if they can't spell my name correctly. I was struck, though, by its "quibble": The blog's libertarian viewpoint means that you can almost always guess the punch line.Counter-quibbles:1. The... MORE
July 19, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Three years ago I asked economists to share their class autobiographies. Yesterday Scott Sumner boiled his down to one sentence:At various times in my life I have been in all 5 quintiles of family income distribution, and yet I have... MORE
July 13, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In the U.S., 40% of babies are now born out of wedlock. In Japan, only 2% are. Clearly, then, it's better to be a baby in Japan than America, right? For all my skepticism about nurture effects, I'm tempted to... MORE
July 10, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
In today's Wall Street Journal, Tyler Cowen has a piece, "Vaticanomics," in which he analyzes pieces of the Pope's latest encyclical letter, "Caritas in Veritate." He finds it less anti-market than many other commentators have. He doesn't provide enough detail... MORE
July 6, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Law professor Eugene Volokh has a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal defending the right to burn the American flag as an exercise of free speech. It's good reasoning, and there's nothing in it that I disagree with. But... MORE
June 9, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Reading Brad DeLong's "non-Socratic dialogue on social welfare functions" has inspired me to return to one of my favorite literacy forms. In DeLong's original dialogue, Prof. Agathon helps Prof. Glaukon reach a shocking conclusion:Agathon: "That means that the market system,... MORE
June 8, 2009
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
In most disciplines, experts oversell their ability to give useful policy advice. In behavioral genetics, however, experts strangely undersell their ability to give useful policy advice. Here's a striking passage from Plomin, DeFries, McClearn, and McGuffin's leading behavioral genetics textbook:The... MORE
May 29, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In other news, my debating partner Robin Hanson has come up with the least plausible moral principle since "Might makes right": [U]sually it is fine to do what you want, to get what you want. Robin manages to make his... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Here's a great passage from the noble Mankiw:A moral and political philosophy is not like a smorgasbord, where you get to pick and choose the offerings you like and leave the others behind without explanation. It is more like your... MORE
May 23, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
What do you call people who want government solutions even when those solutions don't work? In my latest article in The Freeman, I introduce the term "government fundamentalists." Here's a passage: What should we call people who seem to regard... MORE
May 15, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
This is my last post on Russ Roberts's interview of Richard Epstein on the happiness literature. For the previous installments see here and here. 40:40. Epstein talks about insights from sociobiology, now called evolutionary psychology. He points out their finding... MORE
May 4, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I usually think of my colleague Robin Hanson as a hard-headed, "just-the-facts-ma'am" kind of guy. But here's just the latest example I've found of Robin's wishful thinking:In our culture we are supposed to oppose ordinary bloody war, preferring peace when... MORE
April 29, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
The word 'friend' is an important word. Last week, I posted about Russ Roberts's interview of Richard Epstein on the happiness literature. This is the second installment. 20:00. Epstein quotes Hayek pointing out that if we try to stabilize the... MORE
April 24, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
You asked for it; now you've got it. Thanks to the GMU Econ Society for doing the legwork.... MORE
April 22, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
If, like Mike Huemer, you oppose both gun control and immigration restrictions, you'll appreciate this fine piece of ridicule from Chris Rasch:Just imagine what would happen if we relaxed gun laws. Poor people would buy guns. Uneducated people would buy... MORE
April 21, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Last week, I defended the usefulness of moral hypotheticals. Last night, I dismissed trolley problems as "silly." Fenn, an Econlog reader, is understandably puzzled: "Silly trolley problems?"Wasn't it just a coupla days ago you were talking about Nazis and defending... MORE
April 20, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
That's the title question of philosopher Michael Huemer's latest essay. Like his earlier piece, "Is There a Right to Own a Gun?," this is a masterpiece of applied ethics. It begins with an explanation of the general concept of prima... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Behavioral geneticists (BGs) don't like to be called "genetic determinists." "No, no, no," they protest, "all we've shown is that genes exert some influence. Twin and adoption studies show that environment is important, too." But what would they say if... MORE
April 17, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Robin Hanson now has an official catechism. A key passage:I need not accept all clients, but for the clients I do accept I work to suggest deals that, if accepted, would get them more of what they want, relative to... MORE
April 16, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The more I think about Robin's position on efficiency, the more it puzzles me. In his talk, he heavily emphasized economists' need to build an iron-clad reputation for "neutrality" in order to persuade a world full of non-economists who distrust... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm pleased to see that Scott Sumner's not just a cool macroeconomist; he also moonlights as an economic philosopher. Here's a challenge Sumner poses to me inspired by my debate with Robin: Assume that imports of Barbie dolls will eliminate... MORE
April 15, 2009
Cost-benefit Analysis
Bryan Caplan
During last night's debate, Robin repeated an argument many economists have made: In the long-run, maximizing efficiency is actually better for everyone. If we consistently adopt any policy with benefits greater than costs, then the times that you win will... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In my opening statement for last night's Caplan-Hanson Debate, I relied heavily on a couple of grostesque hypotheticals:...Robin endorses an endless list of bizarre moral claims. For example, he recently told me that "the main problem" with the Holocaust was... MORE
April 12, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In his promo for Tuesday's Caplan-Hanson debate, Robin writes:We don't actually disagree that much; basically we both like debates but couldn't find anyone else to debate us. So we looked for something we sorta disagree on, and will at least... MORE
April 11, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
In Peggy Noonan's latest weekly column in the Wall Street Journal, she quotes theologian Michael Novak's encomiums to capitalism. The quotes reminded me of an event I spoke at some years ago. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute had sponsored the event... MORE
March 26, 2009
Austrian Economics
Arnold Kling
Should I write it? I do have other projects, but Tyler believes in multitasking. Possible chapters (not necessarily in this order): 1. The love-hate relationship with Austrian economics. Pete Boettke (note that he has co-bloggers) is relatively gung-ho Austrian, but... MORE
March 19, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
In yesterday's post, I gave a long quote from the book, Commanding Heights, by Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw, and I asked who said it. Two of the commenters answered correctly: Larry Summers. Here's the paragraph that follows the two... MORE
March 18, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
"Three things happened to change people's thinking in recent years," he continued. "First, they have seen how badly the public sector can mess things up. With competition, things seem to go better. Innovation happens. The world is more focused on... MORE
March 7, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I give the Watchmen movie 3.5/4 stars. This isn't because I'm a big fan of comic book movies. Indeed, I greatly prefer Rachel Getting Married to the supposedly excellent Spiderman 2.The deal-breaker, for me, is a simple question: "What exactly... MORE
March 5, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Last night I was part of a John Stossel panel of bailout/stimulus critics. It's supposed to air a week from Friday; you'll definitely see my face, but whether you'll hear my voice is up to the editor.During the session, I... MORE
February 21, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
When someone accuses someone else of stupidity and the someone who does the accusing is generally pretty smart, I expect that the accusation, even if nasty, will at least hit the target. Not so Paul Krugman's attack on Ohio Republican... MORE
February 20, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Eliezer beautifully articulates the moral outrage I felt from the age of 3 to 18:Another example would be the principal who, faced with two children who were caught fighting on the playground, sternly says: "It doesn't matter who started the... MORE
February 19, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
In response to Bryan Caplan's post this morning about Hank Rearden and Atlas Shrugged, one of the commenters, Bob Murphy, made an insightful comment and another commenter, megapolisomancy, recommended the following youtube video of CNBC's Rick Santelli. This is fresh... MORE
February 14, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
In the 1990s, before Paul Krugman became a regular columnist for the New York Times, my friend Alan Reynolds referred to Krugman as "my favorite Keynesian economist." What he had in mind, I think, was Krugman's great popular articles on... MORE
February 1, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
While I'm not a libertarian absolutist, there are plenty of criticisms of strict libertarian doctrine that don't hold water. Two that have been on my mind lately:1. Will Wilkinson doesn't see why libertarianism prohibits fraud:Even when I was a believer... MORE
January 26, 2009
SummaryIn this chapter ("Property and Exchange"), Rothbard introduces the "non-aggression axiom," also often known as the "non-initiation of force axiom." The intuition is simple enough: No one has the right to start using physical violence or the threat thereof against... MORE
January 24, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
I sent the following letter to the Wall Street Journal, but I'm guessing, given that they haven't published it yet, that they won't. So I am: I was shocked by two statements by my friend and Hoover colleague, Shelby Steele... MORE
January 21, 2009
Economic Education
David Henderson
My review of Russ Roberts' excellent economics novel, The Price of Everything is in the latest issue of Regulation. Roberts is definitely growing as a novelist. I like it better than The Invisible Heart, which I liked better than his... MORE
January 17, 2009
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The Coase Theorem is a tautology, but as tautologies go, it's an inspiration. Once upon a time, it inspired me to say, "Coasean reasoning only holds perfectly with zero transactions costs. But the Coasean insight that creative bargaining is a... MORE
January 2, 2009
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
My main New Year's resolution, which I've kept for two days so far, is not to waste time channel surfing but, instead, to watch interesting DVDs. On New Year's Day, I watched the last half hour of the Keira Knightley... MORE
December 31, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Valkyrie, Bryan Singer's film about the 1944 officers' plot against Hitler, is worth seeing. But I'm admittedly a little biased. After all, my first academic publication (in the Humane Studies Review) has a whole section on the philosophy of tyrannicide. In hindsight, I'm... MORE
December 25, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
At risk of offending my many friends in the legal academy, I think that law is a shockingly phony discipline. Virtually everyone - liberal, conservative, Marxist, libertarian, or whatever - imagines that the law conveniently agrees with what they favor... MORE
December 9, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Suppose you were offered the following gamble:1. With probability p, you will live forever at your current age.2. With probability (1-p), you instantly, painlessly die.What is your critical value of p? If you combine expected utility theory with the empirical... MORE
December 2, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When I advocate open borders (and I mean truly open borders, not the 95% closed borders of the U.S.), critics often respond like EconLog reader Carter did: [Caplan] said: "But there are literally billions of lower-skilled workers who would... MORE
November 17, 2008
Economic Philosophy
David Henderson
Over on "The Austrian Economists," Peter Boettke writes an appreciation of the late Robert Nozick, who would have turned 70 on November 16. The title Pete gave it has caused most commenters to focus on Nozick's smarts, but Pete's appreciation... MORE
November 13, 2008
Finance: stocks, options, etc.
Arnold Kling
Consider two propositions: 1. Market failure is inevitable. 2. Government failure is inevitable. In talking about the financial crisis, I believe that to speak the truth one has to accept both propositions. Most people prefer narrative, which either explicitly or... MORE
November 5, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
If I let electoral results upset me, I would be miserable all the time. No matter who wins, I lose, because I am light-years away from the views of virtually all electable politicians.Fortunately, I long ago achieved philosophical detachment. I... MORE
October 9, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've often catalogued the errors of my dear friend Tyler Cowen. (See here, here, here, and here for starters). But I can't stand to see him attacked unfairly. The unfairest of the unfair: The strangely common charge that Tyler is... MORE
October 8, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
One good thing to come out of the bailout: Barney Frank gave me another nice example of what I call "democratic fundamentalism." If you don't want politics in this process, you probably shouldn't be handing it over to 535 politicians.... MORE
September 19, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Dan Klein and Michael Clark have a very thoughtful new working paper. Lead-in:Again, we embrace Rothbard’s definition of liberty. We reject, however, some of Rothbard’s major claims for liberty. He tended to frame the liberty principle as an imperative, as... MORE
September 17, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
"It would be as unnatural to refer the choice of a proper magistrate to the people as it would to refer the choice of colors to a blind man." (quoted in Rick Shenkman, Just How Stupid Are We?)... MORE
September 14, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Putin defends Russia's new history textbook with the classic excuse of "The other kids are doing it too":Mr Putin ...described Stalin’s Great Purge of 1937, in which 1.5 million people were imprisoned and 700,000 killed, as terrible “but in other... MORE
September 11, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Philosopher Jason Brennan defends a very Caplanian answer to this question in a forthcoming paper, "Polluting the Polls: When Citizens Should Not Vote":Irresponsible individual voters ought to abstain rather than vote badly. This thesis may seem anti-democratic. Yet it is... MORE
August 27, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Since people are starting to respond to my actual six questions, I thought I'd return the favor: Questions: 1. Are markets for ideas/culture less subject to market failure than other markets? Why or why not? For pure entertainment, probably yes.... MORE
August 25, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Virtually all free-market economists are civil libertarians, staunch advocates of freedom of speech, religion, and the like. But in my experience, virtually all economists who eschew the "free-market" label are civil libertarians, too. Economists disagree about whether laissez-faire is the... MORE
August 12, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
And in any policy debate, I don't assume that the people on my side intellectually are somehow morally superior or more honest. In any particular case I usually give that 50-50. --Tyler Cowen, July 31, 2008 This essay is not... MORE
August 1, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Will Wilkinson and Jesse Prinz. Highly recommended. You could easily spend four years at an Ivy League college and not have a class as interesting as this one. Prinz works through the view that moral values are highly culturally determined.... MORE
July 4, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I think that the American Revolutionary War was a tragic mistake. After years of bloodshed, it's hard to see how independence led to better policy. So when has independence improved policy? My favorite modern example is the break-up of the... MORE
July 3, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Arnold is mistaken to think that my notes on signaling indicate that I've joined the Pigou Club. If you read the quote carefully, I only say that a tax on education could increase efficiency. I don't advocate such a tax.... MORE
July 1, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
If you appreciate a good hatchet job, don't miss Steven Pinker's dissection of bioethicist Leon Kass:Kass... came to prominence in the 1970s with his moralistic condemnation of in vitro fertilization, then popularly known as "test-tube babies." As soon as the... MORE
June 17, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
What are the most meaningful compliments you ever received? Here's my short list: 1. When Robin Hanson told me that I'm his "favorite person to talk to." 2. When Thomas Szasz wrote me that this paper "gave me more pleasure... MORE
June 11, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've had a hundred arguments with Tyler Cowen where claims that seemingly idiotic popular positions are actually subtle, deep, and correct, and I respond that popular positions are every bit as idiotic as they appear. It's a pleasure, then, to... MORE
June 7, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
One of Milton Friedman's most famous lines: "You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state." He said it in a 1999 ISIL interview, and I've heard it quoted dozens of times. It even inspired me to write a... MORE
June 6, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Libertarians are widely seen as welfare-state abolitionists - people who want to eliminate government's "safety-net" role, not make it more efficient. Will Wilkinson rightly points out that many well-known intellectuals in the libertarian camp - including Friedman, Hayek, and Buchanan... MORE
May 30, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I like the first post on the new blog, The Rational Optimist:Some say we need pessimists, to see what’s wrong with how things are, and push for positive change. Yet pessimism and cynicism actually foster resignation, despair, and a sense... MORE
May 26, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Here's a true conversation between me and Tyler Cowen, filtered through several years of memory:Tyler: People like to think they're special, but we're all pretty much the same. Me: No we're not. Some people are really great; others are simply... MORE
May 13, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I just finished re-watching The Bridge on the River Kwai. If you've never seen it, it's all about Colonel Nicholson (played by Alec Guinness), a British officer with Principles. Nicholson refuses to try to escape from his POW camp, because... MORE
May 8, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
There are actually a couple spots left at the IHS seminar I'll be doing this summer. Email John Thrasher (jthrashe at gmu.edu) directly if you want in. My topics:The Myth of the Rational VoterPublic Choice and Public GoodsThe Case Against... MORE
May 5, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Here's Tyler:I ask Bryan: would he still take the advice that his 12-year-old self might have taped to a door?My answer: Definitely, especially if my time capsule from 1983 contained advice about how to treat kids. You can say "hindsight... MORE
May 3, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
From Matthew Connelly's Fatal Misconceptions:X was asked whether this was fair to the poor. "Well, as you know," he replied, "there are many things in life that are not fair, that wealthy people can afford and poor people can't." But... MORE
April 19, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Arthur Brooks' finding that gun owners are markedly happier ("[C]ontrary to the implication of Mr. Obama's comments, for many Americans, happiness often does indeed involve a warm gun") reminds me of another gem by philosopher Michael Huemer, "Is There a... MORE
April 15, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
As a small child, I loved Bill Cosby, but when I became a man, I put aside childish things. But a few minutes ago, while perusing a list of Cosby quotes, I decided I was right the first time. A... MORE
March 31, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
If you think that James Hamilton is just a brilliant quant, think again: He's also a sensitive humanist. Here's a moving tale of his father-in-law's last year:Jack's last year was not an easy one. Everything was becoming increasingly difficult, and... MORE
January 20, 2008
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Here's a thought-provoking passage from Ian Ayres' Super Crunchers:Like me, Ben Polak is passionate about the need to inculcate a basic understanding of statistics in the general public. "We have to get students to learn this stuff," he says. "We... MORE
December 6, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Tyler calls Better Never to Have Been the "ideal foil" to my natalism. Book summary:Most people believe that they were either benefited or at least not harmed by being brought into existence... David Benatar argues that coming into existence is... MORE
December 3, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
On Saturday, Robin Hanson told me that he was going to blog a "rant" about Guatemalan baby-selling. As expected, Robin's ranting is superior to most people's carefully chosen words:It is in general a good thing if willing women are induced... MORE
November 7, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Robin Hanson and I have our fair share of philosophical disagreements. But the longer I stayed at the Social Philosophy and Policy conference, the more I kept thinking, "These people desperately need a strong dose of Hanson." To be specific:... MORE
November 4, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Recently Tyler Cowen publicized one of his periodic challenges to me:I often joke with Bryan that the time has come for him to accept the consensus of what the experts in moral philosophy (or atonal music) tell us (him) to... MORE
October 31, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm off to the inter-disciplinary Social Philosophy and Policy conference on "Aggregation in Moral and Political Philosophy." What makes the conference interdisciplinary? Me! Yep, it's 14 philosophers and one economist. Still, if I return wondering if I'm a brain in... MORE
October 17, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
While we're on the subject of villainy, here's a challenge: Name the villains (presumably fictional) that you most identify with. My top picks:Gollum MagnetoHow about you? P.S. Check out Hero Games' Villainy Amok.... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
I try to explain what George Mason economics is all about. If you want to be a Masonomist, you have to lose the we. When people use we in today's politics , they are doing two things. 1. Appealing to... MORE
October 14, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Many of my favorite economists - including Arnold and Tyler - recoil from "villains-and-victims" stories. After a recent lunch, similarly, Robin Hanson panned the movie Blood Diamond in large part because of it is a villains-and-victims story. It's a safe... MORE
October 8, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Critics of multi-culturalism often mock its proponents for (a) cultural relativism and (b) disrepecting Columbus. The problem, as I've explained before, is that Columbus was a pioneer of slavery and barbarism. The only way to excuse his behavior is to... MORE
October 5, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Megan asks, "What is racism?":Part of the problem with talking about race and gender in America is the definition of racism and sexism. Most of us use a working definition of racism and sexism that is something like "Holding (bad)... MORE
September 11, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Robin Hanson writes, let me outline an argument for the importance of overcoming bias: 1. Our beliefs have many errors, i.e., deviations from truth. 2. Reducing error is important goal, for which we are willing to pay substantial costs. 3.... MORE
September 9, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Tyler Cowen writes, Wherever there are problems, people look for villains. The subprime mortgage crisis is a case in point. ...But financial markets rarely fit into simple moral narratives, and much as these stories may comfort many of us, they... MORE
September 7, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Only a handful of people (and I'm not one of them) will be able to comprehend Steve Landsburg's "The Methodology of Normative Economics," but the conclusion is both profound and accessible. Highlight:What evidence is there that people care about the... MORE
August 28, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
James Miller calmly defends torture at Overcoming Bias, without even mentioning terrorism:Some would argue that it’s excessively cruel to torture criminals. But both prison and torture impose costs on criminals. Why is one type of cost crueler than the other?... MORE
August 27, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Economists have spent the last couple centuries scoffing at "just price" theory. Almost everyone now admits that prices have to fluctuate in response to supply and demand; it's silly to insist, for example, that the "just price" of a loan... MORE
August 26, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
What's so special about "overcoming bias"? Tyler's questioned Robin's obsession twice (here and here), mingling sensible observations with bizarre Dadaisms like:If I were allowed to retitle Robin's blog (and I am not), I would call it "Reaping the Fruits of... MORE
August 23, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I was on the Mike Rosen show on Monday. Overall, he was a sympathetic host, until we got to the subject of... you guessed it... immigration. Unlike most opponents of immigration, though, he was quite explicit about his core principle:... MORE
August 14, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
This morning on Wisconsin public radio, I had the odd experience of being lectured by a caller about the virtues of markets. By extolling the wisdom of the economics profession, I led a Ron Paul supporter to conclude that I... MORE
August 12, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
From an early age, I've furrowed my brow at the claim that "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." Huh? Absence of evidence is not absolute proof of absence, but surely if you don't notice your friend in a... MORE
August 7, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
If you're reading this blog (or any blog!), you probably have some controversial factual beliefs. Suppose you managed to convince everyone that you were right on each and every controversy. How would the world change? Initially, you might assume that... MORE
August 6, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Tyler Cowen writes, An oversimplified version of my view is that anything good is underprovided at the margin. This follows from a belief in strong network and peer effects, and a belief in the relevance of basic sociology. I think... MORE
July 23, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Last week I had a few days on my own, so I decided to try Season 1 of Battlestar Galactica. I'm probably the last geek on earth to take the plunge, and I wasn't disappointed. My verdict: It's a great... MORE
July 10, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
He would say so. Back in November, He wrote, The economist’s approach reduces human error to the merely so-called “errors” of people who actually know that they are wrong, but prefer to be wrong—either because (1) they have some sinister... MORE
July 1, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Dialogue from a hundred interchangeable Law and Order episodes:"You didn't want justice. You wanted revenge!" "The law says 'Thou shalt not kill,' not 'Thou shalt not kill nice people!'"Each time, I'm thinking: "Maybe justice required revenge? Ever think of that?"... MORE
June 27, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Years ago I attacked the "reasonable doubt" standard of criminal justice, using the following hypothetical as a starting point: [I]magine that you are observing a trial for murder. Most of the evidence goes against the accused (who allegedly murdered a... MORE
June 18, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
In yet another extremely fair review of my book, Jason Furman ends with a confession: Although largely immune to the widespread biases about economic issues that Caplan attributes to the unwashed masses, I find that I suffer from what he... MORE
June 15, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The book review in the Economist says that "Mr Caplan is better at diagnosis than prescription." I have to agree. In fact, my diagnosis implies that administering a cure will be very difficult. The irrational majority will oppose any reforms... MORE
May 28, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I don't think I've ever quoted an entire post before, but today I'll make an exception for the incomparable Hanson: Today is Memorial Day. In a park near my home is a plaque that reads: We honor all those who... MORE
May 11, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Edward Glaeser writes, there are cases where freedom to contract is and should be imperfect. For example, many contracts rely on expensive government enforcement, and it is reasonable to set limits on the scope of government action in this, as... MORE
May 10, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Bryan writes, Suppose that in Libertopia, you're extremely undesirable, so no woman will marry you. In Paterfascista, you're extremely desirable, but it's illegal to marry you. In both Libertopia and Paterfascista, you're not able to marry. So you could say... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Arnold's a bit hasty to dismiss a compelling line of reasoning: Suppose that in community Libertopia, in response to customer preferences, all of the better restaurants ban smoking. In nearby community Paternafascista, there is a law that bans smoking in... MORE
May 9, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Steve Levitt assures us: In general I am not much of a libertarian... But then he holds government policies up to a standard many can't meet: ...but our government’s policy towards gambling is completely idiotic and rife with internal contradictions.... MORE
May 7, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Daniel Klein writes, In my view, economic understanding, by experts and the general public alike, would gain by economists doing more of the following: (1) using the voluntary/coercive distinction in their formulations, analysis, and discourse; (2) making that utilization explicit... MORE
May 3, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales made the cover of Reason. I immediately remembered our protracted debate on Ayn Rand's meta-ethics on the Association for Systematic Philosphy's listserv (set up by the other Wikipedia co-founder, Larry Sanger) way back in the... MORE
May 1, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When Milton Friedman passed away, he was clearly the most famous free-market economist on the planet. Who would you say has taken his place?... MORE
March 19, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Virginia Postrel writes, For decades, the deductive tradition has defined libertarian identity and dogma, while the empiricist tradition has achieved libertarian goals. For parallelism, we can call this second intellectual strand the Hayek-Friedman tradition, though that unnecessarily truncates the list... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Here at GMU, there are always radicals for capitalism. But it is only on 4 PM Wednesday, March 21, that we will have Radicals for Capitalism, and its learned and witty author, Brian Doherty. See here for more info.... MORE
February 26, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
He writes Market competition is decidedly unlike the competition of the jungle. In the jungle animals compete to eat each other, or to displace each other. In the market, entrepreneurs and firms compete with each other for the right to... MORE
January 16, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've long claimed that economists undervalue introspection. Now Tyler is giving opponents of introspection some new excuses for ignoring it, and ends with: Will Bryan Caplan take the bait and present his argument that such studies are a priori false... MORE
January 14, 2007
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Here is one of the most original philosophical examples I've read in years. It starts: Imagine you are walking in the wild and come across what looks like a big rock painted with the following words: I may look like... MORE
December 25, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Jane Galt relays a challenge to believers in free will (myself among them) from Scott Adams: It seems to me that free will can be easily tested. The next time someone is getting brain surgery, just take a few minutes... MORE
November 27, 2006
Information Goods, Intellectual Property
Arnold Kling
David Warsh writes, Classified advertising, especially help-wanted and houses for sale, near-monopolies for daily newspapers for more than a century, have been especially hard-hit. Consolidation in the once-exotic world of trade magazines has been the rule. Significant revenues from other... MORE
November 25, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
The best way to experience Shakespeare is on t.v. with the English subtitles on. Read Shakespeare, and you miss the visual cues; watch it performed, and you can't make out the words. My latest foray into Shakespeare is the Al... MORE
November 12, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Now we're getting somewhere. Arnold writes: One can argue, as Bryan does, that populism is more dangerous because the people are really, really ignorant. [Actually, I argue that the people are really, really irrational! -B.C.] However, my counter-argument would be... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Bryan argues for elitism. In a modern democracy, not only can a libertarian be elitist; a libertarian has to be elitist. To be a libertarian in a modern democracy is to say that nearly 300 million Americans are wrong, and... MORE
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
There are times and places where most people want more individual freedom than they have. The majority of the citizens of the Soviet Union did not want the state to seize farmers' land, or send Orthodox priests to Siberia. The... MORE
November 9, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Arnold wonders if I'm asking a trick question: Bryan writes, Politicians usually ignore wise advice. Is that a reason not to try to make them take wise advice? Coming from a libertarian (or someone who I thought was a libertarian... MORE
November 8, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I'm puzzled by Arnold's critique of Brad DeLong: 1. The technocrats occasionally make large errors, which tend to persist far longer than market failures. 2. Even when the technocrats are wise, the political process is never going to coincide with... MORE
November 5, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
A cliche of literature is the sympathetic character who does bad things. The moral of the story is usually that as long as you mean well, you basically get a pass. Showtime's got a new series that turns this cliche... MORE
October 12, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Recently, he took on George Lakoff, and he got off this one-liner: One can just imagine the howls of ridicule if a politician took Lakoff's Orwellian advice tried to rebrand "taxes" as "membership fees." ...If you choose not to pay... MORE
October 6, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
You share as many genes with your siblings as you do with your parents and your children. Yet not only is there no legal responsibility to help your brothers and sisters; even the perceived moral responsibility is pretty weak. Socialists... MORE
August 6, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
I would like to make a couple of points about Bryan's post. (A) Bryan says, Leftist professors promote leftist policies, leftist policies are largely contrary to libertarianism, and are therefore socially harmful. ...The broader lesson is that libertarian reformers -... MORE
July 5, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
When I re-wrote a scene from The Edukators, I was expecting some opponent of immigration to try to use it against me. Dennis Mangan has taken the bait: Toward the end, we get this: Jan: Now you're changing the subject.... MORE
July 2, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
No, this isn't another post on simplified spelling. The Edukators is a German movie about anti-capitalism protestors who break into rich people's houses, re-arrange their furniture in the spirit of Dadaism, and leave a note saying "You have too much... MORE
April 29, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Will Wilkinson denies that I was the only defender of desert at a recent Liberty Fund conference. Hmm. I seem to remember that one participant asked for a show of hands of all defenders of desert, and only mine went... MORE
April 25, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I just got back from a Liberty Fund conference on Serena Olsaretti's Liberty, Desert, and the Market. (Here's Will Wilkinson's account). The big surprise: Only one libertarian out of more than a dozen was willing to defend the free market... MORE
April 17, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I just got back from a relaxing trip to the famous Vanderbilt mansion, the Biltmore, in Asheville, North Carolina. The mansion was constructed at the behest of George Vanderbilt, grandson of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt. Biltmore is especially... MORE
April 5, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Economists are deeply suspicious of lexicographic preferences - that is, preferences which are supposed to take absolute precedence over other preferences. "You can't be serious." If you have a lexicographic preference for lifespan over other goods, for example, you would... MORE
April 3, 2006
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Arnold Kling
Will Wilkinson writes, The neuroscience shows that satisfaction of the highest ranked preference does not imply the greatest hedonic satisfaction. It does not imply any hedonic satisfaction. Take a look at this paper, “Parsing Reward,” [pdf] by Kent Berridge and... MORE
March 28, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Suppose you could give American high school dropouts a 1000% raise by exterminating every man, woman, and child in Latin America. Would that be the right thing to do? No? Why not? Your answer, hopefully, is that murder is wrong,... MORE
February 2, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Would Ayn Rand be proud of how I turned out? Probably not, but I love her just the same. Here's why, and here are details on her contributions to literature, philosophy, and social science. If that doesn't satisfy your Rand... MORE
January 26, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
If you're one of those economists who says "we can only talk about observable behavior," check out Brokeback Mountain: One minute of sex, two hours of yearning.... MORE
January 23, 2006
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
In my latest essay, I write Folk Marxism looks at political economy as a struggle pitting the oppressors against the oppressed. Of course, for Marx, the oppressors were the owners of capital and the oppressed were the workers. But folk... MORE
December 5, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
One of the main rationales behind welfare reform was the view that teenage single moms are irresponsible. Since their predicament is in large part the result of their own high-risk behavior, they're less deserving of help than, say, the congenitally... MORE
December 3, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
A sad, true story: One of my parents' neighbors (allegedly) murdered a transvestite prostitute on Sunday. NORTHRIDGE - A 50-year-old man who was living in his mother's home in a quiet middle-class neighborhood killed a transvestite prostitute earlier this week... MORE
November 18, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Reacting to a piece by Paul Bloom in the Atlantic Monthly, Don Boudreaux writes not only are we genetically predisposed to infer the existence of a supernatural designer of our physical world (or a supernatural bully, depending), but we’re also... MORE
October 8, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Steven Brams of NYU presented his latest paper on approval voting at GMU Wednesday. While it was better than most papers in the field of social choice theory, its main effect was to help me realize what's wrong with the... MORE
October 5, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I claim that IQ research makes libertarian policy conclusions more compelling, but Tyler Cowen isn't convinced: When Bryan says "IQ matters a great deal" I hear "inelastic factors of production." IQ won't change much in the short run, and perhaps... MORE
September 17, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Yesterday Robin Hanson, Tyler Cowen, Alex Tabarrok, and I had lunch at Morton's to celebrate Robin's tenure. As the guest of honor, Robin picked the main topic of discussion. His choice: Cynicism - what it is, who's got it, and... MORE
September 12, 2005
Business Economics
Arnold Kling
In my latest essay, I write, While I have little faith in individual corporations, I have more faith in decentralized market processes. For example, although I have no admiration for any oil company in particular, I believe that we will... MORE
August 25, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
is the title of my latest essay. Consider the following classification system for government regulations and programs. (a) interventions that work so much better than private alternatives that we feel grateful for them (b) interventions that are better than private... MORE
August 17, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
More students than I care to remember have argued with me about their grades. But there is one argument that I always dismiss out of hand: "You should raise my grade because I NEED a higher grade!" I don't do... MORE
August 2, 2005
Regulation and Subsidies
Arnold Kling
David R. Henderson writes, The best statement of the philosophical case against antitrust is in philosopher Harry Binswanger's essay, "Antitrust: 'Free Competition' at Gunpoint." Binswanger draws a fundamental distinction between economic power and political power. Economic power, he notes, is... MORE
July 21, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
I've taken cruises to Bermuda, the Bahamas, and in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. And of course I'm not one to just sit back and enjoy the food. My mind soon wanders back to economics and philosophy. Tyler Cowen's recent... MORE
July 5, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
James Q. Wilson and I offer similar criticisms of the economics book that became a best-seller. Wilson writes, My advice is this: if you find something that intrigues you in Freakonomics, do not rely on the book to give you... MORE
June 29, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Many people feel that death makes life meaningless. The religious use this to sell the afterlife, and the irreligious use it to rationalize depression. Woody Allen can hardly get his mind of the subject: Life is full of misery, loneliness,... MORE
June 2, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
Arnold Kling takes issue with the "Deadly Chicago Econometrics" underpining a couple of my favorite empirical literatures. I'm from Princeton, not Chicago, but I think Arnold's mostly off the mark. Charge #1: A fundamental fallacy in classical statistics is to... MORE
May 3, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Andrew Samwick writes, Economics consists of exactly two ideas: optimization and equilibrium. Optimization is the process by which all economic agents--households, workers, firms, governments--achieve their objectives subject to constraints on their resources. It leads to the familiar condition that an... MORE
April 15, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Economic behaviorism isn't dead. It's just resting. Or pining for the fjords. Seriously, I think that behaviorism is a reaction against two propositions. One is that we need to examine whether people really optimize. The other is that we need... MORE
March 25, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Bryan Caplan
A fun fact about the U.S. versus Europe is that poorest 25% of Americans have more living space than the average European. But some Americans have been left behind. Our most deprived citizens often sleep three to a room, eat... MORE
February 16, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Will Wilkinson writes, What evolutionary psychology really helps us to appreciate is just what an unlikely achievement complex, liberal, market-based societies really are. It helps us to get a better grip on why relatively free and fabulously wealthy societies like... MORE
February 7, 2005
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Russ Roberts writes Over the next five or ten years, hundreds of millions of Chinese are expected to leave the Chinese countryside and move to the city. This extraordinary migration will require millions of adjustments to take place to make... MORE
December 21, 2004
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Reason interviews the Chairman of the FCC, who says I’m a big believer in individual entrepreneurship and innovation. I think American capitalism is the finest economic system ever invented. It has crushed— not beaten, crushed—every alternative deployed in the history... MORE
December 18, 2004
Politics and Economics
Arnold Kling
Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman writes, Hardly anyone today, from the far Left to the far Right, regards socialism in the traditional sense of government ownership and operation of the means of production as either feasible or desirable. Those who profess... MORE
December 16, 2004
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Don Boudreaux writes, when someone selfishly jogs to improve his or her health, we applaud. When that same someone selfishly seeks financial profit by offering goods or services for sale to consumers, many of us are wary. (And even most... MORE
October 2, 2004
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Various economics blogs, such as Division of Labour, are speculating on candidates for this year's Nobel Prize in economics. One thing I've noticed is that the winners tend to be people with concepts named after them. Coase theorem. Nash equilibrium.... MORE
September 30, 2004
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Madsen Pirie writes, Hayek told his rapt audience that the old values of the hunting band still had their allure, including the urge to share everything when value could not be stored... Members of the audience actually gasped when Hayek... MORE
September 29, 2004
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Deirdre McCloskey writes that economists no longer view underconsumption as a threat to full employment. Nothing would befall the market economy in the long run, says the modern economist, if we tempered our desires to a thrifty style of life--one... MORE
September 7, 2004
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
How does government grow? I offer this hypothesis: My theory is that the political process preys on fear. A politician identifies something that constituents might perceive as a threat. Next, the politician "markets" the threat, playing up its importance. Then,... MORE
June 21, 2004
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Donald J. Boudreaux writes, What about the assumption of self-interest? It, too, is equally inoffensive. All that economists need to be true on this front is that each person generally cares more about himself, his loved ones, and his friends... MORE
May 2, 2004
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Zimran Ahmed, commenting on a piece by David Warsh, writes, I've been thinking of why people find economics so fundamentally repugnant, and I think the fact that it goes against millennium of natural selection that re-enforced building, monitoring, and maintaining... MORE
January 15, 2004
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Jerry Muller, author of The Mind and the Market, gives a brief synopsis of his book. In previous societies, one's status as a peasant, artisan or merchant often defined one totally. Being a member of a guild, for example, encompassed... MORE
December 21, 2003
Economic Philosophy
Arnold Kling
Here's one for all those with a philosophical bent, from Robin Hanson via Tyler Cowen. How does economics, which talks about the positive effects of self-interest, square with moral intuition? we economists...seem to be constantly giving people excuses and social... MORE
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