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Economic Philosophy
A Category Archive (123 entries)
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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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