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Public Choice Theory
A Category Archive (112 entries)
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February 9, 2012
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Arnold Kling
Tyler Cowen wrote that it is too elementary for most MR readers but it is well executed and would make a good gift for anyone needing an introduction to economic reasoning. My thoughts: 1. The price is very attractive. I... MORE
February 1, 2012
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
It's not the Sunday Outlook, but the Washington Post has a long op-ed that explains some important concepts in public choice. Charles Lane writes, Not surprisingly, much political activity consists of trying to create, or keep, opportunities to collect economic... MORE
December 19, 2011
Finance: stocks, options, etc.
Arnold Kling
Ross Levine writes, [We] propose a new institution, which I label the "Sentinel," to act as the public's sentry over financial policies and to help compel financial regulators to act in the public interest, regardless of their private interests. The... MORE
December 16, 2011
Regulation
David Henderson
I finally have found time to tell the story of my "Occupy Monterey" talk last Saturday, titled "Crony Capitalism versus the Free Market." My expectations for the success of my talk, on a scale of 10, were 3 to 6... MORE
December 13, 2011
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
In New York: This month, thousands of New Yorkers will hand over their apartment keys to strangers, making a few extra bucks by renting out their homes when they head out of town. But they might not know they're actually... MORE
December 10, 2011
Property Rights
Arnold Kling
From Eli Dourado. If we could be certain that eminent domain would only used when it was efficiency-enhancing, and that adequate compensation would be made to the expropriated, I would have no problem with it. I would regard it as... MORE
October 27, 2011
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
William A. Niskanen, an economist who held an amazing number of different interesting jobs, died yesterday. Early in his career, he was a Robert McNamara whiz kid. His experience in the bureaucracy led him to write his early contribution to... MORE
October 6, 2011
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
Now that the big kahuna -- Osama bin Laden -- has been killed, the "War on Terror" is much less exciting. Even before Osama's demise, experts sent chills through the massive post-9/11 U.S. government anti-terrorism bureaucracies by concluding that the... MORE
September 5, 2011
Institutional Economics
David Henderson
Although the KGB was abolished in 1991 after its chairman, Vladimir Kryuchhov, participated in the failed coup d'etat against USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev, the KGB mentality still thrives. Russian is run by former KGB officials and Kremlin-friendly oligarchs. They control... MORE
August 22, 2011
Finance: stocks, options, etc.
Arnold Kling
In the Richmond Fed bulletin, Renee Haltom writes, The United States finds itself on the far end of the spectrum in many aspects of housing. At the funding level, the United States has the most government support of owner-occupied housing... MORE
August 17, 2011
Having just returned from my vacation in Canada, I got around to reading tax advocate Betty Yee's side of the "Amazon tax" issue. Yee is a member of the California Board of Equalization. I had argued against the tax but... MORE
June 28, 2011
This story got picked up by several outlets. Soon, "mystery shoppers" may come to medicine. And doctors are outraged. The Department of Health and Human Services proposes using them to figure out why so many new patients are having problems... MORE
June 18, 2011
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
A Public Choice Moment Like many people in the last few weeks, I have given into the temptation to make jokes or listen to jokes about Anthony Weiner. He has the perfect name, and the perfect story, to give rise... MORE
June 15, 2011
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
The Washington Post reports, A majority of Senate Republicans appeared to break Tuesday with two decades of GOP orthodoxy against higher taxes, voting to advance a plan to abruptly cancel billions of dollars in annual tax credits for ethanol blenders.... MORE
May 22, 2011
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
I woke up early Friday morning and, rather than turning on ESPN, which is my wont, I surfed movies and found that "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" had started only a few minutes earlier. Once I start watching that movie,... MORE
April 7, 2011
Public Choice Theory
Bryan Caplan
Here's the most open-ended question I included on last week's Graduate Public Choice midterm: Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} Suppose... MORE
March 15, 2011
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
Is this a day to celebrate or to mourn the death of Julius Caesar? That's the question for the Ides of March. Here's what Wikipedia says about his policies: When the triumph was over, Caesar set forth to passing an... MORE
March 14, 2011
Macroeconomics
Arnold Kling
Summarizing an IMF conference, Olivier Blanchard lists nine points. I will make extended comments below the fold. Here is a crucial sentence: Monetary policy has to go beyond inflation stability, adding output and financial stability to the list of targets,... MORE
March 12, 2011
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
"Power tends to corrupt: absolute power corrupts absolutely." This quote is, of course, from Lord Acton. Today, Megan McArdle has laid out beautifully how it corrupts. This is my favorite McArdle post in a long time. She starts with a... MORE
March 9, 2011
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Bryan Caplan says that maybe liberals and libertarians can agree that farm subsidies are bad. However, I am not impressed by this. Liberals have no problem reducing government support for groups they dislike, such as "corporate farmers." But they still... MORE
February 24, 2011
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
Why is our perspective so different from so many other health policy analysts? I think the answer is: the vast majority of people in health policy do not understand the concept of "government failure." For example, health economist Austin Frakt,... MORE
February 11, 2011
Finance: stocks, options, etc.
Arnold Kling
While I await the release later today of the Administration's white paper, I have received from Princeton University Press an advance copy of Guaranteed to Fail, a new book by Viral Acharya, Matthew Richardson, Stijn Van Nieuwerbergurgh, and Lawrence J.... MORE
January 18, 2011
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
The first time I met Gordon Tullock, as I tell here, was in the fall of 1971 when he gave a paper at a conference at the University of Western Ontario. The paper was titled "The Paradox of Revolution." Here's... MORE
January 3, 2011
Finance: stocks, options, etc.
Arnold Kling
First, read Peter Wallison's op-ed. Congress should assure that housing does not again make itself a ward of the government. Then, write an essay that consists of something other than ad hominem attacks on Wallison. Instead, write an essay that... MORE
December 17, 2010
Public Choice Theory
Bryan Caplan
Arnold should enjoy Jacob Lyles' proposed initiative to split California into two new states:Every single incumbent Democrat running for reelection to the state legislature won his race, including a dead guy. In this election cycle politically active Californians were most... MORE
December 8, 2010
Finance: stocks, options, etc.
Arnold Kling
at the New York Times. Several interesting contributions. Jeremy Stein offers a reasonable technocratic approach, consisting largely of higher capital requirements for large banks. My problem with this is that any time you have a regime in which government guarantees... MORE
November 19, 2010
Politics and Economics
Arnold Kling
Ed Glaeser is naive. He writes, Wyden-Gregg option is to limit the mortgage deduction to exclude second homes, home equity lines, and mortgages over $500,000. Lowering the upper limit on the home mortgage interest deduction should appeal to progressives, who... MORE
November 15, 2010
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
The Examiner reports, State teacher pension payments will grow 10 percent annually and its benefits contributions will grow 8 percent annually, while General Fund revenues -- responsible for all teacher pensions and 60 percent of benefits -- will increase only... MORE
November 10, 2010
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
Out of the mouths of babes oft times come gems. In "Obama Visits a Nation that Knew Him as Barry," November 8, the New York Times, uncharacteristically given the subject, has a revealing story about an interaction between Barry Obama... MORE
November 9, 2010
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Arnold Kling
Alex Tabarrok likes the book. My review was also very favorable.... MORE
November 4, 2010
Economics of Education
Arnold Kling
1. William Easterly on the $320,000 kindergarten teacher story. Under the project studied, there were random assignments of teachers and students to classes. The striking thing in the findings is the identification of "Good" and "Bad" kindergarten classes, as shown... MORE
November 2, 2010
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
I have friends who refuse to vote because their vote doesn't matter. I understand that. I have friends who make voting a moral issue and say it's wrong to vote. I kind of understand that. But what I don't get... MORE
October 26, 2010
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Arnold Kling
Matt Ridley discusses a paper that uses "behavioral economics" to assess regulators. The paper is by Slavisa Tasic, and I believe that it can be found here. Tasic writes, In the context of political economy, overconfidence takes the form of... MORE
October 18, 2010
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
Here's an excerpt from Peter Baker's piece in the New York Times last week on Obama: He realized too late that "there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects" when it comes to public works. Now here's the start of the... MORE
October 7, 2010
Microeconomics
Arnold Kling
William Polley recommended a paper by Annelise Graebner Anderson. Russ Roberts recommended an essay by Fred S. McChesney. The point is that fire-fighting began as a private function. Largely volunteer in the U.S. In London, fire brigades were hired by... MORE
October 6, 2010
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
Last night, I asked: Who was the first economist to win the Nobel prize? It's not as obvious as you might think. A hint (it's a very subtle hint) is in the category in which I listed this post. Commenters... MORE
August 29, 2010
Finance: stocks, options, etc.
Arnold Kling
The sole purpose of this post is to retweet two of Tyler Cowen's assorted links. 1. How to tell when a CEO is lying. I was expecting to click through and read, "His lips are moving," but in fact it... MORE
August 22, 2010
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Greg Mankiw prints some notes from Philip Swagel from last week's conference on the future of housing finance. Conference participants from industries involved with the financing and construction of homes assert that no American will ever buy a home again... MORE
July 22, 2010
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
The Wall Street Journal reports, The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Wall Street's main lobbying group, said in a proposal submitted to the Obama administration on Wednesday that the government couldn't completely exit the mortgage market without sending costs... MORE
July 20, 2010
Politics and Economics
David Henderson
Although I haven't found time to listen to more than about 20 of Russ Roberts's Econtalk podcasts, one of his latest, his interview with our Hoover colleague Paul Gregory, is one of the best I've heard. Here are some of... MORE
July 4, 2010
Energy, Environment, Resources
Arnold Kling
The latest announcement about U.S. industrial policy says, Abengoa SA... was offered a $1.45 billion loan guarantee by the U.S. Department of Energy to build a 250-megawatt solar plant in Arizona, and Abound Solar Manufacturing was offered a $400 million... MORE
July 3, 2010
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
When I teach various concepts, I try to connect them with specific stories because I find that students remember stories. This is especially important when the concept is labeled with a very abstract label. Take "time inconsistency." When I teach... MORE
June 28, 2010
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
President Obama's economic coordinator Lawrence Summers today announced the President's intention to gradually reallocate radio spectrum. The long-outmoded command-and-control system will be updated over the next decade, using a new set of rules and auctions. An overflow audience consisting mostly... MORE
June 21, 2010
I've posted twice now (here and here) about sections of Bruce Bartlett's book, The New American Economy. I found Chapter 6, titled, "Starving the Beast Didn't Work," quite persuasive. First, Chapter 6. Bartlett deals with the idea, popular with many... MORE
May 29, 2010
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
Economists use the term "rent seeking" to refer to people investing resources in getting government favors. In the Concise Encyclopedia article I wrote on this, I explain why I think the term is inappropriate. But if rent seeking were the... MORE
May 19, 2010
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
From an email: Dear Grantseeker, One of the best kept secrets in Washington is that the new Health Reform Act is channeling millions of dollars in funding to other areas of vital interest to other nonprofits, tribes and local government!.... MORE
May 13, 2010
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
In which the author shows himself to be more Caplanesque than Caplan I was reading through Bryan Caplan's excellent lecture notes on "Constitutions" for his Public Choice course. (Parenthetically, I'm blown away by the clarity and wisdom of his notes,... MORE
April 27, 2010
Finance: stocks, options, etc.
Arnold Kling
Republicans are filibustering for this? Anyone who underwrites a mortgage which doesn't meet minimum underwriting rules would have to retain at least 5% economic interest in the trust. All of their proposals are variations on the ideas in the Democratic... MORE
March 9, 2010
Finance: stocks, options, etc.
Arnold Kling
Mark Thoma points to a series of presentations from the Roosevelt Institute, a left-oriented think tank. What struck me was Raj Date arguing for the elimination of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. He is quite firm on the point. He... MORE
February 13, 2010
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
Bryan, in posting on Arnold's view of what Ben Bernanke is doing, wrote: Arnold's story fits the facts, but it just seems too conspiratorial. Yet Arnold didn't even hint at the idea of conspiracy. Instead, he was talking about Bernanke's... MORE
January 26, 2010
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Tyler Cowen quotes Garett Jones: The key to controlling spending is permitting more earmarks (sic). Tyler asks us to guess Garett's model. One model would be this: 1. Each Congressperson wants to use government spending to buy enough votes to... MORE
January 21, 2010
Political Economy
Arnold Kling
Tyler Cowen writes, Obama proposes a new banking plan and everyone is commenting for instance here is Simon Johnson. The plan seems to involve limits on bank size and limits on proprietary trading. In principle, I am against attempts by... MORE
December 22, 2009
Monetary Policy
David Henderson
Central bankers are politicians with tenure. This was economist Joe Salerno's response to Stuart Varney's claim that giving Congress more control over the Federal Reserve would put politicians in charge of monetary policy. (It's at about the 4:09 point.) I've... MORE
December 1, 2009
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
David Henderson
He [Parnell Thomas, chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee] tried to placate her [Ayn Rand] with promises of a "whole [new] special hearing devoted to nothing but ideology," where she could bring out "all the facts." She told him... MORE
November 18, 2009
Public Choice Theory
Bryan Caplan
The webpage for my spring, 2010 Graduate Public Choice II course is now up, including the syllabus, complete lecture notes, and homeworks. About half of the material is from my Graduate Public Finance I course; the rest is new. Highlights... MORE
October 30, 2009
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
While many people dismiss insights from public choice, what's striking is its casual acceptance in conversation and discussion. Keith Hennessey posted today about the odds on various things happening with the Senate's and House of Representatives' proposed tax increases, aka,... MORE
October 29, 2009
Politics and Economics
David Henderson
A few weeks ago, Carl Mounteer, a local lawyer, and I were invited to present our views on a local tax issue to the Monterey County Weekly, the local left-wing weekly. Carl and I had written the ballot argument against... MORE
April 15, 2009
Regulation
David Henderson
Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller has introduced a bill that would give presidents the power to shut down the Internet. It was introduced on April 1, but it appears to be serious. According to the eweek article above: According to the... MORE
March 4, 2009
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Ed Kane writes, TARP recipients paid out $76.7 million on lobbying and $37 million on federal campaign contributions in 2008 and (through Feb 2, 2009) received access to $295.2 billion in TARP funds. The ratio of lobbying expense to TARP... MORE
February 28, 2009
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
David Henderson
In this radio interview, Scott Horton interviews me about various current economic issues including: the Obama budget, the Bush-Paulson-Bernanke bailout, why most of the Republicans in Congress have zero credibility in pushing for small government, the economics of imperialism, Adam... MORE
February 23, 2009
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
Yesterday, Shaun Donovan, the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, was on Face the Nation to defend President Obama's bailout program for mortgage holders. The questioner, CBS's Bob Schieffer, asked some good questions. One of his best... MORE
February 4, 2009
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Arnold Kling
George A. Akerlof and Robert J. Shiller do not come to praise mainstream macroeconomics. Keynes' followers rooted out almost all of the animal spirits...that lay at the heart of his explanation for the Great Depression...They...minimized the intellectual distance between The... MORE
January 29, 2009
Fiscal Policy
Arnold Kling
Justin Wolfers writes, there are about three papers written on monetary policy for each paper mentioning fiscal policy. And there are only a few dozen papers written on the multiplier each year. He has more data. Jerry Muller writes, a... MORE
January 24, 2009
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
You might claim: "they didn't nationalize it the right way" and maybe they didn't. Still, once you proceed down the nationalization path, you have to live with the nationalizations you will get, not the nationalizations as a professor might recommend... MORE
December 30, 2008
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
I could just as easily have titled this post "Krugman's Achilles Heal." Basically, it's that Paul Krugman seems never to take account of the findings of public choice. Even a basic understanding of public choice would make him question his... MORE
December 14, 2008
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
One of Ayn Rand's best scenes in Atlas Shrugged has her hero Francisco d'Anconia complete the statement of one of her villains with a surprise ending. Villain James Taggart states: We will liberate our culture from the stranglehold of the... MORE
November 10, 2008
Public Choice Theory
David Henderson
One of the more interesting economist bloggers on the left side of the spectrum is Dean Baker. He had an interesting post the other day. (Hat tip to Sheldon Richman.) Baker wrote: The [Washington] Post tells us how the people... MORE
July 24, 2008
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Megan McArdle writes, Instead of moving to put FM/FM into a more easily understood model--either nationalizing them, or privatising--they're making the GSEs even weirder, and of course, piling on more debt...keeping pet companies on a leash so that you can... MORE
July 22, 2008
Public Choice Theory
Bryan Caplan
If you want to learn more about public choice, why not fill out an application for the 2008 Public Choice Outreach Seminar? It's normally in the summer, but this year it's October 9-11. It's a great chance to sample the... MORE
May 11, 2008
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
The Boston Globe editorializes amendment to the House budget calls for a study of a 2.5 percent assessment each year on university endowments over $1 billion. The tax would affect nine of them, and in theory could generate an enormous... MORE
August 29, 2007
Public Choice Theory
Bryan Caplan
From my former student Jeremy Horpedahl:Lists of elections decided by one vote are often circulated in the popular press and by government election officials (interestingly, often directed at children). Most of the commonly cited examples are either completely wrong or... MORE
April 20, 2007
Public Choice Theory
Bryan Caplan
Get your applications in for the 2007 Public Choice Outreach Seminar, July 12-15. Both faculty and students are excellent, and you'll get to meet many of your favorite bloggers. Apply now!... MORE
March 12, 2007
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
John Fund writes, In their favor-seeking, all of the lobbyists visiting Capitol Hill are bound by House and Senate ethics rules that cap most individual gifts at $50 per elected official or staffer, with an annual limit of $100 per... MORE
March 4, 2007
Energy, Environment, Resources
Arnold Kling
The Wall Street Journal writes, The emerging alliance of business and environmental special interests may well prove powerful enough to give us cap-and-trade in CO2. It would make Hollywood elites feel virtuous, and it would make money for some very... MORE
July 20, 2006
Public Choice Theory
Eric Crampton
Deadwood is the best television series I've seen. I'm a big fan of Joss Whedon's work, but this surpasses it. Read Mancur Olson on stationary and roving bandits, then read some Tullock, then watch the show. Al Swearengen, who owns... MORE
May 2, 2006
Public Choice Theory
Bryan Caplan
The deadline for George Mason University's famous Public Choice Outreach Seminar, July 6-9, has been extended to May 19. Attendees get $250 toward travel expenses, room and board, and the chance to listen to many of the leading scholars in... MORE
March 20, 2006
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Andrew Samwick quotes a New York Times story on how Congress is "improving" the private pension system. Someone must pay for this. Currently, the pension agency finances itself in part through the insurance premiums that companies are required to pay... MORE
March 2, 2006
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Alan B. Krueger reports on Morris M. Kleiner's research on occupational licensing. He provides much evidence that the balance of occupational licensing has shifted away from protecting consumers and toward limiting the supply of workers in various professions. A result... MORE
February 27, 2006
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Minxin Pei writes, The Chinese state remains deeply entrenched in the economy. According to official data for 2003, the state directly accounted for 38 percent of the country’s GDP and employed 85 million people (about one third of the urban... MORE
February 6, 2006
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
In a long article filled with details, Fred S. McChesney writes Lobbyists are free to petition government on behalf of clients. Indeed, the process is protected by the First Amendment. Accepting money for the exercise of one's First Amendment rights... MORE
January 17, 2006
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
I have started a new series of essays about the assumptions made by (modern) liberals. The first one says, Liberals see the market as an arena in which evil corporations inflict their greed on innocent victims. I wish you would... MORE
January 4, 2006
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
The front page of today's Washington Post has two stories on corruption. The main story is a stereotypical "one evil man" story on Jack Abramoff. The other story, on Maryland funeral law, probably explains everyday corruption more clearly. Maryland's leading... MORE
January 3, 2006
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
From my latest essay: The mainstream approach treated economic behavior and political behavior completely differently. We viewed economic phenomena, such as a price change, as determined by an entire system. We took political decisions as arising from personal whim. We... MORE
December 7, 2005
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Rushing in where angels fear to tread, I thought I would apply the theory of the Corruption Trap to Iraq. Bribing an official to get something done is like paying ransom to a kidnapper -- what looks like a good... MORE
December 5, 2005
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
James Buchanan discusses three ideas for Constitutional amendments. He proposes an amendment to require balancing the Budget, and amendment forcing laws to be nondiscriminatory, and an amendment against regulating voluntary market transactions. On the nondiscrimination issue, he writes, The American... MORE
November 28, 2005
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
There are several gems in the latest Milken Institute Review. On the topic of bank regulation, James Barth, Gerard Caprio and Ross Levine give an excellent generic description of how the public-choice view of government differs from the assumptions that... MORE
October 30, 2005
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Roger Lowenstein writes The drawback to 401(k)'s, remember, is that people are imperfect savers. They don't save enough, they don't invest wisely what they do save and they don't know what to do with their money once they are free... MORE
October 25, 2005
Fiscal Policy
Arnold Kling
From my latest essay: The two viewpoints might be summarized as follows: --Conservatives: Cutting taxes will help reduce the size of government. --Liberals: Big government is not really so bad. In the face of overwhelming evidence over the past five... MORE
October 19, 2005
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
The New York Times reports In recent years, the difficulty of getting things built has made business harder for small, local builders and easier for big companies, with their greater resources, to gain control of the housing market. "The large... MORE
October 16, 2005
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Morris M. Kleiner writes, Even in the 1950s, licensing covered less than 5% of the American workforce. Now more than 20% of the U.S. workforce is covered by state licensing laws...prices in regulated occupations have increased more--and the earnings of... MORE
October 5, 2005
Energy, Environment, Resources
Arnold Kling
Anthony de Jasay writes, Some miracle of an unexpected kind will very likely occur one day to make some renewable energy source economical, but until it does, responsible oil companies will make haste slowly toward biomass, solar or wind power... MORE
September 8, 2005
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
This piece by Brad DeLong helps illuminate his world view. After giving a litany of Katrina-related institutional failures at the local, state, and Federal level, he concludes we should be surprised. Fema is a bureaucracy. A bureaucracy is designed to... MORE
September 1, 2005
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Lee Harris writes, To me, the looting came as no surprise: it was a completely natural phenomenon. It was exactly what my own theory of the social order would have predicted. What else should you expect when a civilized order... MORE
August 15, 2005
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
In this essay, I argue that mass democracy reduces the quality of government. In 1790, the largest state in the union, Virginia, had a population of under 700,000. Today, Montgomery County has a population of over 900,000. Our nine-member County... 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
May 7, 2005
Public Choice Theory
Bryan Caplan
Here's a great passage in Sin City: The Hard Goodbye that didn't make the movie: In this town just about anything you can name that's worth doing is against the law. It works out better for everybody this way. Cops... MORE
August 14, 2004
Public Choice Theory
Michael Munger
by Michael Munger Guest Blogger Economist Ray Fair's very simple model on presidential elections has some interesting things to say about the upcoming election. Given the macro-economic and macro-political factors that have mattered in the past, George W. Bush should... MORE
July 18, 2004
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Edward Lotterman talks about Ricardian rent and rent-seeking. The U.S. government subsidizes cotton production to the tune of some $3 billion per year. Virtually all the subsidy flows to fewer than 30,000 cotton farmers. At some $100,000 per producer, cotton... MORE
April 16, 2004
Public Goods
Arnold Kling
My latest essay is on these topics. There are three layers to the argument against paternalism. The first layer is purely libertarian, which says that government compulsion of individuals is always wrong. The second layer is utilitarian, which says that,... MORE
March 29, 2004
Growth: Causal Factors
Arnold Kling
Andrew David Chamberlain points to a World Bank study written by Andrei Shleifer, among others, of barriers to entrepreneurship. Countries with heavier regulation of entry have higher corruption and larger unofficial economies, but not better quality of public or private... MORE
December 4, 2003
International Trade
Arnold Kling
In this essay, I say that libertarians had a bad month in November. Howard Dean came out in favor of re-regulation of "utilities, large media companies and any business that offers stock options." As Megan McArdle put it, "those of... MORE
October 21, 2003
Regulation and Subsidies
Arnold Kling
Michael Cox writes about trade barriers that affect Internet commerce. Georgia requires buyers to purchase contact lenses in person, ostensibly to protect their health but in effect as a boost to in-state eyewear retailers. Oklahoma won't allow its citizens to... MORE
June 16, 2003
Energy, Environment, Resources
Arnold Kling
Lynne Kiesling points to this article by Joel Schwartz on the ethanol mandate. what if our elected officials ... forced you to pay $180 more each year for gasoline that contains an antiquated additive you don't need, and that could... MORE
June 4, 2003
Fiscal Policy
Arnold Kling
Recently, Kevin Drum issued this challenge to those who claim to prefer lower government spending. Let's hear what you want to cut. And remember, for bonus points you have to include some programs that you yourself benefit from. I was... MORE
May 28, 2003
Regulation and Subsidies
Arnold Kling
Two recent columns concerning the regulation of Internet commerce show how regulation sometimes restricts competition at the expense of the consumer. The Wall Street Journal argues that state regulations prevent consumers from obtaining health insurance that otherwise would be available... MORE
May 19, 2003
Supply-side Economics
Arnold Kling
Was the stock market boom good for New York? Not according to Megan McArdle, otherwise known as 'Jane Galt'. in an era of prosperity, city spending grew an astonishing $5.6 billion, or 25% - right up to the capacity of... MORE
May 16, 2003
Fiscal Policy
Arnold Kling
Jacob Levy criticizes the Senate's proposed temporary tax cut on dividends. The arguments in favor of repealing the dividend tax have to do with removing distortions from the capital markets and from the incentives faced by corporations, and with improving... MORE
May 9, 2003
Supply-side Economics
Arnold Kling
One fascinating phenomenon is that when government grows so large and its interest groups so powerful, it threatens to crowd out the private sector. This is a concern in Israel, where a new economic plan that tries to limit government... MORE
April 8, 2003
Information Goods, Intellectual Property
Arnold Kling
In 1998, Congress extended copyright terms on both new and existing works. Lawrence Lessig tried unsuccessfully to have this extension overturned by the Supreme Court. In this interview, Lessig explains the weakness of the economic argument for the copyright extension.... MORE
March 19, 2003
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
There were several interesting comments under the thread of Public Transit and Public Choice. Bernard Yomtov wrote, Liberals do believe the market fails sometimes. This is hardly a radical position. It is almost universally accepted except among market-worshippers who seem... MORE
March 13, 2003
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
Here is Public Choice theory boiled down to three sentences, by'Jane Galt'. The liberal mantra is that the market fails. The free market mantra is that government fails worse. And I think the weight of empirical evidence is on our... MORE
February 4, 2003
Public Choice Theory
Arnold Kling
The New York Times' Daniel Altman describes the state of the income tax code. Washington managed to hack through much of the underbrush of the tax code in an overhaul that President Ronald Reagan signed into law in 1986. But... MORE
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