The long-term estimated death toll from the 1984 Bhopal disaster in India is about 15,000 people. To put that in context, consider that the estimated immediate death toll from the Soviet Union’s 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster is 4,000. The death toll from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear radiation leak in 2011 is zero. And the death toll […]
The Bhopal Chemical Spill Disaster — Who Is to Blame? [Good Life series] Read More »
[Last week I posted five quotations from Ludwig von Mises indicating his opposition to anarchism. Several commentators mentioned the Mises Institute’s drift toward anarchism. That reminded me of some personal history.] I arrived at Rockford University as a newly-minted Ph.D. in the early 1990s. In addition to the normal excitement of becoming an Assistant Professor
How Not to Donate Money in Honor of Your Intellectual Hero Read More »
Interview with Professor Alexei Marcoux, conducted at Rockford University by Stephen Hicks and sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship. Part I Hicks: My guest today is Dr. Alexei Marcoux, who spoke at Rockford University on moral partiality in business practice. Dr. Marcoux is a philosopher by training. He teaches in the business administration program
Alexei Marcoux on moral partiality in business [video interview transcript] Read More »
Some parts of the world really are environmental Hells. They are dirty and depleted, making them unhealthy and economically unsustainable. We can argue about the severity of various places’ problems, but I want to focus on another aspect of the debate: determining accurately the causes of the degradation so we can focus productively on finding
Blamestorming and Environmental Problems (Part I) [Good Life series] Read More »
Recommended. Thanks to Joshua Zader for his recommendation. Here’s the trailer:
Movie: “A Most Violent Year” — business and grit Read More »
Bad things happen in free markets. Some people lie, cut corners, commit fraud, and write bad checks. Others renege on contracts, offer or accept bribes, give kickbacks, embezzle, and more. Often this translates into an argument for government regulation. Free markets maximize liberty, the argument runs, so they give much more scope to immoral individuals,
Corruption—Is It Worse in Free or Government-Regulated Markets? [Good Life series] Read More »
Here’s a report (in Spanish) on my lecture at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Santiago, Chile, to a group of engineering students and faculty. Thank you to Professor Ruth Murrugarra for inviting me. I also did a short follow-up interview (in English) with Andrea Millar Bruna, posted here: AMB: Which are the essential skills for success
Engineering Ethics talk in Chile — report Read More »
[This is a Spanish translation of “Free Trade Makes You a Better Person,” first published in English at EveryJoe and translated into Portuguese at Portal Libertarianismo.] Resulta que soy el típico comerciante internacional. Esta mañana me puse mi saco “Made in Argentina” y mis nuevos zapatos “Made in India” y me subí a mi camioneta
El Libre Comercio te hace Mejor Persona Read More »