What explains the dramatic differences in economic performance between the two Americas? Take some World Bank GDP numbers — one measure of economic success. We want people to make an adequate living, especially poor people who are struggling. And if we are ambitious, we want people to live the good life — including expensive things […]
Comparing North and Latin America Economic Performance [Good Life series] Read More »
First in a series tracking Donald Trump’s presidency and its anti-free-market policies. 1. Pence and Trump explicitly criticize free markets. The New York Times. 2. Direct dealing with an individual company: Carrier will not move. The Fiscal Times. 3. Close up parts of the Internet. “We’re losing a lot of people because of the Internet,”
Trump versus Free Markets, late 2016 edition Read More »
I’m reading Radical by Nature: The Green Assault on Liberty, Property, and Prosperity by Thomas J. McCaffrey. His target is radical environmentalism. Environmentalism as a big-tent label like feminism, liberalism, and conservatism, each having many competing strands within. McCaffrey focuses on the most philosophically fundamental versions of envrionmentalism — and with good reason, as that
McCaffrey’s *Radical by Nature* Read More »
Socialists standardly blame capitalist exploitation for the miseries of the poor. But then we consider Cuba’s dismal economic performance, which most blame on dictator Castro’s socialism. Not true!, say socialist defenders of Castro. Instead, we should blame it on the Americans and their decades-long economic boycott. So — just so that we’re all clear about
Cuba and the American economic boycott Read More »
1. The modern economic debate: Should free-markets or socialism replace feudalism? [Late 1700s to early 1800s] 2. Free-market-ish experiments run in many countries (USA, New Zealand, etc.) — all generally successful [1800s and 1900s] 3. Socialist experiments run in many countries (Soviet Union, China, etc.) — all failures. [1900s] 4. At the same time, Third
Eight steps to Trump Economics Read More »
[I’m re-posting this good discussion from 2012 at Cato Unbound.] An instructive trio of essays by economists at Cato Unbound about Austrian economics’ reputation — especially Mises’s praxeological version — for being strongly a priori rationalist: Is Austrian economics anti-empiricist? Steve Horwitz says no. Bryan Caplan says yes. George Selgin also says yes. To Selgin’s
Is Austrian economics anti-empirical? (Horwitz, Caplan, Selgin, and Boettke) Read More »
In our era of Keynesian economics on steroids, we should ask: How close is current Keyesnian practice to original Keynesian theory? John Maynard Keynes‘s main claim to fame is his advocacy of deficit spending as a tool of economic recovery. In a depressed economy, the argument runs, the government should spend money it doesn’t have.
Can We Blame Keynes for Keynesianism? [Good Life series] Read More »
Let me give you some examples of monopolies and ask: Which are good and which are bad? 1. Megan and Ramon begin dating and become enraptured of each other. Soon they are monopolizing each other’s time and decide to form a lifetime, exclusive relationship. 2. A town in a remote area has a few stores
Good Monopoly, Bad Monopoly: When Are Monopolies Actually a Problem? [Good Life series] Read More »