Abstract for my talk at the upcoming APEE conference in Las Vegas: “Is Freedom a Subjective Value? Stephen Hicks Some economists speak of subjective value, by which they mean that value does not inhere in objects but rather is a function of the individual. Different individuals, for example, are willing to pay very different amounts […]
Is Freedom a Subjective Value? Upcoming APEE talk Read More »
Finished my taxes this year. Such joy. Along the way I noted that in the US tax code, investment income is categorized as “unearned income”. An agricultural analogy: You plant a seed and watch it grow. You pick the fruit and eat it. You’ve just enjoyed an “unearned meal.” [The cartoon is from here.]
“Unearned income” in the US tax code Read More »
In an NBER paper, “Culture, Institutions and the Wealth of Nations,” Yuriy Gorodnichenko and Gerard Roland compare the growth gains that individualist ethics generate compared to those of collectivist ethics. The first sentences of their abstract: “We construct an endogenous growth model that includes a cultural variable along the dimension of individualism-collectivism. The model predicts
Individualism and economic growth — Gorodnichenko and Roland Read More »
Here is a clear example of zero-sum thinking, this time in literature. Author Lynn Shepherd laments J. K. Rowling’s publishing another book, on the grounds that the successful writer crowds out the less successful. In Shepherd’s words: “It wasn’t just that the hype was drearily excessive, or that (by all accounts) the novel was no
Zero-sum economics? J. K. Rowling edition Read More »
According to the 2014 Heritage index, the six most economically free nations are Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Canada. Question: Is it a coincidence that five of the six are former British colonies? Follow-up questions: * If not a coincidence, what did the British do in their colonies to enable this legacy
Question about economic freedom and British history Read More »
Two data points and a question: 1. This graph showing the dramatic 80% reduction in the world poverty rate over the last 40 years: 2. This Gapminder survey showing that 95% of Americans asked believe that poverty rates have stayed the same or increased: The question: What explains the great discrepancy between reality and belief?
Poverty reduction and public awareness Read More »
The documentary airs in January on PBS stations nationwide. Here are the press releases from Joshua Hall’s West Virginia University and Robert Lawson’s Southern Methodist University. Professor Lawson spoke at Rockford University on economic freedom, and Professor Hall spoke here on education reform. Both talks were sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship.
PBS documentary on economic freedom: Gwartney, Hall, Lawson Read More »
For my “13 Arguments for Liberal Capitalism in 13 Minutes (more or less)”, here are direct links for each individual argument: 1. Liberal capitalism increases freedom. 2. People work harder in liberal capitalist systems. 3. People work smarter under liberal capitalism. 4. Liberalism increases individuality and creativity. 5. Liberal capitalism increases the average standard of
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