Should Christians be socialists? Some data points: * Pope Francis delivered a strongly leftist apostolic exhortation, condemning free markets and endorsing some sort of paternalistic egalitarianism.[1] * C. S. Lewis argued in Mere Christianity that “a Christian society would be what we now call Leftist” — its economics would be socialist, no luxuries would be […]
Pope Francis, C. S. Lewis, and Christian economics Read More »
Robert Lawson (Southern Methodist University), along with James Gwartney (Florida State University) and Joshua Hall (West Virginia University), is editor of the celebrated Economic Freedom of the World Index. The Index is one of the major achievements in social science research this generation, made possible by much better data and awesome computing power. Professor Lawson
Robert Lawson on the Economic Freedom of the World Index Read More »
A good journalistic piece in The New York Times: “The Perverse Effects of Rent Regulation.” (Thanks to R.M. for the link.) Rent control is a classic case of bad economics and bad ethics. The bad economics is ignorance of unintended consequences — in this case a price control that makes the initial problem worse. The
Davidson on rent control as “perverse” Read More »
“Lo que la Ética Empresarial Puede Aprender del Emprendimiento.” The Spanish translation of my essay is by Walter Jerusalinsky and published online at Idóneos e-magazine. The essay was first published in English as “What Business Ethics Can Learn from Entrepreneurship” [pdf] in the Journal of Private Enterprise. It’s also available at the Social Science Research
Spanish translation of “What Business Ethics Can Learn from Entrepreneurship” Read More »
This is the sixth and final chapter of the audiobook version of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault. Chapter Six: Postmodern Strategy [mp3] [YouTube] [54 minutes total] Connecting epistemology to politics [mp3] [YouTube] Masks and rhetoric in language [mp3] [YouTube] When theory clashes with fact [mp3] [YouTube] Kierkegaardian postmodernism [mp3] [YouTube] Reversing
Postmodern Strategy [Explaining Postmodernism audiobook] Read More »
This is the fifth chapter of the audiobook version of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault. Chapter Five: The Crisis of Socialism [mp3] [YouTube] [74 minutes total] Marx and waiting for Godot [mp3] [YouTube] Three failed predictions [mp3] [YouTube] Socialism needs an aristocracy: Lenin, Mao, and the lesson of the German Social
The Crisis of Socialism [EP audiobook] Read More »
Robert Salvino (Economics, Coastal Carolina University) spoke at Rockford College on “Entrepreneurship and Public Policy.” In this follow-up interview, Salvino and I discuss entrepreneurial success traits, the institutional framework within which entrepreneurship best flourishes, the relative success of market-friendly versus government-chosen entrepreneurship policies (including examples such as Google, Apple, Solyndra, etc.), the effect of employer-provided
Interview with Robert Salvino Read More »
This is the second chapter of the audiobook version of Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault. Chapter Two: The Counter-Enlightenment Attack on Reason [mp3] [YouTube] [72 minutes] Enlightenment reason, liberalism, and science [mp3] [YouTube] The beginnings of the Counter-Enlightenment [mp3] [YouTube] Kant’s skeptical conclusion [mp3] [YouTube] Kant’s problematic from empiricism and rationalism
The Counter-Enlightenment Attack on Reason [EP audiobook] Read More »