Topic: Economic Education

beware of everything

Evolutionary Failure: When Mass Psychology is like a Negative Technology Shock

– July 30, 2020

“This general acceptance of a fear of others that separates us from each other exacerbates all our worst proclivities and maximizes the economic destruction of the pandemic. We need to return to a robust market to preserve the division of labor. Perhaps you think this is an exaggeration, and we hope you are right, but we also hope you will join us in asking for some moderation in the panic around the new virus.” Diana & Michael Thomas

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champagne

Peter T. Leeson: A Birthday Appreciation

– July 29, 2020

“Peter T. Leeson is well-positioned to continue making important and creative contributions to our beloved dismal science. His message–that free and creative people have a good track record of solving problems without anyone forcing anyone else to do anything–is as timely now as it was when he was just getting started–but I can’t really imagine a time when it won’t be.” ~ Art Carden

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equations, ai, computer

Computer Models Can’t Substitute for Real Life

– July 29, 2020

“Life is NP-Hard, and attempting to express that mentation in a few lines of code is imprudent, yet in and of itself probably harmless. But bringing those projected outcomes to politicians, who have neither the inclination to be skeptical or incentives to act cautiously, is dangerous.” ~ Peter C. Earle

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redskins player

The Washington Football Team Should Be Called The Candlemakers

– July 28, 2020

“Bastiat laid bare the absurdity of so many arguments for protection, subsidy (for the stadium the Candlemakers would call home, for example), and regulation. The name would be a perfect homage to the never-ending stream of privilege-seeking supplicants filling the lobbies of Washington and looking for new ways to pick the pockets of their competitors, their customers, and the taxpayers—to say nothing of the grotesque concentration of power and perversion of the very idea of the law that makes it all possible.” ~ Art Carden

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workers

Three Ways that Workers Can Be Underpaid

– July 27, 2020

“The bottom line is clear: government is the largest cause of worker underpayment and open, free markets for labor are the best protection against any kind of underpayment.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

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four pillars

The Indispensability of Economics

– July 23, 2020

“When we see the potential of freely interacting individuals, economic understanding becomes necessarily built on hope. Hope about innovation, mutual agreement, peace, and prosperity. When people are left to their own devices and the rulers of society are held accountable, this is what results.” ~ Ethan Yang

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seat belts

Masks, Seatbelts, and Peltzman Effects

– July 22, 2020

“A dose of humility on the part of policy-makers and pundits regarding their abilities would be welcomed. This dose of humility might push them to consider what potentially superior ways of dealing with the outbreak exist.” ~ Vincent Geloso

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federal reserve

The Fed Can’t Make Pi

– July 22, 2020

“Changing the value of pi would be a disaster for physics, engineering, and architecture. Changing the definition of liquidity would be a disaster for the economy.” ~ Thomas L. Hogan

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female business executive

The Epistemic Value of Putting One’s Money Where One’s Mouth Is

– July 21, 2020

“Assertions such as that women as a group are underpaid – should be dismissed out of hand if (as is almost always the case) those who do the asserting refuse to risk their own time and resources on undertaking private-sector activities that would make these individuals rich as they simultaneously correct the alleged failures. If these individuals aren’t getting rich by acting with their own money on what they assert to be true, then they ain’t so smart after all.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

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fda building

Free to Choose: Human Challenge Trials for Vaccines

– July 20, 2020

“Libertarians believe that adults should be free to choose large risks in the pursuit of adventures like free diving, extreme skiing, and space exploration. The case is all the stronger that adults should be free to choose smaller risks in the pursuit of stopping COVID-19.” ~ Arthur M. Diamond Jr.

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plato statue

The Epistemic Burden of Politics

– July 20, 2020

“In the pursuit of a more perfect union and better decision-making, we should begin to contemplate the epistemic limits of government. To inquire into the limits of knowledge acquisition and understanding. To what extent can those at the individual, local, state, and federal level act with an adequate understanding of the consequences of their actions and the needs of those they govern?” ~ Ethan Yang

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modern city

Is ‘Capitalism’ Modern?

– July 20, 2020

“Capitalism in this account is not truly modern, inasmuch as something we can describe with that word has existed repeatedly in history. It has usually come to a bad end, because of the way private wealth and fear of losing it has interacted with predatory power, but in the modern world we have avoided that. Only so far however, which is why we must be constantly in campaign mode to keep the show on the road.” ~ Stephen Davies

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