Topic: Policy

movie theater

Do We Really Need More Movie Sequels? If the Market Says So, Then Yes We Do

– July 16, 2020

“Studios make sequels because they expect them to be profitable. This is a good thing, though, because they are working to make Mickey and Minnie Moviegoer better off as Mickey and Minnie choose to define it according to their own preferences, values, goals, and opportunities.” ~ Art Carden

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path, mountains

A Keynesian Path Would Be the Wrong Path for the U.S. Economy

– July 15, 2020

“Following a crisis, countries with higher levels of economic freedom–that is, with institutions closer to those proposed by Hayek than Keynes–suffered smaller economic contractions and faster recoveries. Keynesian ideas have dominated the political worldview for decades. But we would be better off following Hayek.” ~ Nicolás Cachanosky

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tickets

How Much Should You Sell Your Vote For This November?

– July 15, 2020

“All that can be said for certain is that in most states it is now quite possible to do so and that the masked stranger does not even have to work for a political party or candidate. In fact, vote buying solves problems for donors by ensuring maximum effect for each dollar spent and by sidestepping campaign finance laws.” ~ Robert E. Wright

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chairs up, school

The Dangers of Keeping the Schools Closed

– July 13, 2020

“Medical experts who support school closures more generally clarify that they are a tool to be considered at the beginning of a pandemic, not seven months in. COVID-19 poses a far lesser risk to children for both death and infection. Closing schools will probably spare some schoolchildren from infection. Whether it will be enough to justify what we may have to sacrifice is another question entirely.” ~ Ethan Yang

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planners

Who Is Making Decisions about Our Lives

– July 13, 2020

“What reason is there to trust that These People who never look past the next election – and who always ignore consequences that are difficult to see if these consequences are spread over large numbers of individuals – are making a prudently considered trade-off between the lockdown’s costs and its benefits?” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

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female farmer

A Green Minimum Wage

– July 10, 2020

“Farmers who want to retain good, experienced farm hands should be free to pay a dollar a week, day, hour, or minute to those same people, as they mutually agree. And when the world not only does not end but improves due to the policy, let’s extend it to other types of employers as well.” ~ Robert E. Wright

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red school house

Return of the One Room Schoolhouse?

– July 9, 2020

“Let’s learn from history and use the failure of our political system to push education back to the local level. I know many college professors, myself included, would be thrilled just to have students whose natural love of learning hasn’t been beaten out of them by 13 years of mass public education.” ~ Robert E. Wright

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The Economy after COVID-19

– July 7, 2020

“One thing is certain: life in America is not going to be the same after COVID-19. Like the Great Depression and World War II, the pandemic will exert an impact for years, perhaps even decades, on the nation’s economic and political fortunes.” ~ James D. Gwartney

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The Metaphysics of Lockdown, According to Albert Camus

– July 7, 2020

“This drastic, clean-cut deprivation and our complete ignorance of what the future held in store had taken us unawares; we were unable to react against the mute appeal of presences, still so near and already so far, which haunted us daylong. In fact, our suffering was twofold; our own to start with, and then the imagined suffering of the absent one, son, mother, wife, or mistress.” ~ Albert Camus

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bubble wrap

Safety First is a Bad Ideology

– July 5, 2020

“With the birth of capitalism, we tolerated social mobility: both downward and more heroically, upward. The churning of the social space is consistent with a greater toleration of risk. Maybe we haven’t convinced you with regard to public health issues during a pandemic, but at least consider the weight placed on safety the next time you use a satellite connected device, visit a beach, or take an antibiotic.” ~ Diana & Michael Thomas

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sledgehammer smashing glass

Smash the COVID Orthodoxy

– July 4, 2020

“In a time of industrial levels of draconian lockdown measures, of fear-mongering and politicization, a failure to speak out against the orthodoxy will only lead to more pain and suffering. Perhaps the status quo is the best way forward, but we will never know unless we have more voices in the conversation. When this is all over, history will remember those who were brave enough to speak out, insightful enough to weigh all the options, wise enough to consider the future, and most importantly those who stood for principle.” ~ Ethan Yang

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grass walking

Two Pandemics: One Serious, One Mild

– July 3, 2020

“Simply put, we adopted the wrong measures and used them to ineffectually target the milder of the two pandemics, all the while neglecting or even exacerbating the much more severe outbreak that continues to run its course through our vulnerable nursing home population.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

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