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I’ve already done several posts on the internal contradictions of nationalism (see here, here and here). The Financial Times recently offered two more examples in a single issue. Before considering the first example, recall that a portion of Romania contains a large ethnic Hungarian population living in a region that was once a part of Hungary. .. MORE
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Political Economy
Air Traffic Control: It’s Management, Not Money by Chris Edwards, Cato at Liberty, May 20, 2025 Excerpts: The Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, is on the case, but so far, he is just proposing to throw more money at the problem. By itself, more money will not cure the ATC system’s deep flaws, which stem from .. MORE
Income and Wealth distribution
In an era marked by increasing tensions over social justice, wealth redistribution, and the role of the state, it is wise to reflect on the roots of inequality and determine whether they are inherently unjust. From a free-market perspective, inequality can be seen not only as a natural outcome of economic dynamics but also as .. MORE
Labor Mobility, Immigration, Outsourcing
I saw an interesting tweet by Joe Weisenthal, discussing the question of what determines interstate migration: This is the classic chicken and the egg problem—which comes first? I view this question as an example of the fallacy of composition—what is true for the individual is not always true for the group. I suspect that Weisenthal .. MORE
Economic and Political Philosophy
I was thrilled to join Nicholls State University student DJ Insomniac of KNSU Radio on his podcast “Philosophicast.” We discussed the history of economic thought from Adam Smith to Vernon Smith, and many things in between. You can listen to the whole thing here.
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Barry Lam’s Fewer Rules, Better People: The Case for Discretion raises a number of interesting arguments, and I think he makes a compelling argument for expanding the role of discretion. Early in the book, Lam suggests his argument would seem unappealing to libertarians, on the grounds that to the libertarian, “Top-down authority in general is .. MORE
Cross-country Comparisons
A recent Bloomberg article by Dan Wang and Ben Reinhardt had some interesting things to say about US manufacturing. Instead of imposing high tariffs, they suggested that the US encourage foreign investment into facilities producing goods in America. I particularly liked this paragraph: But the more that Trump makes the country captive to his impulses—whether .. MORE
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Browse our archive of posts by author last nameBusiness Economics
German Censorship Highlights Europe’s Eroding Free Speech Protections by J.D. Tuccille, Reason, May 12, 2025. Excerpt: Putting the main opposition party under an “extremist” designation subject to surveillance is a frightening step for a democracy. “One of the things I appreciate about America is that when the federal government attacks free speech there’s instant pushback .. MORE
Free Markets
For more than two decades, Disco Corp., a Japanese company with $25 billion in annual sales, has been trying to operate as if its 7,000 employees were independent contractors in the open market. The 87-year-old company now manufactures three-fourths of all the machines to cut, grind, and dice semiconductors. An interesting story in the Financial .. MORE
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
In a previous post, I described some cases of the use of discretion in law enforcement from Barry Lam’s book Fewer Rules, Better People. But while citing individual cases can be useful for illustrating an idea, coming to a decision on whether or when discretion should take precedence over legalism can’t be made by citing .. MORE
This article has two lists: a list of popular economics books that I recommend reading; and a list of popular economics books that I recommend avoiding.1 What is a popular economics book? My first thought is that it is written without the mathematics and diagrams that economists use when teaching courses. My second thought is .. MORE
In their influential magnum opus, Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson develop the proposition that the wealth of nations is ultimately the outcome of political and economic institutions able to generate prosperity, progress and the distribution of opportunities for growth. The authors characterize this set of arrangements as “inclusive institutions,” namely, access .. MORE
Kenneth J. Arrow at Stanford University. Credit: LA Cicero, 11/4/1996. As a health reform discussion lengthens, the probability that someone will cite Kenneth Arrow approaches 1. Close behind is the probability that this person will cite Arrow inaccurately. Arrow showed that health care markets fail, goes the ritual invocation of the Nobel Prize-winning economist’s 1963 .. MORE
… [those] who score high on the authoritarianism scale agree that (italicized words are direct quotes from the scale) our country needs a mighty leader; that the leader should destroy opponents; that people should trust the judgment of the proper authorities, avoid listening to noisy rabble-rousers in our society who are trying to create doubts .. MORE
It is also important to stress the large group of people who are indifferent or slightly in favor of the issue. With rent control: Cannot get an apartment because it is occupied until someone dies...
Knut P. Heen, May 21