Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Disingenuous, Economic Illiteracy, Economics Problems, Price Controls on Jan 14th, 2017
This sort of article is either why I started blogging in the first place, or am on the verge of quitting. It’s extraordinarily disingenuous and frustrating. Here is one example: With unions only a distant memory for many people, federal minimum-wage legislation has become the best hope for propping up wages for low-income workers. And […]
Posted in Disingenuous, Economic Illiteracy, Environment on Dec 22nd, 2016
Now, reporters don’t usually write their own headlines, but this is just out there: Here is the longer piece. The headline makes it appear that all 600,000 residents of Las Vegas are getting solar power. Of course, you have to read the fine print that tells us only all municipal facilities are using renewable energy. That’s a […]
Posted in Disingenuous, Dynamism - Not, Environment, Institutions, Property Rights, Religion, Why Hillaryism and Trumpism Exists on Dec 19th, 2016
As with just about every issue on Earth, most folks who are providing commentary on the Standing Rock Reservation protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline don’t have very much real information about the particular conflict. In order to have a reasoned and intelligent conversation about it, one would imagine wanting to learn more about the […]
Posted in Central Planning, Disingenuous, Employment, Fun Facts, Government Gone Wild, Special Privilege, Taxation on Dec 4th, 2016
Via Coyote without comment.
Posted in Corporatism, Disingenuous, Education, If I Really Hated the Poor ... on Dec 2nd, 2016
We’ll dig down into this Current Affairs vituperation of Trump’s choice of Education Secretary in some more detail later (I’m off to class now). But two points in this article I’d like to make quite clearly and simply. The author starts out by trying to understand and articulate (in true Turing Test fashion) what the arguments made […]
Posted in Disingenuous, ethical foundations, Voluntary Society, Why Hillaryism and Trumpism Exists on Nov 12th, 2016
Oh, you thought it was the Trumpian loonies? Think again. The same “democratizers” that came to U of R last spring have descended on Harvard. Isn’t it totally fascinating how “professional” the union organizing apparatus is? Sounds pretty darn ironic for a group of people who are “against the man.” In any case, one of […]
Posted in Central Planning, Disingenuous, If I Really Hated the Poor ..., Institutions, Why Hillaryism and Trumpism Exists, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Nov 10th, 2016
Hamilton in Federalist 68: The process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man […]
Posted in Disingenuous, Economic Illiteracy, If I Really Hated the Poor ..., Special Privilege, trade on Nov 4th, 2016
Via David Henderson this morning: “If our antidumping laws applied to U.S. companies, every after-Christmas sale in the country would be banned.” That is from trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati And here is another, this time from someone less famous whom you know a bit better: “Recycling enthusiasts should be the world’s most ardent free-traders.” […]
Posted in Disingenuous, Economists, Methodology, Tribalism on Oct 27th, 2016
Arnold Kling relaying Noah Smith relaying the state of the economics profession. I do not disagree. In a related essay, Smith argues that the current debate in economics is between the center-left and the radical left. The New Center-Left Consensus is attractive to academics and policy wonks. It draws on an eclectic mix of mainstream […]
Posted in Disingenuous, Environment, ethical foundations, If I Really Hated the Poor ..., Innovation on Oct 6th, 2016
There’s always something fun brewing down at ye ol’ alma mater: Dear Dean Boor and Trustees of the University: As New York State organic farmers, we object to the presence of the “Alliance for Science” on the Cornell campus (http://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/). This advocacy group for the highly controversial agricultural genetic engineering industry, funded almost entirely by […]