The Unbroken Window

Consider this the beginning of my list of complaints against the established “church” of the free-market. In the coming months, I want to raise a series of concerns that I have developed deriving from work with and reading of SOME other supposed supporters of liberty, markets and peaceful exchange. What does the saying go like, [...]

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A lesson Progressives never learn is that they can’t have their cake and eat it too. There is no realm of our social lives that they refuse to understand this less than when it comes to inequality. It is simply impossible to make the world more equal, and efforts to do so will unleash consequences [...]

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At what point does the production of wealth create a moral obligation to be happy about having some of that wealth plundered by the “enlightened progressives?” For years, classical liberals have crafted sensible arguments for the sanctity of private property on moral, economic and practical grounds. These are ignore, no matter how sound they are. [...]

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“And I want to live.” Seems … so … quaint now doesn’t it. And here we have the “death panel” deciding the fate of this woman. Of course, it would not be an issue if Medicare were not there in the first place or if the FDA could not wield its power to outright ban [...]

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The answer is probably the same reason why I am fond of FA Hayek. In preparation for an undergraduate seminar I am running on Hayek, I came across a thought that is as powerful as the one I have at the top of the website. Here it is, if not in exact form: “the main [...]

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Sam Peltzman wrote of this 40 years ago. Liberal economist Larry Summers wrote about it 20 years ago. The paradox is quite simple. Suppose the government provides universal free services, such as education, of modest or even good quality. Many people would rationally find it optimal to consume the “free” product than to pay higher [...]

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As an impressionable boy I thought that climate alarmists, environmental doomsdayers, anti-poverty crusaders, consumer safety crusaders and the like were working hard to make the world a better place. As a middle-aged adult, I have come to hold a slightly different view of these crusaders – that they really don’t give a damn about the [...]

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Is there any better quote to capture how some people feel about the way the world works. WTC responders are in line to scoop up $657 million in damages to be paid by NYC and the companies that worked to clean up the WTC site. Is it really plausible that anyone was unaware of the [...]

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Per capita GDP in the United States is roughly $47,000. Per capita personal income is about $39,880. Let’s think about the kind of tax system we have in the U.S. What kind of effective marginal tax rates do you think a family faces that has per capita income below half of per capita GDP in [...]

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When I teach intermediate microeconomics I talk a little about the history of conscription in the United States and then help the students understand how to model out the true economic costs of raising a military via a draft versus raising a military of volunteer soldiers. Some of my students, in particular those with family [...]

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