Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Environment, ethical foundations, Extended Order, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Jun 3rd, 2013
I’m in the middle of a book on America’s garbage “crisis.” We’ve written plenty on the issue of trash in the past here so I wanted to focus on one particular claim that I encounter in almost every book and article on the topic. The argument is that companies like Coca-Cola are free-riding by offering […]
Posted in Extended Order, incentives, Institutions, Property Rights on Apr 20th, 2013
I assume some will find this in bad taste in light of last week’s tragedies in Boston. But just in case anyone was paying attention, we’re closing in on a dozen years since the WTC was destroyed and it’s rebuild is still not complete yet, so I find it hard to read notes that New […]
Posted in Behavior, Extended Order, Institutions on Mar 5th, 2013
Did you ever spend gargantuan amounts of time obsessing about a particular decision or purchase? Which graduate school should you attend? What kind of car should you buy? Or spending weeks and weeks and weeks waiting for the perfect deal, or for a good-used version of some product that you want to come up for […]
Posted in Environment, Extended Order, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Mar 2nd, 2013
A sort of iconic local steak place (it wasn’t fancy, but a neat place with a neat ambience) has recently shut down (see here). Now, places close for all sorts of reasons. But reports indicate that one reason for the closing is that beef prices have marched too high, and customers simply will not pay […]
Posted in Extended Order on Dec 31st, 2012
Seen in Northport, Long Island: We’re #1 at picking up #2 They come to your backyard while you are away at work.
Posted in ethical foundations, Extended Order, Price System, Property Rights, Voluntary Society, Welfare State, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Dec 11th, 2012
A popular sentiment regarding health care is that unlike other goods, we simply cannot tolerate differences in consumption based on income differences. Having a rich guy with a 90-inch plasma TV as compared to a poor guy suffering with a 36″ cathode-ray tube TV is not nearly as intolerable as the idea that if both […]
Posted in Central Planning, ethical foundations, Extended Order on Nov 22nd, 2012
Today I reprint a piece I put together several years ago. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Four centuries after the celebration of the first Thanksgiving, there is still widespread disagreement about the reason for the Pilgrims’ feast. But whether it was a harvest festival, a strictly religious observance, or a thank you to the local Wampanoag […]
Posted in Extended Order, Fun Facts on Sep 11th, 2012
Today marks the 11th anniversary of the September 11th tragedy. I share my sympathies with all of the victims and their families and friends. But take a look at downtown and the site of the former WTC. Sure, there are several buildings going up and a memorial, but here we are 11 years later and […]
Posted in Central Planning, Extended Order on Aug 9th, 2012
This story is a few years old now, but is certainly worth retelling. The city of Sacramento famously has a statute on its books, 17.68.010 (sounds like it came straight out of an Ayn Rand novel) that basically requires residents to keep their properties neat. Now I am not necessarily against these sorts of requirements, […]
Posted in Extended Order, Resources on Aug 2nd, 2012
Here is an example of the plea by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, along with the support of various hiking and conservation organizations, for people to practice a “Leave No Trace” ethic when wandering in the New York State Forest Preserve (a designated “wilderness” area: I am extremely sympathetic to the LNT ethic and […]
