Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Environment, Methodology, Religion, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Dec 13th, 2013
It should be clear that by now if a reporter says something, then it simply must be true. I hate giving the blow by blow in the Climate Wars, because too much of it is yet another food fight and not well-intentioned people disagreeing. So here is Seth B., a regular climate reporter for the […]
Posted in Classical Liberalism, Competition, Corporatism, Economic Illiteracy, Economics Problems, ethical foundations, Government Thuggery, If I Really Hated the Poor ..., Market Failures, Methodology, Politics, Religion, Voluntary Society, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Dec 10th, 2013
The “left” sees the last 34 years as a revival (was there ever a VIVAL?) of laissez-faire dogmatism. Some folks like myself see it as almost the diametric opposite. Of course, some of this could be “settled” by empirical evidence. The number of pages of regulations? The dollars spent complying with regulations? The number of […]
Posted in Methodology, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Oct 26th, 2013
Dear Global Warming Deniers: If it actually turns out that you are wrong and that the global damages from CO2 emissions may actually be harmful in the long run, are you prepared to suggest that we direct policies to do something about it, especially low or no regrets policies that will not doom us if […]
Posted in ethical foundations, Inequality, Methodology on Oct 1st, 2013
For those of you looking for good reasons to support progressive taxation (note that is different than asking one group to pay more, we are asking them to pay more than more), I would suggest you stay away from the idea that “a dollar is worth more to a poor person than a rich person.” For starters, […]
Posted in Methodology on Sep 25th, 2013
I find it very useful to question hard some of the things I think I know, and to also persuade myself that it is possible for me to support something that often-times I would be inclined to reject out of hand as being silly. Take for example the case of inflation. I know about all kinds of […]
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, media, Methodology, Religion on Sep 14th, 2013
I hope one day many of you will have the pleasure of visiting a college class. And not just any college class, but one in which students are about to hear good news about some particular topic. I mean it. Good news. Why do I wish for you to see this episode? Because if I […]
Posted in Methodology on Aug 14th, 2013
If you don’t read all of my colleague Steven Landsburg’s books and blog posts, you really are missing out on something special. In a short post from a couple days ago, Steve demonstrates very nicely everything that is right with the world, and illustrates why not only is it such a pleasure to have him […]
Posted in Methodology on Jul 23rd, 2013
On a run recently I saw a car with this bumper sticker: Now, some provisions of the PPACA have been enacted since the middle of 2010. But the major provisions of the law, such as the execution of the insurance exchanges and the deadline for individuals to have health insurance coverage or face a penalty, […]
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Health Care, Methodology, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Jul 16th, 2013
We all have some emotions tied to the good ol’ days. But that does not make for good or particularly consistent policy. Consider a reference to the good ok’ days of the environment (Ignore the actual facts). It is thought that we need to work toward a more “sustainable” future largely because in comparison with […]
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Methodology on Jul 15th, 2013
If there ever was a feast day that was a perfect analogy for our biased beliefs, this surely is it. You may begin your global warming analogies now. The celebration comes from the same time period that we used to put animals and pests on trial for the damage that they did to croplands. We’ve […]