America’s “War Culture”
My latest article at Liberty Chat is a reaction to Tyler Cowen’s NYT column on the economic benefits of war. An excerpt:
My point in this essay isn’t to wag my finger at Tyler Cowen; I know he isn’t “for” war and I know he wasn’t pining for a war to stimulate the economy. Rather, I am criticizing the fact that in modern American life, it is a far worse sin to even say or write something that could conceivably be construed as tolerating slavery, whereas discussing the benefits of war carries no professional repercussions and hardly any social ostracism. Yes, American plantation slavery was a horrible thing, but the melting of children at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was at least as despicable. And yet, Tyler Cowen can call the Manhattan Project a “speedy and decisive achievement” without fear of alienating his respectable lunch companions. Such a declaration at worst provokes his critics into complaining about opportunity cost, rather than demanding an apology to the descendants of the victims of the U.S. government’s atomic bombs.
My Father’s Day Tribute
Don’t get me wrong, we were going to the karaoke bar anyway–it was Sunday, duh.
Potpourri
==> My latest Mises CA blog post goes back to the issue of “productivity” versus labor compensation.
==> Cory Massimino also opposes the shooting of cops in pizza places.
==> Rognlie has the longest “Note” you’ve ever seen, dissecting Piketty’s argument in terms of estimates of elasticity from the literature.
==> This Noah Smith post on macroeconomics is refreshingly honest. Yeah yeah yeah, many of you aren’t going to like Noah’s methodological position, but the point is, he’s showing that “cutting edge” macro is not very sharp.
Two Posts on Climate Change Policies
My latest two points at IER concern climate change…
==> In this one, I use Paul Krugman as a springboard to explain why conservatives/libertarians should never agree to a “market-based” carbon tax deal.
==> In today’s post, I walk through the EPA’s own cost/benefit analysis of its proposed power plant regulations. An excerpt:
If she wanted to claim something congruent with her agency’s own published materials, [EPA Administrator Gina] McCarthy could have said, “My fellow Americans: These proposed rules on power plants would impose net harms on this generation of Americans, and would impose net harms on our kids, in order to confer net benefits on non-Americans. Also, according to computer simulations, it is possible that by hurting ourselves and our kids, these power plant regulations will confer net benefits on Americans who will be born a few decades from now, thereby allowing them to fly around in their hover cars in air that is imperceptibly cooler than it otherwise would be.” Yet this formulation doesn’t have quite the same ring as “the sake of our kids’ future,” does it?
The Universe Is Beautiful–Unless You Think Someone Designed It
Unfortunately I can’t find it, but on Facebook recently I saw a poster saying something like, “If the universe were created by an intelligent being, why would he leave 99.9999999% of it empty?”
Somewhat apropos, when I took my son to the Smithsonian’s planetarium last week, the show opened and the whole place (filled with junior high kids) was immediately spellbound. And not because a bunch of white dots on the ceiling are impressive, but because everybody knew that this represented outer space.
Whether you are an atheist or a theist, we can all admit that the universe is absolutely breathtaking. As we watched the planetarium show unfold, and we “moved” out of the galaxy, I actually felt panic-stricken for a moment as I contemplated just how far away we were from home and safety. Obviously the mere existence of an awe-inspiring, colossal universe doesn’t prove the existence of an awesome and even more colossal Creator. But it surely isn’t a strike against Him, either.
There is no reason God shouldn’t have spread galaxies unimaginably far apart; it’s not like He was working with a production budget. You might object, “But God should’ve built us a universe teeming with so much variety that it would take humans countless generations to explore its mysteries and catalog all of its diverse life forms.” He did do that. It’s called Earth. For extra credit He embedded it in the cosmos.
Do Not Underestimate the Power of the Dark Side
What a great week! We’ve got activists tiptoeing around cop-killing, and we’ve got tenured professors explaining the economic benefits of war. (Maybe Adam and Tyler should do a new “Odd Couple” show: the hijinx ensue!) I’ve never felt so lonely in my own views.
It is truly stunning to see the sloppy arguments by which people justify mass killing. In response to my recent piece arguing that persuasion is a better strategy than opening fire in restaurants, a guy wrote in the comments: “Tell it to Citizens in Iraq, Syria, etc..”
Look, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it is naive to think that peaceful education is the best strategy for lasting liberty. Maybe people do need widespread violence to overthrow despotic regimes.
But, when you want to show me why violence against despotic regimes is a better strategy than voluntary education, you shouldn’t really point to Iraq to make your argument. That’s like Krugman saying 2009 proved he was right about stimulus. (And I’m betting the guy who left that comment–being a reader of LibertyChat.com–would recognize the fallacy immediately in the case of Krugman and fiscal stimulus.)
No, I’m Not Anti-Science
My Facebook post after I took my son to DC:
During the Smithsonian planetarium show we learned (a) the cohesion of galaxies means there must be a bunch of “dark matter,” (b) the acceleration of universe’s expansion means there must be a bunch of “dark energy,” and (c) using E=mc^2, the dark energy + dark matter accounts for 95% of the total universe. In other words, physicists have no freaking clue how to explain their observations. I recognize smart people when they’re bluffing, because I’m an economist.
The State Rests on Consent of the Governed
I am spending three days in DC for some presentations on carbon tax issues. It was interesting to see the disparate reactions to the upset of Eric Cantor, among my acquaintances who live and breathe politics out here. The younger crowd was fired up at the toppling of the much better funded and establishment-backed Cantor. On the other hand, I talked with others who were aghast at how the radicals in the Tea Party would now be able to scare even those career Republicans who retain their seats and thereby make it harder to govern responsibly.
The lesson I take away from this episode is the point Mises often made: Even though the State may often seem incredibly powerful, it ultimately rests on the consent of the governed. If you doubt this statement, consider: In totalitarian regimes, the man on top is ruthless in his control of the media and educational system. If somebody puts up graffiti challenging the regime, it gets taken down immediately. This shows that even the worst despots recognize the importance of public opinion.
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