Economics

Archive for Economics

Yet More on Utility Theory

Another post at Mises CA: Someone might choose to go to the gym and lift heavy weights, rather than sit on the couch eating pizza. Thus the lifting of the weights gave more utility, even though it was physically painful and very unpleasant per se. Or, a person might choose martyrdom over renouncing her religious […]

Lord Keynes Strikes Again

One of the better-read thorns in my side is a guy (I assume) calling himself “Lord Keynes.” He is definitely smart, and has read a lot of economics, but he’s slick as glass and at best is Chaotic Neutral. I’m posting this exchange on the main page here because it will clear up some confusion […]

Cardinal vs. Ordinal Utility

Uh oh, it’s David R. Henderson and me vs. Tyler Cowen and David Friedman. How do you rank the gladiators? An excerpt: There has been a flareup in free-market economist circles over the issue of “interpersonal utility comparisons.” First Tyler Cowen wrote a post that took it for granted that a rich man got less […]

Physicists vs. Economists

I suggested that Noah Smith must be trolling when he argues that the public takes economists more seriously than physicists. Noah retorted in the comments: “I ain’t trollin’! People think physicists are smart, but could a physicist write a book about where to get lunch and get taken seriously?” Now I appreciate a jab at […]

Keynesian Bask

I want to figure out how much a standard Keynesian thinks that holding interest rates 0.5 percentage points too high, will increase unemployment (in percentage terms). For example, suppose a recession hits and that a Keynesian thinks full employment requires the Fed to set interest rates at 2 percent, but instead the Fed for some […]

The Market for Parenthood

I wrote a FEE piece responding to Abigail Hall’s argument for allowing cash payments in the adoption market, and I tackle Gene Callahan’s objection. An excerpt: Right now, some human beings have the legal status of parenthood vis-à-vis other human beings. Right now, it is perfectly legal to transfer that status to another willing party. […]

Potpourri

==> Blimey Cow on “there should be a law.” ==> A new Fraser Institute collection (edited by Don Boudreaux) on (the decline of) economic freedom and entrepreneurship in the US. ==> I liked this post by Bryan Caplan, on how “econ melts your brain” (and not in a good way–he doesn’t mean, “It’ll blow your […]

U.S. Oil Output Approaching Record Levels

In an article at IER, I discuss the once-fashionable “peak oil” theory, which treated a country or the world’s oil production as if it were just a giant well. The economics went out the window, and instead the analysis relied merely on the natural sciences. Peak oil theory was popular for decades because it seemed […]