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Economics Is One Discipline With Low Perceived Barriers to Entry

I know there is a much more eloquent Rothbard quote to this effect, but I want to second his observation: For some reason, many people have no hesitation in confidently offering views about economic topics even though they would be much more modest if it came to another specialty. For example, at Thanksgiving I was […]

Chicago vs. Vienna Tag Team!!

I haven’t read Doug’s piece yet, but today at Mises.org you’ve got my Open Letter to Gary Becker (regarding whether depressions are “good”) and MacKenzie’s critique of Richard Posner on the same topic.

Trusting the Model Over the Measurements?

.This may shock some readers, but I really do try to keep abreast of the work of the “real climate scientists” and not get trapped in a corner listening to various skeptics argue whether Al Gore is evil or just crazy. Since one of the latest snarky things is for skeptics to point out that […]

More Evidence That Libertarians Aren’t the Rudest Ones Around

At MR they link to this Yglesias blog post on pricing carbon, and how libertarians just don’t get it. There are some rather strong comments regarding the intelligence and integrity of libertarians who oppose government caps on carbon emissions. (Note that I haven’t even read the piece Yglesias is ripping, so please don’t construe my […]

Tim Swanson Hearts China

Here’s a neat article from Free Advice reader (and hot-tip-giver*) Tim Swanson, who just moved to China. He explains why he thinks the construction boom in China is the real deal. Plus, some cool photos, such as: * Please excuse the liberal use of hyphens, but I was afraid that “hot tip-giver” would imply he […]

"Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen?" Joseph’s Answer

I have always loved the Genesis story of Joseph (Gen. 37-50). The runt in the family, he was a bit of a braggart and so his older brothers decided to kill him. But for various reasons the plan changes at the last second, and they “only” sell him into slavery. (What’s funny is that when […]

We Have Always Been At War With Troubled Assets

A little 1984 reference for ya… So for a brief window on Sunday, it seemed the government was considering buying “toxic” assets from Citigroup to get them off of its books. (See the first update in this CNBC story. HT2 CalculatedRisk via MR.) You know, the original rationale for the $700 billion, and then the […]

Are Libertarians Superlative in More Ways Than Political Analysis?

In an MR thread discussing Paul Samuelson’s (rather hypocritical) condemnation of libertarians, someone calling himself goodnessOfFit declared: As someone who identifies with libertarians more than the other guys I will say this. For some reason it (along with Objectiveism and Austrian Economics) attracts some of the rudeist a**holes you will ever meet online or in […]