Should We Use Probability in Economics?

Modern economics in addition to sophisticated mathematics also employs probability distributions. What is probability? The probability of an event is the proportion of times the event happens out of a large number of trials.

For instance, the probability of obtaining heads when a coin is tossed is 0.5. This does not mean that when a coin is tossed 10 times, five heads are always obtained.

However, if the experiment is repeated a large number of times then it is likely that 50% will be obtained. The greater the number of throws, the nearer the approximation is likely to be.

How to Desocialize

The following points of desocialization must necessarily be written or read sequentially, but they need not be carried out in that manner: all the following points could, and should, be instituted immediately and all at once.

Martin Van Buren: El presidente más infravalorado de Estados Unidos

Martin Van Buren es probablemente uno de los presidentes de Estados Unidos más difamados y paradójicamente uno de los más olvidados. Sin embargo, en su tiempo, fue una de las grandes fuerzas que ocuparon el Partido Demócrata. Aunque muchos historiadores tienden a rebajarlo a favor de presidentes más “activistas”, quiero adjudicarle su lugar correcto como una de las piezas centrales del movimiento jacksoniano de las décadas de 1830 y 1840.

Bryan Rothman is an undergraduate historian (future PhD candidate) with an interest in Jewish, Middle Eastern, econom

Freedom and the Minimum Wage

Most of us both value and take for granted the ability to make decisions about our own lives. When busybodies put their noses and their mouths into our personal affairs, we often say or at least think, “Mind your own business.” Unfortunately, we live in a world in which too frequently government won’t leave us alone, and instead, very actively tries to mind our business for us.

Health Care: American Mania vs. Canadian Sclerosis

I follow several physicians from Canada on Twitter. Since I do not have first-hand experience of that health care system, I find their accounts instructive. Shawn Whatley, a Canadian physician I follow, wrote in a 2015 blog post entitled “Medicine resists change” that:

Canadians took a bold, progressive move in the 1960s and created Medicare. And we’ve blocked change ever since.

E-Verify Threatens Us All

In addition to funding for a border wall and other border security measures, immigration hardliners are sure to push to include mandatory E-Verify in any immigration legislation considered by Congress. E-Verify is a (currently) voluntary program where businesses check job applicants’ Social Security numbers and other Information — potentially including “biometric” identifiers like fingerprints — against information stored in a federal database to determine if the job applicants are legally in the United States.