Inexcusable Unintended Consequences
Does the fact that the adverse consequences of a policy are unintended excuse them? Under what circumstances is “I didn’t mean it” a sufficient excuse or apology, with no further actions required?
Prove that would have been invented without patents!
In an email someone mentioned to me a particular key invention from a few decades ago, which was responsible for a number of other high-tech innovations that we now enjoy, and asked me to “show us how any of that could have happened if there were no patents.” My response is below.
Why is the burden on me to show how it could have happened without patents? The question is itself question-begging, as it assumes the patents played a causal role, which must be either explained away or for which a substitute incentive effect must be found.
Our Corporate Oligarchy and the Road to National Socialism
It was common on the Left to intimate that George W. Bush was like Hitler, a remark that would drive the National Review crowd through the roof but which I didn’t find entirely outrageous. Bush’s main method of governance was to stir up fear of foreign enemies and instigate a kind of nationalist hysteria about the need for waging war and giving up liberty through security.
You Can’t Print Production and Prosperity
It’s hard to imagine that the monetary policy talk can get any nuttier, but we’ve likely only just begun. After all, despite the Fed’s 140 percent balance-sheet increase and zero interest rates, the bankruptcies just keep on coming.
P.I.G. Tales
Reading about Hoover’s and FDR’s mistakes and the coming Obama miscues won’t make the economy any better and may not make you feel better. But at least you’ll know why this depression will last a long time.
Understanding “Austrian” Economics
“Austrian” economics owes its name to the historical fact that it was founded and first elaborated by three Austrians.
Richard Epstein on Happiness
Econtalk hosts Richard Esptein on burgeoning happiness studies literature (see link for example).
Gold versus Fractional Reserves
[This article originally appeared in The Freeman, May 1979.]
The present worldwide inflation has done, and will continue to do, immense harm. But it may eventually lead to one great achievement. It may make it possible to restore (or perhaps it would be more accurate to say to create) a full 100 percent gold standard.
The Bureaucracy Problem
It is commonly held that the unplanned “anarchic” nature of capitalist production necessitates bureaucratic regulation to prevent economic chaos. Thus the prominent Hungarian Marxist, Andras Hegedus, argues that bureaucracy is merely “the by-product of an administrative structure” that separates the workers from the actual management of the economy. Since the owners make the decisions, all others must ultimately take their orders from this small group.
“The Financial Crisis and the Systemic Failure of the Economics Profession”
That is the title of a new paper in the latest issue of Critical Review, by Colander, Goldberg, Haas, Juselius, Kirman, Lux, and Sloth. The article is not yet online, but the abstract is here:
