Archive for Anthony de Jasay
Anthony de Jasay is an Anglo-Hungarian economist living in France. His book Social Contract, Free Ride was recently published in paperback by Liberty Fund.
Think of a Number: A Theory of Rational Forecasting
We don’t know how many blood-curdling economic forecasts are the result of career planning rather than sincere professional conviction. What we do know, though, is that such forecasts are the best method of deepening the gloom, frightening the credulous, and making the worst more probable.
21May2009 | Anthony de Jasay | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Struggle to Subdue Luck
There was a time in Western societies under the rule of law when a person’s circumstances, such as his relative position in society, could only be branded as unjust if they could be shown to result from some breach of the rules of justice. The rules were enshrined in ageless conventions and elaborated in common [...]
1Apr2007 | Anthony de Jasay | 0 comments | ContinuedBelt and Braces in the Labor Market
Like every exchange, the exchange of labor for money is protected, as it were, by a belt, the contract. Labor, it is argued, must additionally be protected by the braces of justification. In even plainer English, this means that in order to dismiss a worker, an employer cannot simply rely on the contract telling him that he can do so by giving notice that will, so to speak, unbuckle the belt. He must also contrive to unbutton the braces by dealing with a requirement of justification.
1Jun2006 | Anthony de Jasay | 0 comments | ContinuedHow Not to Combat Corporate Corruption
The recent and unusually rich spate of corporate fraud by creative accounting has set off two streams of verdicts. One condemns capitalism as a rule system that has no moral and cultural foundations of its own. When the foundations it has inherited from earlier rule systems get eroded by wear and tear, capitalism becomes a [...]
1Oct2002 | Anthony de Jasay | 1 comment | Continued-
The Latest
Contraception: Insuring the Uninsurable
Update below. Controversy rages over the Obama administration’s mandate that all employers – including... Read More
The Snow Plowers’ Petition
The following might have happened in a small college town in upstate New York… In a cold and snowy... Read More
Super Bowl versus Education?
In the spirit of Super Bowl weekend I’d like to deconstruct a Facebook status update that a friend... Read More
Capitalism, Corporatism, and the Freed Market
When a front-running presidential contender tells the country that thanks to Barack Obama, “[w]e are... Read More
Creating Jobs versus Creating Value
Picking on New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is one of the largest participation sports on the Internet.... Read More
