Archive for Art Carden
Art Carden teaches in the department of economics and business at Rhodes College.
Eugenics: Progressivism’s Ultimate Social Engineering
According to the received account of the Progressive Era, an enlightened government swept in and regulated markets for goods, labor, and capital, thereby protecting the hapless masses from the vicissitudes of unrestrained laissez-faire capitalism. The Progressives had faith that experts would rise above self-interest and implement wise plans to create a great society. The resulting [...]
21Sep2011 | and Art Carden | 21 comments | ContinuedThe New Holy Wars: Economic Religion Versus Environmental Religion in Contemporary America
We all, like sheep, have gone astray. We have sinned. We must humble ourselves. We must repent and turn from our wicked ways. These are the messages of our modern-day secular religions: economic religion and environmental religion. Throughout The New Holy Wars, Robert H. Nelson uses theological reasoning to explore them. His book is an [...]
21Apr2011 | Art Carden | 1 comment | ContinuedThe TSA Makes Us Safer?
We both have contributed to the debate about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) since the furor erupted over the new “enhanced pat-downs” and backscatter scanners, which some call “porno scanners.” This debate has shown how few are the real defenders of liberty, since even the “liberal” media have lined up with the government. The debate [...]
24Feb2011 | and Steven Horwitz | 2 comments | ContinuedWhy Not Socialism?
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Soviet Union collapsed, the Berlin Wall came down, millions were lifted out of oppression, and the Mises/Hayek critique of socialism was (supposedly) vindicated. As the world slogs through the continuing recession, however, dissenting voices grow louder. The late G. A. Cohen, an iconic political philosopher of the [...]
22Dec2010 | Art Carden | 6 comments | ContinuedHow Shall We Live?
What is civilization and how is it to be achieved? How can we live together in peace and social harmony? What is wealth and how do we acquire it? Why are so many people poor and why do they remain poor? Finally, are there objective standards of behavior that must be respected if societies are [...]
24Mar2010 | and Paul A. Cleveland | 1 comment | ContinuedHamilton’s Curse: How Jefferson’s Archenemy Betrayed the American Revolution–and What It Means for Americans Today
The more historical research I read and the more I contrast what economists write with what non-economists write, the more I am convinced that the bulk of history and biography should be redone. Thomas DiLorenzo, an economics professor at Loyola College in Maryland, explains why: “Most historians are not educated in the field of economics, [...]
24Feb2010 | Art Carden | 3 comments | ContinuedWalmart’s Bottom Line
Walmart is one of the world’s largest, most successful, and most vilified corporations. It was ranked number four in the Fortune 500 from 1995 through 1998, reached number one in 2002 and stayed there until 2009, when it fell behind Exxon Mobil. It’s also the only firm in the top four of the Fortune 500 [...]
5Jan2010 | Art Carden | 19 comments | ContinuedProfit is Bad for Your Health?
Many self-styled healthcare “reformers” favor a “public” (read: government) insurance option. The advantage of the government plan, President Obama said, is that “there wouldn’t be a profit motive involved.” Some supporters hoped the public option would be a step toward a single-payer government-run system in which the profit motive would disappear entirely from healthcare decisions. [...]
18Nov2009 | Art Carden | 8 comments | ContinuedThe Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives
Without private property rights, people have incentives to overuse an asset. Conflicting private property rights, on the other hand, create a “tragedy of the anti-commons” in which resources are underused, according to Michael Heller. In The Gridlock Economy, he treats the reader to a compelling array of examples of the tragedy of the anti-commons in [...]
19Aug2009 | Art Carden | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Great Depression and World War II
What about World War II? Did it end the Great Depression? More generally, is war good for the economy? I answer both in the negative and borrow here from Ludwig von Mises: “War prosperity is like the prosperity that an earthquake or a plague brings.” As Higgs points out, because of the array of interventions in the wartime economy, war materiel was valued incorrectly and therefore the GDP data overstate economic conditions. Moreover, conscription and arms production gave a misleading employment picture
21May2009 | Art Carden | 7 comments | 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
