Archive for David Osterfeld
The late David Osterfeld was an associate professor of political science at St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana.
Book Review: The Rise and Fall of Leftist Radicalism in America by Edward Walter
Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut • 1992 • 194 pages • $45.00 Edward Walter’s The Rise and Fall of Leftist Radicalism in America is, in the author’s words, “a defense of liberal democracy and the United States as its foremost practitioner” from the onslaught of the leftist radicals, whose attacks he views as “devious, unfair, and [...]
1Feb1994 | David Osterfeld | 0 comments | ContinuedOverpopulation: The Perennial Myth
Dr. Osterfeld is Professor of Political Science at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana. “What most frequently meets our view (and occasions complaint) is our teeming population. Our numbers are burdensome to the worM, which can hardly support us . . . . In very deed, pestilence, and famine, and wars, and earthquakes have to [...]
1Sep1993 | David Osterfeld | 17 comments | ContinuedBook Review: Lords Of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, And Corruption Of The International Aid Business by Graham Hancock
Atlantic Monthly Press, 19 Union Square West, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10003 • 1989 • 226 pages • $17.95 cloth Foreign aid has reached immense proportions. If one excludes the billions spent yearly by private voluntary organizations such as the Hunger Project, Oxfam, and World Vision, and looks just at money raised by taxation [...]
1Jun1991 | David Osterfeld | 9 comments | ContinuedThe Failures and Fallacies of Foreign Aid
David Osterfeld is Associate Professor of Political Science at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana. The case for foreign “aid” is seldom made; it is taken as axiomatic. In its 1980 report, North-South: A Program for Survival, the Brandt Commission states that “The poorer and weaker countries have not been able to raise much money [...]
1Feb1990 | David Osterfeld | 10 comments | ContinuedAfrica and the Difference Between Growing Food and Eating It
David Osterfeld is Associate Professor of Political Science at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana. A recent article dealing with the food problem in Africa lamented the fact that in 1984 140 million of its 531 million people were fed entirely with grain from abroad” and that “in 1985 the ranks of those fed with [...]
1May1988 | David Osterfeld | 0 comments | ContinuedVoluntary and Coercive Cartels: The Case of Oil
An important policy consideration is the ability of cartels to control prices. Too often this issue is discussed without distinguishing between voluntary, or free market cartels and coercive, or state-supported cartels. This distinction is fundamental. Coercive cartels distort the market, resulting in serious inefficiencies which harm consumers. Voluntary cartels, on the other hand, enhance market [...]
1Nov1987 | David Osterfeld | 4 comments | ContinuedSocialism and Incentives
David Osterfeld is Associate Professor of Political Science at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana. One of the major issues of socialism is that of incentives. Critics often argue that because it “abolishes” profits and losses, socialism eliminates incentives. Defenders maintain that since it eliminates the role of capitalists and entrepreneurs, workers under socialism “produce [...]
1Nov1986 | David Osterfeld | 2 comments | ContinuedAfrican Famine: The Harvest of Socialist Agriculture
David Osterfeld is Associate Professor of Political Science at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana, and an associate of The Institute for Humane Studies. The popular explanation of the current famine in Africa is the drought. But is this convincing? The North American Great Plains has major droughts about every twenty years, the most severe [...]
1Oct1985 | David Osterfeld | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Politics of Economic Stagnation
Dr. Osterfeld is Assistant Professor of Political Science, St. Joseph’s College, Renaselaer, Indiana. Although being gradually undermined throughout much of the twentieth century, the traditional international economic order—free trade and migration, private property, the international division of labor—has recently been subjected to its most serious attack since Lenin’s Imperialism appeared in 1917. This time the [...]
1Nov1981 | David Osterfeld | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Government, the Market and the Poor
When one argues that the government has become too large and ought to be reduced inevitably the first question that comes to the minds of most people is: what would happen to the poor? This is certainly a legitimate question. What would be the condition of the poor if all government “poverty” programs were abolished? [...]
1Nov1980 | David Osterfeld | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Bureaucracy Problem
Why socialism requires bureaucracy to cope with problems of priorities, efficiency, and distribution.
1Mar1979 | David Osterfeld | 2 comments | ContinuedThe Free Market and the "Tyranny of Wealth"
The monopolies in the Progressive period: a market or governmental development?
1Dec1976 | David Osterfeld | 0 comments | ContinuedMarx, Mises and the Interest Doctrines
Whether one sees conflict or harmony of interests under capitalism depends upon his theory of value.
1Apr1975 | David Osterfeld | 0 comments | ContinuedMarx, Mises and Socialism
Further thoughts concerning the vital role of the market and money for economic calculation.
1Oct1974 | David Osterfeld | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Nature of Modern Warfare
A study of the path to war via domestic welfare programs and departure from the market.
1Apr1972 | David Osterfeld | 0 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
