Archive for Donald J. Boudreaux
Donald Boudreaux is professor of economics at George Mason University, a former FEE president, and the author of Globalization. He is the winner of the 2009 Thomas Szasz Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Cause of Civil Liberties (general category).
So Much to Read!
A student recently asked me to recommend books that will help her to better understand the economy and society. I love such questions because they give me the opportunity to recall books that were especially important in my own intellectual development, and to reflect anew on their messages. So here I list the ten non [...]
1Apr2006 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | ContinuedCapitalism and Natural Disasters
Six of America’s ten most powerful storms have struck during the past half-century, yet only one of them (Katrina) is among
Americas ten deadliest hurricanes.
Manuel Ayau: Guatemala’s Liberal Searcher
Driving to my hotel from the Guatemala City airport on my first trip to Guatemala in January 2000, I commented to my host that I was pleasantly surprised to find no customs agents ransacking peoples luggage. In fact, once my fellow fliers and I had our passports stamped by the passport-control officials,
the airport was refreshingly clear of the usual swarms of harassing government officials.
The Dangers of Eminent Domain
In Kelo v. City of New London the United States
Supreme Court greatly weakened the constitutional
protections that property owners have enjoyed
against governments wishing to seize private property.
This weakening is unfortunate.
Research Needed!
If you’re an economics graduate student looking for a good dissertation topic, this is your lucky day. Here are two topics that I sincerely believe are worthwhile, challenging, and—if done well—could launch you into academic stardom. The first topic is best expressed as a question: how much of our material standard of living do we [...]
1Sep2005 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | ContinuedAre Private Decisions Trustworthy?
In coming months, and probably years, President Bush’s “Ownership Society” proposals—in particular, his plans for personal accounts within Social Security, health savings accounts, and more school choice—will stimulate national discussion in directions politicians for decades have feared to tread. Whether you think the President’s specifics have merit or not, this development should be seen as [...]
1Jun2005 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | ContinuedOn Price Gouging
The immediate aftermath of a natural disaster inevitably brings much higher prices for staple goods, such as lumber, batteries, fuel, and bottled water. Just as inevitably, these higher prices are roundly decried as unjust and inexcusable. Such price hikes are slapped with the derisive name “price gouging.” And even people who typically endorse markets often [...]
1Apr2005 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | ContinuedDrops and Splashes
My wife, Karol, and I recently painted some rooms of our home. When I bought the paint at Home Depot, the helpful saleswoman showed me a new product: a plastic lid that slips on a gallon-sized paint can more easily than, but just as snugly as, the original metal lid. And it’s much easier to [...]
1Feb2005 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | ContinuedNovel Economics
Economist Bruce Yandle tells of his first encounter with Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson: “I thought to myself, ‘What arrogance!’” Bruce said. “Here was I, fresh from surviving four years in a rigorous economics Ph.D. program, and I run across this slim book in which a journalist announces that he’s going to teach economics [...]
1Nov2004 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | ContinuedPlaying by the Rules
During the 1992 presidential campaign, candidate Bill Clinton lyrically and repeatedly praised Americans “who play by the rules.” He did so to indicate that under a Clinton presidency, unlike under the Reagan-Bush regime, such people would not be cheated and harmed by people who break the rules. I was unaware then (as I remain now) [...]
1Sep2004 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | ContinuedA Deficit of Understanding II
Writing in the January/February 2004 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, Sherle Schwenninger of the New America Foundation joined Warren Buffett and scores of politicians in bewailing America’s trade deficit. Like his intellectual compatriots, Schwenninger simply assumes that the trade deficit is debt and that it’s ominous. It is neither. A trade deficit exists for the [...]
1Jun2004 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 3 comments | ContinuedA Deficit of Understanding
“Nothing, however, can be more absurd than this whole doctrine of the balance of trade.” —Adam Smith The Wealth of Nations Here’s some sound advice: don’t worry about the trade deficit. The pundits’ and politicians’ hysteria over the trade deficit is rooted in confusion. The fact is, a trade deficit is unlikely to be a [...]
1Apr2004 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 5 comments | ContinuedCan You Spot the Billionaire?
A Canadian student once confessed to me the confusion and anger he suffers whenever any of his friends move to the United States. I asked him why he feels this way. He replied that he “could never live in a country with such a high Gini coefficient.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of income [...]
1Jan2004 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 25 comments | ContinuedThe State Is the Source of Rights?
In 1776 a reliable indicator of an American’s opinion of the ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence was his attitude toward the 1649 execution of England’s King Charles I. Liberals, who shared Jefferson’s principles, believed Charles to have been a tyrant and hence most deserving of losing his head. Conservatives, resisting the call to [...]
1Dec2003 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 2 comments | ContinuedOblivious to the Obvious
“Ironically, the birth of a child is registered as a reduction in national income per head, while the birth of a farm animal shows up as an improvement.” -Peter Bauer (1991) Each passing year makes me more and more aware of human beings’ astounding capacity for overlooking the obvious. I have in mind here not [...]
1Nov2003 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 1 comment | ContinuedBut what about . . . ?
My Virginia license plate, adorning both bumpers of my Japanese car, reads FRE TRDE. I always mention this to audiences so they know exactly where I stand on the question of how free consumers should be to spend their incomes on foreigners’ goods and services. I am proudly, completely, confidently, and unconditionally a free trader. [...]
1Sep2003 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | ContinuedOf Human Hypocrisy
A scene in W. Somerset Maugham’s beautiful novel Of Human Bondage captures the hypocrisy and pretense of much of what passes today for enlightened thought. Philip Carey, the novel’s protagonist, invites a dying friend, Cronshaw, to spend his final days at his small apartment. Cronshaw is a penniless poet. Leonard Upjohn is a self-satisfied writer [...]
1Jun2003 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | Continued-
The Latest
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Capitalism, Corporatism, and the Freed Market
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Creating Jobs versus Creating Value
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