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).

Of 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 | | 0 comments | Continued

Individualism and Intelligence

How intelligent are human beings? This short question is complex. Of course, intelligence exists in many varieties. A math genius might believe in the predictive powers of Tarot cards; a great novelist might stumble over the simplest exercise in logic; a stellar manager might be ignorant of literature. While interesting, this particular complexity afflicting the [...]

1May2003 | | 1 comment | Continued

Possibilities vs. Reality

You are visiting a museum, admiring a marble statue of Julius Caesar. Suddenly, you’re shocked to see his arm and hand extend outward toward you and wave. You rightly suspect that the statue is not really marble at all—that it is a machine more appropriately displayed in an amusement park’s haunted house than in a [...]

1Apr2003 | | 0 comments | Continued

Book Review: In Defense of Global Capitalism, by Johan Norberg

In Defense of Global Capitalism by Johan Norberg English translation by Roger Tanner. Timbro • 2001 • 291 pages • $11.95 paperback Reviewed by Donald J. Boudreaux In Defense of Global Capitalism fully accomplishes the goal revealed by its title. Here, Swedish historian and political writer Johan Norberg adeptly explains why free trade and free [...]

17Mar2003 | | 0 comments | Continued

Self-Interest, Part 2

When he tried to do anything for the good of everybody, for humanity, for Russia, for the whole village, he had noticed that the thoughts of it were agreeable, but the activity itself was always unsatisfactory; there was no full assurance that the work was really necessary. . . . But now since his marriage, [...]

1Mar2003 | | 1 comment | Continued

Self Interest, Part I

Asked on camera by John Stossel “Who has done more good for humanity, Michael Milken or Mother Teresa?” philosopher David Kelley unhesitatingly answered, “Michael Milken.” Kelley is surely correct. But I’ve spoken to many people who are horrified by this answer. Mother Teresa’s name is synonymous with good deeds and humanitarian concern. In contrast, Michael [...]

1Feb2003 | | 1 comment | Continued

Technology in Perspective

What role does technology play in creating prosperity? Recently, I was involved in a heated e-mail debate on this question. Although technology is unquestionably important, it is not the key to prosperity. Much more fundamental and vital is the institution of private property fashioned and enforced by a genuine rule of law. Those who disagree [...]

1Jan2003 | | 0 comments | Continued

Sensible Assumptions

I’m proud of the contribution that the best economists have made to our understanding of society and to the preservation of freedom. What would our world be like today if F. A. Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises, and Adam Smith had not written and lectured as they did? These four great men, and scores [...]

1Dec2002 | | 0 comments | Continued

The Wrecking Ball and the Prosperity Tower

The economic question of greatest importance to Adam Smith remains the economic question of greatest importance today: what causes wealth? What conditions best encourage economic growth and widespread prosperity? The general answer is easy: private property rights and freedom of contract. When everyone enjoys the right to acquire, own, use, and exchange property rights voluntarily, [...]

1Nov2002 | | 1 comment | Continued

Muting Messages

As schoolchildren we learn of ancient kings who, when told of their armies’ defeats, angrily commanded that the messengers be put to death. Each of us recoils at the cruelty and pointlessness of such killings. We ask ourselves how anyone could be so foolish as to imagine that a messenger is in any way to [...]

1Oct2002 | | 0 comments | Continued

Equality and Capitalism

Probably the most common charge against capitalism is that it creates wealth and income inequality. The frequency of this allegation testifies to the fact that it strikes a chord with large numbers of people. It’s so believable. After all, who can deny that Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and bond traders each have vastly more money [...]

1Sep2002 | | 6 comments | Continued

Escaping Modernity

Many writers have described the mishmash of emotions and ideas that motivate the “antiglobalization” protesters who have been so much in the news since the 1999 Seattle riots. To point out that many of these ideas are irreconcilably at odds with each other is now old hat. (What, for example, does it mean to be [...]

1Aug2002 | | 2 comments | Continued

An Open Letter to My Parents

Dear Mom and Dad: I suppose I’m typical: not until my own child came along did I reflect seriously on the sacrifices you made and on the challenges you confronted in raising my siblings and me. There’s so much to thank you for. But here I focus on what is surely your most precious gift [...]

1Jul2002 | | 3 comments | Continued

Absorbing Immigrants

America should re-open its borders to immigrants. Not until 1924 did the government generally limit the number of people who could come to America and make it their home. If America’s borders had been closed, say, a century earlier, the civilization that we now call “American” would not exist. The Irish, Germans, Italians, Scandinavians, central [...]

1Jun2002 | | 28 comments | Continued

I Recycle!

I spoke recently to a group of college students on the economics of environmental protection. As I spoke of the market’s amazing ability to conserve natural resources, one young man asked me, “Do you recycle?” “No,” I answered. “Well, thanks for the effort,” he replied with bitter sarcasm. Before I could explain my answer, he [...]

1May2002 | | 16 comments | Continued

Politics and Prohibition

Writing in the December 2001 Atlantic Monthly, Judge Richard Posner called for an end to the “war on drugs.” He is among a small but growing number of eminent scholars and officials who openly advocate that the state get out of the drug-prohibition business. Milton Friedman and William F. Buckley Jr. have long pressed for [...]

1Mar2002 | | 1 comment | Continued

Sound Bites and Unsound Decisions

Place: an executive meeting room at Boeing’s headquarters. Background: a meeting is about to commence between Boeing’s chairman and CEO, Phil Condit, and a team of Boeing engineers. The engineers asked for the meeting to explain to Mr. Condit a new method they’ve devised for manufacturing aircraft. By increasing the efficiency of the assembly process, [...]

1Feb2002 | | 0 comments | Continued
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