Archive for Gene Callahan
Gene Callahan is the author of Economics for Real People and Puck: A Novel.
Hayek’s Challenge: An Intellectual Biography of F.A. Hayek
Bruce Caldwell notes that “challenge” describes the career of Austrian economist F. A. Hayek in several senses. Hayek frequently challenged prevailing ideas. He opposed economic planning when its popularity was at its zenith. He rejected the theories of John Maynard Keynes even as the vast majority of economists and policy makers enthusiastically embraced them. He [...]
2Jul2010 | Gene Callahan | 2 comments | ContinuedFantasy Is Not an Adult Policy Option
The Freeman, quite understandably, has an editorial focus on the advocacy of libertarian solutions to economic and social problems. In this article, however, I wish to enter a plea for adult solutions to such problems, a plea that transcends any left/right or statist/libertarian dichotomies. As I hope to persuade readers—or any serious advocates of any [...]
24Feb2010 | Gene Callahan | 4 comments | ContinuedMichael Oakeshott on Rationalism in Politics
The British philosopher and historian Michael Oakeshott is a curious figure in twentieth-century intellectual history. He is known mostly as a “conservative political theorist,” although he rejected ideology and his conservatism was primarily temperamental. Furthermore, his work on politics was only a fraction of his output, which comprised idealist philosophy, aesthetics, religion, education, the philosophy [...]
20Jan2009 | Gene Callahan | 7 comments | ContinuedConsumption Must Be Curtailed to Sustain the Human Race?
Jared Diamond, in a January 2 op-ed in the New York Times, argues for a political solution to what he sees as a looming “consumption crisis” facing humanity. He notes that the current consumption of many resources, such as oil and metals, is roughly 32 times higher in the developed than in the developing world [...]
1Apr2008 | Gene Callahan | 1 comment | ContinuedIs Fair Trade a Fair Deal?
Gene Callahan is the author of Economics for Real People. We’ve all seen the signs in our local cafes, boasting something like: “We proudly sell coffee brewed with Fair Trade coffee beans, acquired at a price that permits sustainable farming and pays growers a living wage.” These posters are part of a popular trend in [...]
1Mar2008 | Gene Callahan | 3 comments | ContinuedHow a Free Society Could Solve Global Warming
The phrase “global warming” has been around for quite some time, but in the past year it has captured the spotlight as never before. One can’t turn on the radio or open a newspaper without facing ads from “green” corporations, or hearing the latest way to reduce one’s “carbon footprint.” With even prominent Republicans (such [...]
1Oct2007 | Gene Callahan | 11 comments | ContinuedAthletes’ Salaries Too High? Sports Fans, Blame Yourselves
Gene Callahan is the author of Economics for Real People. I was sitting in a sports bar recently when the bartender and three of the patrons near me began discussing the salary of New York Yankee third-baseman Alex Rodriguez. (Rodriguez currently makes roughly $25 million per season.) One of the customers said it was absurd [...]
1Jul2007 | Gene Callahan | 56 comments | ContinuedThe Vanity of the Philosopher: From Equality to Hierarchy in Post-Classical Economics
By Sandra J. Peart and David M. Levy Reviewed by Gene Callahan
1Apr2007 | Gene Callahan | 1 comment | ContinuedSales, Flat, or Spherical, Tax Reform Isn’t the Answer
Lately there has been a flurry of interest in tax reform, typically aimed at making compliance less onerous, removing the incentive for special-interest lobbying, and reducing the size and intrusiveness of the tax-collection agency. While few people will reject those ends, that does not imply that the attempt to achieve them is the optimal use [...]
1Nov2006 | Gene Callahan | 13 comments | ContinuedInflation Is a “Phantom Menace”? It Just Ain’t So!
Gene Callahan is the author of Economics for Real People: An Introduction to the Austrian School and the just-published novel Puck. Princeton University economist Paul Krugman, in his New York Times column of June 16, argues that the current fears about an increase in the U.S. inflation rate actually pose a more serious threat to the [...]
1Oct2006 | Gene Callahan | 1 comment | ContinuedHypnotized by Models
We live in an age where abstract models of the real world are held in high regard. Wall Street firms hire mathematicians and physicists to create sophisticated mathematical representations of various assets and markets. Meteorologists employ computer simulations in an attempt to anticipate the path of storms and predict next week’s weather. Marketing firms try [...]
1Mar2005 | and Gene Callahan | 1 comment | ContinuedFree-Trade Theory No Longer Applies?
In an op-ed in the January 6 New York Times, “liberal” U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and conservative economist Paul Craig Roberts tapped into the anxiety felt by many Americans about their changing roles in the global economy. The authors argued that new economic conditions undermine the classic argument for free trade: The case for free [...]
1May2004 | Gene Callahan | 0 comments | ContinuedLet Us Not Speak Falsely Now
One of the most difficult issues facing those arguing for a free society is the bias built into the way we speak. When the very words people use create a prejudice in favor of government intervention, supporters of freedom must first alert their audience to this pernicious influence, and only then can the argument about [...]
1Mar2004 | and Gene Callahan | 1 comment | ContinuedNationalized Health Care Will Cut Costs?
A group called Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) is promoting a government insurance plan to cover all Americans. In an August 13, 2003, Los Angeles Times report, the group claimed that their “single payer” plan would eliminate $200 billion a year in “administrative, marketing and other private-industry expenses.” This would save enough “to [...]
1Jan2004 | and Gene Callahan | 15 comments | ContinuedMoney Talks?
When discussing business dealings, the phrase “Money talks!” often comes up. A similar aphorism is, “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” The idea behind such sayings is that a person who is paying money is the superior of the person receiving the money. The payer gets to determine the nature of the relationship, [...]
1Sep2003 | Gene Callahan | 1 comment | ContinuedThe Road to Liberty: Persuasion and Aggression
The author would like to thank Jan Lester and Paul Birch for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. This is drawn from a lecture given at FEE in February. I would like to highlight two diametrically opposed ideas that I believe can help clarify our notion of liberty. Any specific human action can [...]
1Jun2003 | Gene Callahan | 1 comment | ContinuedA Classic Hayekian Hangover
Roger Garrison is professor of economics at Auburn University and author of Time and Money: The Macroeconomics of Capital Structure (Routledge, 2001); Gene Callahan is author of Economics for Real People (Ludwig von Mises Institute, forthcoming). Do busts follow investment booms as hangovers follow drinking binges? Dubbing the idea “The Hangover Theory” (Slate, December 3, [...]
1Jan2002 | and Roger W. Garrison | 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
