Archive for Russell Roberts
Russell Roberts teaches economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. His latest book is The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance (MIT Press).
Why Not More Liberty?
There are two extreme views of American government and the political process. One is that policy is the result of special interests rigging the system in their favor and exploiting the ignorant or at least impotent masses. The other is that government pretty much gives the people what they want. My own view is much [...]
5Jul2010 | Russell Roberts | 0 comments | ContinuedWe Need Multimedia Economics Teaching
Earlier this year I was invited to give a talk at an art gallery in Georgetown, the posh area of Washington, D.C., down the street from the White House, abutting the Potomac River. I confess this doesn’t happen to me very often. Okay, I exaggerate—it never happens to me. This was my first invitation ever [...]
1Oct2006 | Russell Roberts | 1 comment | ContinuedThe End Run to Freedom
What does the future hold for economic life in the United States? Will we move toward greater freedom or less? What role will ideas and rhetoric play, if any, in making sure that the direction is one that lovers of freedom prefer?
1Jun2006 | Russell Roberts | 0 comments | ContinuedIt’s Always Something
Our economy is in the middle of an extraordinary run of success. Unemployment is low.Personal wealth is near an all-time high. Real wage growth sometimes appears less robust, but when benefits are included, real compensation is healthy. And even with the cries from some that economic mobility
isnt what it once was, legal and illegal immigrants continue
to flock to the United States. Evidently being poor here beats being poor elsewhere by a long shot.
Supply, Demand, Inventory
Supply-and-demand analysis is the bread and butter
of classroom economics. All over America as the
leaves change color and college commences, professors
of economics are shifting supply and demand
curves and showing how the price of a good changes in
response.
Who Hates Wal-Mart and Why?
America remains a country where you can get fabulously rich rolling the dice on a business venture or lose all your money. We have the greatest venture-capital market in the world. Our culture honors success almost unashamedly, from athletes to entertainers to entrepreneurs. At the same time, there is a tendency to tear down the [...]
1Jul2005 | Russell Roberts | 5 comments | ContinuedHalf Full or Half Empty?
It’s easy being pessimistic about the future of America, especially for those of us who are classical liberals. We prefer limited government, yet government seems to continue to grow in all soils, in all weather, no matter which party’s watching the farm. As dispiriting as this growth can be, it’s good to remember that the [...]
1Apr2005 | Russell Roberts | 0 comments | ContinuedWhy Not More Liberty?
Russell Roberts holds the Smith Chair at the Mercatus Center and is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He is a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. His latest book is The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance. There are two extreme views of American government and the political process. One is that [...]
1Dec2004 | Russell Roberts | 0 comments | ContinuedTraitor or Trader?
Daniel Sumner is in trouble. Sumner, an agricultural economist at UC Davis, has been accused of betraying his country. What has Sumner done? Given the charge, you might assume that he has aided terrorists or leaked nuclear secrets. Or perhaps shared some sophisticated technology with America’s enemies.
1Sep2004 | Russell Roberts | 1 comment | ContinuedHave a Canadian Orange
Suppose gasoline became so expensive that getting oranges to Wisconsin raised their price to $3 each. If that price were expected to persist for a long time, there would probably arise a Wisconsin citrus industry with all the trimmings. Orange orchards would be planted near the Illinois border where the weather is warmest.
1May2004 | Russell Roberts | 1 comment | ContinuedWhy Are Economists So Misunderstood?
Here is a puzzle. I’m at a social gathering that includes some doctors. One doctor is discussing a prescription drug for a particular ailment. I interrupt with a lengthy discourse on the medication, explaining that the doctor’s understanding is faulty. He has misunderstood the most important applications of the drug. His analysis of the side [...]
1Jan2004 | Russell Roberts | 8 comments | ContinuedMedical Care and Market Forces
I’ve heard it argued that market forces don’t apply to health care because there isn’t anything close to a free market in health care. There are all these government programs, and there’s insurance, and patients don’t have as much information as doctors. The list of market “imperfections” is a long one. Supply and demand just [...]
1Oct2003 | Russell Roberts | 4 comments | ContinuedProfits Versus Love
A few years back we thought about building a deck or a porch on the back of our house. But we decided against it when the estimates started coming in. They were about double what the architect had told us it would cost. Double! Had the architect misled us as a way of encouraging us [...]
1Jun2003 | Russell Roberts | 0 comments | ContinuedDisorder on the Court
What does Adam Smith have to do with basketball? You will not find the word in either The Theory of Moral Sentiments or The Wealth of Nations. Yet Smith has much to say about the game played with the round ball on a hardwood court. Consider the following quote from The Theory of Moral Sentiments: [...]
1Mar2003 | Russell Roberts | 0 comments | ContinuedWidening Route 6
I really shouldn’t tell you this, but Cape Cod is a very beautiful place. I shouldn’t mention its beaches with their towering sand dunes. I shouldn’t mention the golden eagle I saw soaring over the marsh near the cottage where we stayed on vacation. I shouldn’t mention the charm of the Cape Cod baseball league, where college players try to show major league scouts they can hit with a wooden bat and where the fans get in for free and the dogs and toddlers are unleashed.
1Dec2002 | Russell Roberts | 1 comment | ContinuedWhat Do Farmers Want from Me?
You’d think in a democracy that the greater the number of people on your side of an issue, the more likely it will be that you’ll get your way. But it ain’t necessarily so. As Mancur Olson, Gary Becker, and others have pointed out, in politics, small is often beautiful. Take farmers. When farmers were [...]
1Sep2002 | Russell Roberts | 2 comments | ContinuedEnron Lessons
The Enron soap opera continues to unfold. and as it unfolds, lessons are being learned. Some people are learning lessons about the energy business. Some are learning lessons about the securities business. Some are learning lessons about the accounting business. But some are not content to learn such narrow lessons. They want to look at [...]
1Jun2002 | Russell Roberts | 1 comment | 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
