Archive for T. Norman Van Cott
T. Norman Van Cott is a professor of economics at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.
More Border-Picture Economics
I suggested in the May issue that an aerial photograph of the border between barren Haiti and the heavily forested Dominican Republic was a predictor of the recent Haitian earthquake devastation. Not the earthquake, mind you, but the devastation that followed. The property-rights vacuum that encouraged Haitians to cut trees down without replanting also motivated [...]
29Jun2010 | T. Norman Van Cott | 0 comments | ContinuedSowing and Reaping Devastation in Haiti
Pictures and accounts of Haiti’s earthquake devastation remind me of a November 1987 National Geographic photograph of Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic–the two nations “share” the Caribbean island Hispaniola. The photo showed a heavily forested Dominican Republic and a barren Haiti. The caption noted that Haiti was once heavily forested. I bet some of [...]
19Apr2010 | T. Norman Van Cott | 6 comments | ContinuedSowing and Reaping Devastation in Haiti
Haitians bear the responsibility for the state of Haitian property rights. If not the Haitians, who else, pray tell?
15Feb2010 | T. Norman Van Cott | 13 comments | ContinuedExporting and Importing at the University
I’ve been an economics professor at public universities for going on 40 years—the last 30 at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. In the parlance of economics, this means I’ve been a long-time “exporter” of economics knowledge. Those paying my salary—students, parents, and taxpayers—have been “importers.” Students and parents import voluntarily. Taxpayers less than voluntarily. [...]
1Apr2008 | T. Norman Van Cott | 0 comments | ContinuedAmerica’s Role in Ending the Slave Trade: A Second Look
Honoring Great Britain’s withdrawal from the international slave trade has been an ongoing public event this year. The recurring message has been that the withdrawal—a watershed event in the elimination of slavery in the West—was largely the result of the actions of a single British politician, William Wilberforce. Wilberforce, imbued by strong Christian convictions, began [...]
1Jul2007 | T. Norman Van Cott | 1 comment | ContinuedThe U.S. Embargo on Cuba: A Red Herring
An erroneous assumption plagues the now decades-old debate about the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Debaters, both pro and con, take it as given that Cubans would be inundated with things American should the embargo be lifted. Nothing could be further from the truth. For left-liberal opponents of the embargo, the error probably traces to wishful [...]
1Jun2003 | T. Norman Van Cott | 1 comment | ContinuedRoberto and Fidel: Two Versions of Share the Wealth
Cecil Bohanon and T. Norman Van Cott teach in the department of economics at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. The October 1997 death of Roberto Goizueta, the former CEO of Coca-Cola who fled Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 1961, offers an opportunity to make a telling comment on the Cuban economy. To wit, the corporate regime [...]
1Apr1998 | and Cecil E. Bohanon | 0 comments | ContinuedImmigration: Friend or Foe?
James McClure and T. Norman Van Cott are professors of economics at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! [...]
1Oct1993 | and James E. McClure | 1 comment | ContinuedAmericans Overfed?
Drs. Van Cott and McClure are professors of economics at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Americans comprise five percent of the world’s population, yet consume 25 percent of world’s economic pie. Left-leaning pundits, professors, and preachers delight in juxtaposing these statistics to “prove” that Americans are materialistic, wasteful, and overfed. Many Americans accept this [...]
1Aug1993 | and James E. McClure | 2 comments | ContinuedForeign Investment Helps Americans
Professors Bohanon and Van Con teach in the Department of Economics, Ball State University, Muncie, Indi ana. Americans’ fear of foreigners owning U.S. based economic wealth has taken on epidemic proportions. Never mind that past periods of rapid U.S. economic growth have been accompanied by foreign investors’ active participation in the economy, the fear that [...]
1Mar1991 | and Cecil E. Bohanon | 0 comments | ContinuedBlockading Ourselves
Professors Bohanon and Van Cott teach in the Department of Economics at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Blockading enemies is a standard wartime tactic. The objective, of course, is to prevent an adversary from trading with other countries. At the same time, warring nations try to keep their own seaports open. In light of this [...]
1Feb1989 | and Cecil E. Bohanon | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Line-Item Veto Won’t Work
Professors Bohanon and Van Cott teach in the Department of Economics at Ball State University, Muncie. Indiana. Many Americans, including us, are concerned about Federal spending. Except to hardened statists, it is clear that government spending is out of control. This situation prompts many, especially those in conservative circles, to argue that granting Presidents line-item [...]
1Oct1988 | and Cecil E. Bohanon | 1 comment | ContinuedBumper-Sticker Economics
Professors Bohanon and Van Cott teach in the Department of Economics at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Economics is alive but not well on highways. Americans are continually instructed in the nuances of economics via a plethora of bumper stickers of questionable content. Some mobile placards thinly veil people’s attempts to increase their incomes by [...]
1Jul1988 | and Cecil E. Bohanon | 1 comment | ContinuedThe Job Abacus: No Guide to Public Policy
Professors McClure and Van Cott teach in the Department of Economics at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Media economic “experts” typically gauge economic events by counting jobs. Regardless of the issue, they measure the desirability of policies and outcomes in terms of the jobs that are allegedly created or destroyed. To the “experts,” a never-ending [...]
1Apr1988 | and James E. McClure | 0 comments | Continued-
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