All Posts Tagged With: "marginalism"

Hayek, Strauss, and the Political Waltz

Here’s a little trivia question for you: name an important innovation of the 1870s that continues to influence our lives today. The innovation occurred in Austria, or more specifically, in Vienna. While it was greeted throughout continental Europe as something new and exciting, a more accurate description would be that it was a new twist [...]

1Jun2005 | John Hood | 0 comments | Continued

The Problem of Environmental Protection

A common belief is that economists don’t care much about the environment because they are preoccupied with money, markets, and material wealth. And when economists do consider ways to protect the environment, they emphasize benefits and costs, trying to express all values in terms of cash.

1Apr2001 | Dwight R. Lee | 2 comments | Continued

Sacrificing Lives for Profits

I pointed out in my last column that despite what people commonly say about how human life is priceless, they put a price on their lives every day with their actions. People take chances that shorten their life expectancies to do things that are fun, and for the convenience and savings of not taking every precaution possible.

1Nov2000 | Dwight R. Lee | 1 comment | Continued

Marginalism and the Morality of Pricing Human Lives

When I ask students in my large economics classes if some things are just too important to put a price on, someone always answers, “human life.” This seems like a reasonable answer.

1Oct2000 | Dwight R. Lee | 0 comments | Continued

Take This Job and Shove It, at the Margin

Many believe that pay is overemphasized and much too unequal in market economies. Supposedly, most people enjoy working, and so while they have to be paid to survive comfortably, they don’t have to be bribed with bonuses tied to performance to do a good job. Indeed, psychological experiments indicate that the intrinsic interest people have in doing a task declines when they are paid for doing it.

1Sep2000 | Dwight R. Lee | 0 comments | Continued

It’s the Margin That Counts

Economists, like everyone, have opinions about how the world should be. And it would be disingenuous to claim that economists never let their opinions influence their conclusions and recommendations. But the power of economics is in fundamental concepts that prevent economists from letting their imaginations obscure reality. They may wish that scarcity didn’t exist, that [...]

1Jun2000 | Dwight R. Lee | 16 comments | Continued

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