All Posts Tagged With: "rational ignorance"
Public Schools through the Public Choice Lens
Regarding the state of government (“public”) schooling in the United States today, two facts stand out. The first is that the average amount of money spent per pupil has dramatically increased during the past 35 years and is now one of the highest in the world, and the second is that student achievement, by both [...]
22Sep2010 | Michael Bors | 7 comments | ContinuedIn Defense of Ideology
There have been many statements recently to the effect that we should not let “ideology” or “philosophy” stand in the way of solving our economic problems. Indeed, the Obama administration (like the previous Bush administration) is keen to persuade us to drop all this prejudice and to go after each problem–banking, stimulus, and so forth–on [...]
19Aug2009 | Mario Rizzo | 0 comments | ContinuedBook Reviews – March 2008
- Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies
by Bryan Caplan Reviewed by Dwight Lee - The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World
1Mar2008 | George C. Leef | 1 comment | Continued
I, Government
I am government–the institution known the world over to all who pay taxes, get subsidies, and face regulation. Coercion is both my vocation and my avocation; it is in my very nature to compel others to do that which they otherwise would not do. My nature should then be of great concern to you as [...]
1Oct2002 | D.W. MacKenzie | 1 comment | ContinuedA New Old American Concept of Political Liberty
It is odd that a libertarian should have a conception of political liberty at all. Isn’t it the case that there is a permanent war between freedom and politics? Surely any reduction in the political sphere produces a concomitant increase in individual liberty. Has not choice in the market, characterized by personal autonomy and spontaneity, [...]
1Mar2002 | Norman Barry | 0 comments | ContinuedSound 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 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | ContinuedEconomists’ Misplaced Faith in an Invisible Hand
Contributing editor Daniel Klein is associate professor of economics at Santa Clara University. He is editor of What Do Economists Contribute?, recently published by New York University Press and the Cato Institute. In academia most economists practice technical crafts. Academic incentives strongly favor such crafts, and economists pursue academic rewards, perhaps with a faith in [...]
1Aug2000 | Daniel B. Klein | 0 comments | ContinuedCan Government Deliver the Goods?
Hugh Macaulay is Alumni Professor of Economics Emeritus at Clemson University. Students in their first course in economics learn that every country faces three problems that it must resolve. What goods will be produced? How will it produce these goods? and, who will get the goods produced? Since the questions deal with economic matters, it [...]
1Jan1999 | Hugh Macaulay | 0 comments | ContinuedWhat Big Government Is All About
This article is excerpted from Libertarianism: A Primer. Government has an important role to play in a free society. It is supposed to protect our rights, creating a society in which people can live their lives and undertake projects reasonably secure from the threat of murder, assault, theft, or foreign invasion. By the standards of [...]
1Apr1997 | David Boaz | 1 comment | ContinuedOn the Need for Social Coercion (excerpt)
Mr. Huemer is a graduate student in philosophy at Rutgers University. He was Third Prize winner in the 1995-1996 Olive W. Garvey Fellowship. A copy of his full essay is available on request. Editor’s Note: In his paper, Mr. Huemer argues that social coercion is unjustified in attempts to solve the tragedy-of-the-commons problem both because [...]
1Jan1996 | Michael Huemer | 0 comments | Continued-
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