The Ethics and Incentives of Socialized Law
Noam Scheiber makes a radical suggestion. Eric Posner has lots of reasons why it’ll never work. Burt Likko says, “There’s a few things neither of you bright fellows have thought of.”
Tagged: economics
Frum Many, One
In a piece called “Robots Undercut the Case for More Immigrants” (seriously), David Frum argues that we shouldn’t let too many immigrants into the country because they will just be replaced by robots and therefore languish in intractable poverty.
This is wrong.
Meanwhile, Our Children Continue Their Undaunted Assault on Mammon…
I have a piece up at the Atlantic called “What’s Really Behind the Ever-Rising Cost of Raising a Child in America“. You should go read (and comment) there. To summarize: the cost of raising...
“Unfit to Work”
Both of my parents worked for General Motors “on the line” as they say. When I was about nine, Mom was out of work for two years because of muscle problems. Dad has similar...
“The biz ain’t what it used to be.”
(The above is a screenshot of the Atlantic’s homepage taken March 10th around 11:30PM. A recap of SNL skits sits next to an article about nuclear war and above a photo series depiciting international...
IMPORTant Statistics: The Value of Value-Added Metrics
My regular readers are aware that I am deeply irritated by what I see as a sort of New Orientalism creeping into discourse regarding the rise of East Asia as the center of global...
Sketching Out States in Fantasy: Two Cases from Avlis
As promised here are two cases from Avlis of magic equipped societies. I will begin with a (moderately) short description of each state, then compare the place of magic and its political economy. This...
The Arcana of Political Economy: A Follow-Up
Author’s Note: This post is a follow-up to my original post on the political economy of magic. It’s highly recommended that you read that original post and the discussion thread after. I’m happy to...
The Political Economy of Low-Cost Extradimensional Energy
Reading through Taylor Martin’s excellent blog pointed me in the direction of a Dan Nexon post at the Duck of Minerva. Both Martin and Nexon have interesting takes on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of...
A Romantic, a Monk, and a Neoliberal Walk Into a Bar…
On Romanticism in Politics Romanticism is wonderful in a work of fiction, art or video game. As a died-in-the-wool modern day romantic, I’ve spent most of my life doing my best to use fantasy...
Inequality by Half Measures
By M.A. Note: This post is part of our League Symposium on inequality. You can read the introductory post for the Symposium here. To see a list of all posts in the Symposium so far,...
How Inequality Harms
By M.A. Note: This post is part of our League Symposium on inequality. You can read the introductory post for the Symposium here. To see a list of all posts in the Symposium so far,...
Government Enforced Inequality
By James Hanley Note: This post is part of our League Symposium on inequality. You can read the introductory post for the Symposium here. To see a list of all posts in the Symposium so...
The Positive Sum Outlook
Note: This post is part of our League Symposium on inequality. You can read the introductory post for the Symposiumhere. To see a list of all posts in the Symposium so far, click here. By...
AUCTIFICUS AEQUALITAS
Note: This post is part of our League Symposium on inequality. You can read the introductory post for the Symposium here. To see a list of all posts in the Symposium so far, click...
Consensus Facit Legem
By Wardsmith Are HOA’s a good metaphor for government? In the much-commented OP by Dr. Hanley, interlocutor M.A. brought up Home Owner Associations (HOA’s), most specifically as a foil against the concept that Libertarians...
Invitation: Ordinary Gentlemen’s Inequality Symposium
By James Hanley You (yes, you) are invited to submit a post for the Ordinary Gentlemen’s Inequality Symposium. The question to be addressed is: What, if anything, is wrong with inequality? Anyone may participate,...
A Response to ‘Democracy, Coercion, and Liberty’
~by James Hanley Erik’s been trying to work out a question about the libertarian justification of the state, and so far it hasn’t gone well. His first attempts were not well understood, at least...
Social Forces and Vulgar Libertarianism
Will Wilkinson makes an important observation about the affinity between libertarians and conservatives. At the heart of the fusionism between the two groups, he explains, is the notion of individual responsibility. Whereas libertarians and...
We’re On The Road To Somewhere
The incentive-oriented world view explored at length by works like Freakonomics really appeals to me. Making every social issue into a problem of inadequate or incorrect incentives can really help to clarify things and...
