Economics textbooks are full of clever-and-appealing policy proposals. Proposals like: “Let’s redistribute money to the desperately poor” and “Let’s tax goods with negative externalities.” They’re so clever and so appealing that it’s hard to understand how any smart, well-meaning person could demur. When you look at the real world, though, you see something strange: Almost no one actually pushes for the textbooks’ clever-and-appealing policy proposals.
Author: Bryan Caplan
Bryan Caplan is Professor of Economics at George Mason University and Senior Scholar at the Mercatus Center. He is the author of The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies, named “the best political book of the year” by the New York Times, and Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think. He has published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the American Economic Review, the Economic Journal, the Journal of Law and Economics, and Intelligence, and has appeared on 20/20, FoxNews, and C-SPAN.
The Dream of Open Borders
Like Martin Luther King, I have a dream: that my four children will one day live in a world where human beings will not be judged by the nation of their birth, but by the content of their character.
The Speech of Heroes
Almost everyone loves the idea of “speaking truth to power.” Standing tall, talking boldly, consequences be damned – how heroic! Yet on reflection, this Speech of Heroes takes two radically different forms.
When May We Be Happy?
I suspect that many readers are telling themselves, “This is going to be a great year once the vaccine brings us to herd immunity.” Wrong. This is going to be a great year starting today if you choose to make it great. And if you postpone happiness until society gets its act together, you’ll be waiting for a lifetime.
The Social Conservatism of Hollywood
The new Uncut Gems is further evidence for a thesis I’ve long maintained: Contrary to popular opinion, Hollywood makes a lot of socially conservative movies. When you strip away the glamorous actors and cool music, the message is clear: Live a responsible bourgeois life or you will soon be severely punished.
Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies
“The not-real-socialism defence is only ever invoked retrospectively, namely, when a socialist experiment has already been widely discredited. As long as a socialist experiment is in its prime, almost nobody disputes its socialist credentials. On the contrary: practically all socialist regimes have gone through honeymoon periods, during which they were enthusiastically praised and held up as role models by plenty of prominent Western intellectuals. It is only after the event (i.e. once they have become an embarrassment for the socialist cause) that their version of socialism is retroactively redefined as ‘unreal’.”
Explain Your Extremists
No matter how controversial your political views are, there are always people on “your side” who hold a more extreme position than you do. How do you account for such people?
Deludedly Deeming Deregulation a Disaster
Housing deregulation could deliver everything its proponents promise. Housing deregulation could bring back a world where high school grads commonly buy shiny new homes in high-wage regions. And if my respondents are correct, this seemingly rosy scenario would still outrage a great swath of the population.
So If Incentives Are Overrated…
Yes, “incentives matter” helps the case for some right-wing policies. But “incentives matter” also helps the case for some left-wing policies. If you think textbook economics is misleading – as I often do – you should do a full rethinking of your policy views. Don’t just single out the policies you dislike because they rest on questionable assumptions. Scrupulously investigate the implications for policies you like, too.
Cheer the Fall of the Wall
On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I explored Eugen Richter’s prescient dystopian novel, Pictures of the Socialistic Future. Eventually I even wrote a new introduction to a re-release of this classic book. For the 30th anniversary, let me share what is perhaps the most inspirational page Zach Weinersmith drew for Open Borders.