The team behind the Sokal 2.0 hoax self-consciously targeted what they call “grievance studies.” What ties all their targets together? My preferred answer is that grievance studies embrace both antipathy and self-pity.
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.
Two Tactical Reasons to Show Business Some Love
Most economists admit that business serves socially valuable functions. When I express earnest appreciation for business, however, my peers usually respond by mocking Ayn Rand. The sarcasm sings: “Oh, those heroic entrepreneurs!”
Discounting Identity
I recently remarked: “Appealing to your identity is a reason to discount what you say, not a reason to pay extra attention.” Why do I believe this?
How to Believe in Free Speech
Almost all libertarians earnestly say, “I believe in free speech.” Normally, though, this goes way beyond the right to speak freely. Most libertarians also believe that free speech “works” in some sense – that given a free exchange of ideas, the truth will at least ultimately prevail. On reflection, this is an awkward position.
State Capacity is Sleight of Hand
While good social outcomes all tend to go together, the state capacity literature fails to show that government is the crucial factor that makes all the others possible. Indeed, as far as I can tell, existing empirics are quite consistent with Sutton’s Law that people rob banks because “that’s where the money is.”
Szasz and the Statistics of Rare Events
Do the statistics of rare events prove Szasz right? No, but they do tip the evidentiary scales further in his favor. If X almost never happens, basic numeracy urges us to question whether the few purported cases of X are genuine – especially if many of us feel a temptation to claim X regardless of the truth.
What Do Liberal Abusers Really Think?
#MeToo’s most notorious alleged sexual predators, Harvey Weinstein and Eric Schneiderman, were also prominent liberals. Even if both of these figures miraculously turned out to be innocent, there must be plenty of vocally left-wing perpetrators of sexual violence. My question: What do liberal abusers really think? What’s actually going on inside their heads?
The Human Capital Purist Case Against Tax-Funded College
In the Soho Forum debate on “All government support of higher education should be abolished”, I heavily based my argument on the signaling model of education. But if I were a human capital purist, I still would have defended the abolitionist position – albeit less triumphantly. Here’s how.
Funding Higher Education Debate: My Opening Statement
Why should higher education receive government support? There are two main arguments. The first is the economic argument. Government support is allegedly economically beneficial not merely for individual students, but for society as a whole. The second is the humanistic argument. Economic effects aside, government support is vital for the promotion of intrinsically valuable ideas, culture, and values.
Irrational and Negligent
What’s wrong with your intellectual opponents? One of the most popular answers is that they’re “stupid and evil.” Most of the thinkers I respect go out of their way to disavow this facile answer. Indeed, most of the thinkers I respect go out of their way to praise their opponents’ intelligence and virtue. They don’t merely opine, “We can disagree without being disagreeable.” They put those who disagree with them on a pedestal. My respect notwithstanding, this seems odd. If your opponents are so great, why are they still your opponents?