A few months ago, Mike Huemer published a pithy defense of business in general, and big corporations in particular. Since I’ve made similar arguments in the past, my admiration for Mike’s essay is no surprise. Yet as I read, counter-examples and complexities sprang to mind. When is business unresponsive? When is government responsive? And why?
Tag: action
Michael Munger: When is Voluntary Choice Really Voluntary? (48m)
This episode features an interview of economist Mike Munger from 2015 by Trevor Burrus and Aaron Powell, hosts of the Free Thoughts podcast. They talk about voluntary transactions and questions of justice in market pricing. What would everyone agree is truly voluntary? Are disparities in bargaining power coercive? What’s wrong with using the state to address these disparities? What about price gouging situations? What about sweatshops?
Bad Policies Fuel Fires
California burns due to its unwillingness to thin out forests.
The Missing Right-Wing Firms: A Beckerian Puzzle
Most research on the economics of discrimination focuses on race and gender, but Becker’s framework works equally well for political bigotry.
Back-To-School 2020: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Parents face a mixed bag of innovation, regulation, and tyrannical invasions.
Public Choice: The Normative Core
The economic analysis of politics goes by many names: political economy, rational choice theory, formal political theory, social choice, economics of governance, endogenous policy theory, and public choice. Each of these labels picks out a subtly different intellectual tradition. Each tradition expands our understanding of the world. My favorite, though, remains public choice.
Social Isolation Is Damaging an Entire Generation of Kids
This resignation to ongoing government lockdowns, endless social distancing, mandatory mask orders, and travel restrictions—even as the virus wanes in the US—is damaging to our social and economic health, and may be particularly problematic for children who are separated from their peers.
The Subtle Power of Changing Your Identity
One of the most powerful switches I ever made when changing my entire life was switching up my identity.
Teachers Unions Are More Powerful Than You Realize—But That May Be Changing
The pandemic is set to weaken the long-held grip of teachers unions on US education and social policy, and strengthen educational diversity and choice for more families. It may also prompt a closer look at the outsized influence of public sector unions more generally. Taxpayers should know what they are paying for.
Facebook’s Violence Standards Make for a Bad Business Plan
“Facebook Employees Are Outraged At Mark Zuckerberg’s Explanations Of How It Handled The Kenosha Violence,” reads the headline at Buzzfeed. One such employee asks “[a]t what point do we take responsibility for enabling hate filled bile to spread across our services?”