I can understand someone saying, “Deregulation isn’t enough.” But you could double the supply of public housing without making a noticeable dent in the housing shortage. Rent subsidies are much easier to scale up, but subsidizing demand without increasing supply is almost the definition of crazy policy. Furthermore, if you want to create high-paid job opportunities for non-college workers, a rapidly growing construction sector is a dream come true.
Tag: family
Statism is The Strongest Witness Against Itself
Statism is incompatible with ethics; statism is incompatible with life, liberty, and property; statism is incompatible with humanity. You can tell this just by looking at the claims statism makes and where it leads.
Teachers Who Quit to Create Schooling Alternatives
It’s not uncommon for public school teachers to experience burnout or feel demoralized by the weight of their work. Many leave the classroom and the education profession behind to pursue other careers. In fact, U.S. Labor Department data reveal that public school educators are quitting their jobs at record-breaking rates.
Instead of Explaining Greta Thunberg, Debate Her Claims
Critics slam Thunberg as everything from “mentally ill” (a claim which got one Fox News guest blacklisted), to naive pawn in a well-funded propaganda operation, to just plain annoying teenager. I think those critics miss the point. If they disagree on the facts, they should dispute those facts rather than focus on Thunberg at all. But since the focus IS on her, let’s take a closer look.
Letter from a Pakistani Homeschooler
I recently received this email from Pakistani homeschooler Fasih Zulfiqar. I advised him to seek out econ professors at the nearest universities, but he’d likely appreciate further advice. Reprinted with his permission. Hello Prof Bryan, Fasih here. Perhaps Prof Cowen informed you about me, but in case he did not, let me introduce myself. I’m […]
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Food Is Freedom: How Washington’s Food Subsidies Have Helped Make Americans Fat and Sick
Farm subsidies are perhaps the ultimate, but secret, third rail of American politics. While entitlements are discussed out in the open, farm subsidies are rarely talked about – even though they are the most expensive subsidy Washington doles out.
The Fault Is Not in Our Stuff But in Ourselves
Bruce Sacerdote‘s NBER Working Paper, “Fifty Years of Growth in American Consumption, Income, and Wages” provides a nice update on the measurement of CPI Bias. The punchline should be obvious, but it’s great to hear such an eminent economist say it: “Meaningful growth in consumption for below median income families has occurred even in a prolonged period of increasing income inequality, increasing consumption inequality and a decreasing share of national income accruing to labor.”
Malevolence and Misunderstanding
I am glad to report that I have lost few friends in my life. But as far as I can tell, all of the rare exceptions were driven by misunderstandings. Someone spoke rashly, which hurt someone’s feelings, which led to retaliation, which led to more hurt feelings, and so on. Or, someone acted as they thought proper, but someone else perceived otherwise, which led to offense, which led to counter-offense. The same goes for all the people I know well. They’ve lost many friends, but years later they flounder to explain the casus belli.
You’re All A Bunch of Socialists
A fun figure from Tetlock et al.’s “The Psychology of the Thinkable”: Background: Participants were told that the goal of the study was to explore the attitudes that Americans have about what people should be allowed to buy and sell in competitive market transactions: Imagine that you had the power to judge the permissibility and […]
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Why Do Good People Do Evil Things?
Statism is the most popular religion in the world. It usually comes before any other religion the believer may have. When combined with other religions it can become even worse– just look at the Muslim world, the old “Moral Majority”, or “Focus on the Family” if you have any doubt about this danger.