“Capital goods” are the materials that create wealth. And when what you have to work with are your machetes and your shovels and your chainsaws, those are your capital goods. If you can take care of those, maybe you will take care of the bigger capital goods (with more potential for wealth creation).
Tag: order
5 Things I Learned Debating the Harvard Prof Who Called for a “Presumptive Ban” on Homeschooling
Last week, I outlined much of my argument against Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Bartholet that I incorporated into our debate, but here are five takeaways from Monday’s discussion.
Thought Experiments
The claim I heard from some economists was that you can’t have trade without inequality. While I believe inequality is inescapable, natural, not undesirable, and an inevitable outcome of freedom and prosperity, I don’t think it is logically necessary in order for mutually beneficial trade to occur.
COVID-19: “Second Wave” or Not, No More Lockdowns
Here we go again: Fear of a “second wave” of COVID-19 infections is on world tour. Naturally, the same “experts” who demanded a global lockdown/shutdown in response to the “first wave” are saddling up for an encore. Their logic, faulty the first time around, is even more so the second.
Police Violence: “Reform” Is Not Enough
Every few years, some particular instance of a pervasive phenomenon — police violence in the form of unjustified or at least highly questionable killings — “goes viral” with the result that America’s cities explode in protest. Every time that happens, some American politicians complain about a non-existent “war on police,” while others promise “reforms” such as closer supervision (like the increase in body camera use following the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri), civilian review boards to investigate complaints, better training, and of course more money. After each round of “reforms,” the problem continues.
Every Man His Own Dominion
All humans need freedom and responsibility in their lives. Together, those map pretty well to the ancient Judeo-Christian idea of the “dominion” of all humans with regards to the creation around them.
Randy Barnett: Polycentric Legal Orders (49m)
This episode features a talk by lawyer and legal theorist Randy Barnett from 1997. He speaks broadly on various methods of constraining state power including federalism and the separation of powers, the power of exit, and existing and theoretical polycentric legal orders. Barnett suggests that two simple rules must be present for polycentric orders to work: a “nonconfiscation principle,” and a “competition principle.”
On Riotous Looting
One of the many foundational reasons for the strong possibility of police brutality is the fact that people have either willingly or under coercion outsourced their own security to a group of people who claim not to have any duty to provide it.
What I’m Thinking
1. Getting people to be rational about politics is an uphill battle during the best of times. During a global hysteria, it’s hopeless. 2. Due to this doleful realization, I refrained from discussing the lockdown when it first emerged. The best course, I deemed, was to wait for readers to simmer down. 3. Since many have now simmered down, here’s what I was thinking three months ago.
Trump’s “Free Speech” Doctrine: Never, Ever, Ever Mention He’s a Liar
On May 28, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order on “Preventing Online Censorship.” From the title and the document respectively we can draw to two lessons. First: Never, ever, ever believe the title of a government document.