Category Archives: Economics

Behind The Staff Revolt At That Pro-Israel Cafe

I’ve noticed that when I start publicly advocating something, I rarely set off an inevitable chain reaction in furtherance of my stated goals. Instead, I usually force people to react to me, and just as often as not, they’re going … Continue reading

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Hayek: A Life, 1899-1950

From LROB: Hayek was crossing the Atlantic, under radio silence, when the Reader’s Digest article appeared. He had been anticipating a relaxed promotional tour of a handful of American universities, but when he landed in New York he found that … Continue reading

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Biden Favors Lawyers Over Economists

From the Washington Post: The change captures a shift in the party — also spurred by Trump — as Democrats pay more attention to powerful gestures and less to following the intellectuals and policy savants often perceived as out of … Continue reading

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Get Another Job

Nicholas Nassim Taleb writes in his book Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder: As we saw with the Voltaire story, it is not possible to stamp out criticism; if it harms you, get out. It is easier to change jobs … Continue reading

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Economics Is Racist

From the New York Times: Economics has a history of discrimination and, in some cases, outright racism. George Stigler, a Nobel laureate and an early leader of the American Economic Association, criticized the civil rights movement in 1962 and wrote … Continue reading

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Cognitive Capitalism: The Effect of Cognitive Ability on Wealth, as Mediated Through Scientific Achievement and Economic Freedom

From SciHub: Traditionally, differences in wealth between nations are explained by differences in institutional, economic, geographic, and historical-political factors (Landes, 1998). Newer models also include human capital, the stock of individuals’ abilities that allows societies, nations, and cultures to work … Continue reading

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Free Trade Doesn’t Work: What Should Replace It and Why by Ian Fletcher

Here are some highlights from this 2011 book: * Foreign governments treat trade as war and use every trick in the book—legal and illegal under international agreements—to grab their industries a competitive advantage. And even when they don’t cheat, they … Continue reading

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Is Economics A Science?

An academic emails me: “I didn’t read the book, but if Glaeser is describing it accurately then the authors have a very naive understanding of science–i.e., interminable disagreement means an activity isn’t science. Galeser points out that physicists disagree about … Continue reading

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Why do Jews have more wealth than Christians?

* Book: Wealth in America * Higher IQ predicts higher performance. * Linda Gottfredson on IQ and achievement. Audacious Epigone: “A paper by Helmuth Nyborg tracking white adolescents by religious denominational membership, IQ, and income by way of the NLSY, … Continue reading

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Economists and Merkel’s migrants

Greg Cochran writes: Someone polled a number of prominent economists whether the influx of refugees into Germany beginning in 2015 will generate net economic benefits for German citizens over the succeeding decade. About half said yes, a little less than … Continue reading

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