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Matt Yglesias Makes Some Notes Relevant to My Theory of Democracy
I’ve had some ideas, but I am the first to admit they are no well hashed out and my political science knowledge is sorely lacking. However, this is more or less how I thought about the traditional...
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Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
There has been a lot of praise about Obama’s jobs speech that he delivered last night, both in style and in substance. I thought the style was just fine, and has set Obama up in a position where he can...
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One Idea to Rule Them All
Bob Frank has an essay in the NYT adapted from his new book The Darwin Economy. The thrust of it seems to be that many goods are positional. When the ability to achieve important goals depends on...
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Caplan on Single Mothers
One of the things I love about Bryan Caplan is his intellectual fearlessness. It was clearly on display in his series of posts about single mothers. It says something about both Bryan and myself that I...
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What can Justin Timberlake teach us about the moral limits of markets?
Let’s be realistic, probably nothing. But I could be proven wrong by a new film he stars in that has the potential, at least, to raise some interesting ethical questions. Here is the summary from...
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Herman Cain is a Freight Train
Look at these numbers I understand the smart person thing to say is that “The Party Decides” and I don’t see how the party chooses Herman Cain. Nonetheless, I really want to see how this ends because...
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Some non-answers on population ethics
Karl raises some interesting questions about the morality of bringing someone into existence. These are tough questions, but one group makes it a little easier to narrow the overton window by earnestly...
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Unsubstantiated Claims
Niklas says I should call this series “stream of consciousness”. However, to be clear this is not meant to suggest that anyone I happen to mention is making an unsubstantiated claim but that this is...
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Cowen and Caplan on Voluntary Taxes
Steven Landsburg suggested that those who want to tax the rich should voluntarily pay more taxes themselves. I disagreed. Tyler Cowen responds Karl Smith is irritated by the argument, but I don’t see...
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Miscarriage, Abortion and Personhood
There is a discussion going on, on The Corner about abortion that I like. Even though I think it’s a lot less “serious” than I would prefer its much more serious than most takes I read. By serious I...
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A Sympathetic Account of Geithnerism
You are a centrist New Keynesian Technocrat who is set to become Treasury Secretary during what looks like a replay of the Great Depression and the Japanese Depression. However, Ben Bernanke is the...
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OWS and the Tea Party
I began this post just to share the graphic at the bottom, but got carried away in the lead in. As a bloodless technocrat I am always unnerved when the people take to the streets. As I recently told a...
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Is the Future of Humanity Too Good to Be True
Some of my favorite commenters were puzzled by my post of the End of History. Quick notes for those who haven’t followed me all the way on this multi-year journey 1) The End of History is the notion...
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Boudreaux on Bastiat and Krugman
This post by Don Boudreaux really helps me understand his antipathy towards Paul Krugman’s modern writing. Essentially, Boudreaux point is that Krugman undermines the long project of getting people to...
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Megan McArdle on Consumerism
Megan has an elegant review in the Wall Street Journal of Shinny Objects and Against Thrift, two new books on Consumer Culture and Inequality A couple of notes. First, its perhaps the highest praise to...
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In Praise of Dirty Energy, Ctd
I plan to do a more complete reply to Brad Johnson, though primarily as a jumping off point to ramble on about a lot of energy and climate change things that I think. However, I wanted to address a few...
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Christopher Hitchens Is Dead
Obits abound. My favorite outtake so far. “Writing is what’s important to me, and anything that helps me do that — or enhances and prolongs and deepens and sometimes intensifies argument and...
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Why Not Plutocracy: Apathy Runs Deep Edition
Long time readers know that one of my big questions is why Plutocracy cannot be made to work. In particular, I wonder why society ruled by the owners of land combined with a “no serfdom” condition,...
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The Blogosphere at Christmas
I have a lot of posts I’d like to get up before the New Year, but one thing I’ll note quickly is how revelatory the blogosphere has been. One thing that can easily pass you by is the dearth of...
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Say Anything
A while back Kevin Drum asked Politicians and corporations engage in meaningless puffery all the time, but to be effective it has to be based on at least a tiny core of truth. . . . . . . So what’s...
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