Category Archives: economics

first they mock . .

Well well! Robin Hanson’s concept of idea futures is discussed today (though not by that name) in the New York Times: A Market Approach to Politics

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convert politics to economics

Robin Hanson writes, on the Armchair Economists list: Wouldn’t a privately organized fire department look a lot like a government one, with hoses and fire trucks and all that? Wouldn’t a private school look a lot like a public school, … Continue reading

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QotD

G K Chesterton: The Uses of Diversity, 1921 Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists.

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adieu

Joe Fuhrig – golfer, economist, teacher, swell guy – died suddenly on March 3. His ashes were scattered furtively on a golf course. At the memorial service today, his family may have been taken aback at the size of the … Continue reading

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externalities of farming

Two brief articles from New Scientist about external costs of agriculture. Subsidies in the form of cash and irrigation are obvious, but I never thought of the cost of cleaning pesticides etc out of tap water.

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a trillion here, a trillion there

I never hear the US debt limit mentioned except in the context of raising it. Why have a limit at all, if whenever it is approached Congress routinely raises it? I notice that it is already higher than the trigger … Continue reading

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the cigarette standard

I’m sorry I didn’t record where I got this link to The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp, an article published in 1945 by a British officer who had been a guest of the Reich. It is thus to be … Continue reading

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