I’m reminded today of an earlier post on Marx and Engels’s The Communist Manifesto, in which I offered two explanations for why the 1848 Marx held that communism could only come about by violent revolution. In response to that post, philosopher Tibor Machan then pointed me to this passage from an 1872 speech Marx gave […]
Is Marxism necessarily violent? Read More »
Let me give you some examples of monopolies and ask: Which are good and which are bad? 1. Megan and Ramon begin dating and become enraptured of each other. Soon they are monopolizing each other’s time and decide to form a lifetime, exclusive relationship. 2. A town in a remote area has a few stores
Good Monopoly, Bad Monopoly: When Are Monopolies Actually a Problem? [Good Life series] Read More »
A perverse implication of minimum wage laws is their effect on volunteer work. Suppose politicians set a minimum wage at $10 per hour. Employers are now forbidden from offering a wage below $10 and employees are forbidden from accepting such wages. (Side note: See Adkins v. Children’s Hospital for the Supreme Court’s 1923 decision that
Should We Also Ban Volunteering? Read More »
Of course: a dating app for Remainders who feel they could never love a Leaver. And when Britain made its earlier big Remain-or-Leave Decision, almost 500 years ago, the healthy response was no doubt that a Catholic could never date an Anglican.
Brexit dating app for Remains — and Henry the Eighth Read More »
Last month I linked to the 2015 edition of “INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY 2015” [pdf], which ranks 193 countries in three categories: Institutional Quality, Political Institutions, Market Institutions. Here is the new 2016 edition, in Spanish and English. Martín Krause is Professor of Economics and the University of Buenos Aires and a specialist in law and economics
Krause’s 2016 index of institutional quality Read More »
Raise the topic of monopolies, and the ensuing discussion will quickly highlight ideological blind-spots. A colleague with whom I’ve taught courses in business and capitalism sent to me, enthusiastically, this article by Paul Krugman, a Nobel-Prize-winning economist. Krugman attacks Amazon and calls for it to be cut down a few notches. Amazon, he says, has
Who Is Really Serious About Monopolies? [Good Life series] Read More »
Primeiro ponto: os manifestantes não são nem “flocos de neve” que derretem quando o clima esquenta, nem “flores delicadas” cujos sentimentos são machucados. Os estudantes universitários já viram filmes violentos, terminaram relacionamentos, leram coisas grotescas na internet, viram filmes pornôs, perderam pessoas queridas, e ouviram notícias trágicas sobre eventos ao redor do mundo. Ainda assim,
A batalha pelas universidades [Portuguese translation] Read More »
schiz•o•phren•ic, adjective: Of, relating to, or characterized by the coexistence of disparate or antagonistic elements. Let’s talk about one reason why politics makes us all a little crazy — its incoherent mix of laws and regulations. (Warning: overcharged metaphor ahead.) Not only does the left hand of government often not know what the right hand