Mere Economics (Page 7)

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Mere Economics Isn't - Psychology

In this series of posts, I'll describe five things that mere economics is not. Note, this post was written with Scott Burns and was originally published at The Independent Institute. Legend has it that an art collector once asked Michaelangelo to describe the challenges he faced in sculpting

This Time Isn't Different

Note: This essay was originally published at my personal blog, A Fuller's Soap, and at The Independent Institute. William F. Buckley once defined a conservative as “Someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop.” With apologies to Buckley, we might define an economist as someone who stands athwart the

Motivation Monday

1. Ludwig von Mises fled for his life– across an ocean–from the Nazis who ransacked his apartment. They seized the files and library they found at that apartment. If he's not the the best economist ever, he's at least in the conversation. 2. Not the

Schumpeter Sentences

Capitalism stands its trial before judges who have the sentence of death in their pockets. They are going to pass it, whatever the defense they may hear; the only thing a successful defense can possibly produce is a change in the indictment. From his Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy.

Law and Economics Classics - Legal Origins

At Grove City College, I teach Law and Economics--a course that explicitly examines how "people expand their options by cooperating." It therefore lies at the heart of "mere economics." In this sermon series, I'll be posting a summary of classic L&E papers

Economics East of Eden

In the Christian story, living “east of Eden” means living in a world marred by sin. Our repeated “missing of the mark” means we don’t love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. And we don’t love our neighbors as ourselves. What are the implications

The Samaritan's Dilemma in the Caritapolis

Here's a new Mere Economics-adjacent paper, "The Samaritan's Dilemma in the Caritapolis," that I wrote for an Independent Review symposium on James M. Buchanan's "The Samaritan's Dilemma." The abstract: James M. Buchanan's "The Samaritan'

Learning Economics Generates Gratitude

In a previous post, I suggested that the problems of our ancestors put our problems in perspective. That's true. But it's also incomplete. Studying economics, and specifically economic history, ought to fill us with gratitude. To make that point, I repost an essay I originally published

#FreeBookFriday: W.H. Hutt Edition

I've written a bunch of papers on W.H. Hutt that you can find on my SSRN page. I don't know that I would have read much Hutt had the Ludwig von Mises Institute not made a lot of his books available gratis. Here is what

Diamonds are Forever - Elasticity

I'm posting a 14-part series of mini-essays on diamonds (but really about the economic point of view). Here's part 4. Elasticity You might think that cash-strapped governments could easily balance their budgets by taxing expensive items like diamonds. If you’re a progressive, you might even