Donald J. Boudreaux

The Epistemic Value of Putting One’s Money Where One’s Mouth Is

“Assertions such as that women as a group are underpaid – should be dismissed out of hand if (as is almost always the case) those who do the asserting refuse to risk their own time and resources on undertaking private-sector activities that would make these individuals rich as they simultaneously correct the alleged failures. If these individuals aren’t getting rich by acting with their own money on what they assert to be true, then they ain’t so smart after all.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

female business executive

Who Is Making Decisions about Our Lives

“What reason is there to trust that These People who never look past the next election – and who always ignore consequences that are difficult to see if these consequences are spread over large numbers of individuals – are making a prudently considered trade-off between the lockdown’s costs and its benefits?” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

planners

Strata of the Unseen

“When an economist reminds you to pay attention to what is unseen, he or she counsels you to humbly understand that a modern market economy is far too complex and inescapably reliant upon trial-and-error experimentation to enable the interventionist schemes that are forever being proposed to succeed.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

market, people

Free Markets are Lousy Self-Promoters

“Precisely because free and innovative markets ceaselessly expand our range of opportunities, comparing the economic statistics of today with those of yesterday too often masks the improvements brought to us by markets. What appear to blinkered or incautious eyes to be market failures are often the fruits of market successes.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

trees, prosperity

Puzzles about Trade that Make Me Wonder

“What would be the public reaction if the headlines daily announced, say, the number of people who died within the past 24 hours from some virus other than COVID, and reported these daily deaths with vivid bar charts? How would the public react to increased testing of some virus other than COVID and to breathless reports of rising numbers of people testing positive for this other virus?” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

outdoor market, croatia

Ignore the Cooing of the Deficit Doves

“We skeptics of government power should never stop warning of the dangers of deficit financing, for such financing lowers political decision-makers’ costs of expanding government’s size and scope.” ~ Donald Boudreaux

markets, going down

The Simple Logic of Free Markets and Retaliation

“If the U.S. retaliates against Chinese industrial policy with American industrial policy, both countries end up in the box in the lower left-hand corner – for each, the worst possible outcome.” ~ Donald Boudreaux

Financial Markets Work Without Coercion

“Coercion is sure to diminish the positive contributions that financial markets make to the larger economy. Even worse, such coercion would violate the rights of the property owners whose voluntary choices give rise to financial markets.” ~ Donald Boudreaux

The Remarkable Blessings of the Price System

The overall arrangement of resource use is not and could never be comprehended by any individual or by any committee. That what we notice of this system are its imperfections testifies to just how well and smoothly – indeed, how magnificently – it routinely performs.