Art Carden

Senior Fellow

Art Carden is a Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. He is also an Associate Professor of Economics at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute.

  • A Wish For 2021: Roll Back Border Socialism

    “If Michael Clemens’ estimates are correct, loosening up immigration restrictions would be the biggest thing we could do to help the world’s poor—and ourselves. In spite of Trump supporters’ worries about “socialism” under a Biden-Harris administration, immigration is one front on which a Biden-Harris victory might have been a victory for freer markets.” ~ Art…

    A Wish For 2021: Roll Back Border Socialism
  • What Will The Stimulus Stimulate?

    “We shouldn’t be surprised that what ultimately emerged was a dog’s breakfast of giveaways for special interests. That’s the nature of the political beast. As we continue to cede power to enormous rent-creating operations called governments, we shouldn’t be surprised by the results.” ~ Art Carden

    What Will The Stimulus Stimulate?
  • Ronald Coase: A Birthday Appreciation

    “Like Adam Smith before him, Ronald Coase remains highly cited but still underrated. His ideas on transaction costs, rules, and organizations were influential, but as I wrote when he passed in 2013, ‘a few minutes with the ‘externalities’ section of almost any principles book, or a few seconds watching and listening to TV and radio…

    Ronald Coase: A Birthday Appreciation
  • Covid’s Lesson: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others

    “Do the aristocrats want the hoi polloi to heed their dire warnings? They should lead by example. Politicians, rule thyselves. If you can’t or won’t, at least acknowledge your guiding principle, which seems to be that some animals are more equal than others.” ~ Art Carden

    Covid’s Lesson: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others
  • Lady Liberty and the Golden Door

    “Nowrasteh and Powell have set the new terms of the debate on immigrants and institutions. Wretched Refuse? is the first book people should consult when asking about immigration policy. Maybe, then, immigration will become a development idea people are willing to try.” ~ Art Carden

    Lady Liberty and the Golden Door
  • 2020 Was Not The Worst Year Ever. Not Even Close.

    “Two thousand and twenty has…underperformed, to say the least. We were promised flying cars, and all we got were mask mandates. Has 2020 been the worst year ever, though? Not even close.” ~ Art Carden

    2020 Was Not The Worst Year Ever. Not Even Close.
  • The Bureaucratic Deal Got Us Into This Mess. The Bourgeois Deal Will Get Us Out

    “When our children and grandchildren look back on 2020, I hope they see how much of it probably could have been avoided had we embraced the Bourgeois Deal rather than the Bureaucratic Deal in the face of Covid-19. A lot more people probably would have lived to tell about it. Or better yet, had vaccines…

    The Bureaucratic Deal Got Us Into This Mess. The Bourgeois Deal Will Get Us Out
  • In Memoriam: Walter E. Williams, 1936-2020

    “Williams was a towering intellect who made the economic way of thinking come alive to generations of undergraduates, graduate students, readers, and anyone who would listen. He suffered no fools, which incidentally appears as the title of the 2014 Free to Choose Network documentary on his life and work. To adapt an African proverb, the…

    In Memoriam: Walter E. Williams, 1936-2020
  • I, Chaos: The Simple Anatomy of an Interventionist Snowball

    “Intervention tends to beget intervention, which tends to beget still further intervention. In the long run, we are all worse off than we would have been had we just been able to avoid getting the government involved in the first place.” ~ Art Carden

    I, Chaos: The Simple Anatomy of an Interventionist Snowball
  • Dr. Friedman Goes to South Africa

    “Milton Friedman in South Africa is a fascinating product of one of Friedman’s ventures during a controversial time. It is worth reading for anyone interested in understanding Friedman specifically or what Andrei Shleifer called ‘The Age of Milton Friedman’ more generally.” ~ Art Carden

    Dr. Friedman Goes to South Africa