“These may not be very likely, but a man can dream, can’t he–especially when he’s stuck in stop-and-go traffic? If, by some miracle, some of these actually happen, we can move on to other improvements when Fall rolls around.” ~ Art Carden
“Elements is a good refresher for people who haven’t thought about it in a while, and I think it’s also a good jumping-off point for teachers looking to organize lectures and classroom activities. Yes, markets tend toward equilibrium, but this Element points us to the journey, and that’s where all the entrepreneurial action is.” ~…
“The regulatory state substitutes the knowledge and beliefs of regulators for the knowledge and beliefs of entrepreneurs and innovators. This means entrepreneurs and innovators have to divide their time between actually developing their product and convincing regulators to say ‘yes.’ Regulators are understandably overcautious because of their incentives.” ~ Art Carden
“Discrimination and Disparities is classic Sowell, and people who are already familiar with his work will find a lot of claims he has made elsewhere. However, these will likely be news to people who haven’t already read Intellectuals and Society, Intellectuals and Race, or Affirmative Action Around the World. Discrimination and Disparities is an important…
“Do we really want already-stressed out people adding to their cognitive load by thinking they might be sinning against Gaia or Greta Thunberg by printing or discarding a sheet of paper? As Bryan Caplan has pointed out, ‘Recycling is the philosophy that everything is worth saving except your time.'”~ Art Carden
“As economists emphasize whenever price gouging rules kick in, ignoring what supply and demand analysis has to teach us usually means making the problem worse rather than better.” ~ Art Carden
“As H.L. Mencken famously said, the urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the desire to rule it. We’ve paid the butcher’s bill for generations of guillotine-operating humanitarians and kindly inquisitors. Perhaps we should grow up a little and take a different path.” ~ Art Carden
“To those of you who are working to reduce transaction costs and find easier ways for strangers to cooperate, this absent-minded professor offers a heartfelt ‘thank you.’ Yes, I will try to be more careful next time–but as someone who routinely misplaces keys, coffee cups, sunglasses, and so on, I appreciate the efforts of those…
“Sports and gaming metaphors certainly have their place, but if we take them too seriously we get lost in details and lose sight of the greatest positive-sum game in the world: specialization and division of labor. When you’re bowling or playing a board game, there’s a winner and a loser. When you’re bargaining, however, everyone’s…