Donald J. Boudreaux
Stop Looking for Saints and Witches
Arguments should be judged, ultimately, by their contents rather than by the identities of their flesh and blood deliverers.
Say What You Will about Markets, They Give You a Genuine Say
The say that you have in the market is always real and effective.
Worried about Climate Change? Count Your Blessings!
We have been liberated from the foulest and most lethal environmental hazards that cursed our pre-industrial ancestors.
Capitalists Get Rich but Consumers Capture the Benefits
Producers, on average, capture a 2.2 percent of the total benefits of their successful introduction into markets of technological advances. A whopping 97.8 percent of those benefits are enjoyed by people each of whom as a consumer did nothing other than exercise his right to spend his money on those options that he judges best for…
The Best Trade Policy Is to Ignore Other Governments’ Trade Policies
Governments should treat each others’ economic policies as given, if only because almost all government interventions artificially help some producers and hurt others. Because every government is forever grasping for excuses to protect politically powerful domestic producers from foreign competition, each government can find such excuses in even the most mundane actions of foreign governments.
Trade Makes Possible the Productive Cooperation of Millions of People
Opponents of free trade wish to prevent you and your fellow human beings from rendering to, and receiving from, each other the greatest possible amount of mutual assistance at improving your lives.
Speak Not of Legislation as Law
Particular laws can be undesirable, and legislation often serves useful purposes. Nevertheless, legislation is not law. So the common habit of using “law” and “legislation” as synonyms sows much confusion.
The Greatest Service Economists Perform
When done well, economics regularly reveals that that which appears to the popular mind to be undeniably true is often a mirage, or at least highly questionable. No service performed by economists is as important as this one.
Three Burning Questions about Political Economy
Can you explain why we Americans today, who are so much richer than were our great-great grandparents, are also so much more fearful than they were of peaceful immigrants?
The Jets, the Sharks, and a Trade Agreement
The following tale about trade, protectionism, and trade agreements is more realistic than it seems on the surface.
