Tag: Bryan Caplan
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4 Ways Economists Think We’re All Wrong – Econ Chronicles (Bryan Caplan)
This is an excellent series of animated videos about some basic economic principles done by Bryan Caplan. (I particularly like the ones on foreign trade and the pessimistic bias.) The first video is an introduction. Each of the next four deal with a particular type of widespread bias. I'm not saying I give unqualified support…
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War on poverty? Why presidential campaigns don’t talk about the poor.
Christian Science Monitor: War on poverty? Why presidential campaigns don't talk about the poor. Neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney has made poverty a big part of his campaign. It's no wonder. Poverty has become something of a toxic issue for many American voters. A presidential campaign, it would seem, is not the best time…
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Bryan Caplan on Romney’s 47% Remark
Econolog: Will False Belief in the SIVH Destroy Romney's Candidacy? Bryan Caplan writes: Many people believe that voters' positions are determined by their objective self-interest. I call this the SIVH – the Self-Interested Voter Hypothesis. A massive body of evidence shows that the SIVH is just plain wrong. Self-interest has no more than sporadic marginal…
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Selfish/Self-Interested
Over at Library of Economics and Liberty, Bryan Caplan asks: Agree or disagree: "Selfish" is to "self-interested" as "cheap" is to "thrifty." Please explain your answer. Interesting question. Read the comments to his post for an interesting discussion.
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How Dems and Reps Differ: Against the Conventional Wisdom
EconLog (Bryan Caplan): How Dems and Reps Differ: Against the Conventional Wisdom … So what is the "key difference" between the parties? Rhetoric. When Republicans advocate a small contraction of the welfare state, Democrats claim that Republicans totally oppose the welfare state. And many Republicans oblige them by standing up for "liberty" and "responsibility." Similarly,…
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Two Arguments for Democratic Failure that Don’t Convince Me
Econlog (Bryan Caplan): Two Arguments for Democratic Failure that Don't Convince Me Public choice scholars often say that democracy underperforms the market because of: 1. Infrequent choice. In the market, consumers can continuously change their minds. In politics, however, voters are stuck with their choice until the next election. 2. Bundled choice. In the market,…