February 19, 2017

It’s Not a Thought Experiment Anymore

(co-authored with Steve Horwitz) We all know the thought experiment. There are a million versions of it. What do you do if the Nazis show up? Do you hide your…

November 03, 2015

Cinnabon, Caskets, Catfood, and the Tyranny of Experts

I had occasion recently to read some of Akerlof and Shiller’s new book Phishing for Phools. I found it, to be perfectly blunt, infuriating. The book is paternalistic. It assumes that free…

April 20, 2015

Moral Panic–Everything Old is New Again

Those who are observing 4/20 may be interested (not, perhaps, today) in a wonderful example of moral panic from 1641. The broadside “The Sucklingtonian Faction: or Suckling’s Roaring Boyes” mocks…

December 16, 2014

Tradition! Tradition!

I think about traditions a lot this time of year. Last year, I told you my three favorite stories about tradition. So this morning, when the bizarrely compelling story of…

September 11, 2014

Thomas Piketty’s Literary Offenses

Thomas Piketty borrowed a bunch of tools from my garage and used them irresponsibly. Steve Horwitz and I respond over at the Freeman this morning, with some thoughts about literature,…

August 29, 2014

A Fairy Tale for Friday

This is a beautifully done parable about the evils of the drug war. I wish the dragon had a less stupid name, but that is a tiny quibble about a…