February 23, 2014
Two Links
These should be of interest to our readers: Gregory Clark (UC-Davis Econ) in the NY Times about long term social mobility. One quote: “The fortunes of high-status families inexorably fall,…
February 19, 2014
Is Graduate School for Me? (My short talk at ISFLC)
The Institute for Humane Studies asked me to give a short talk to a group of undergrads at ISFLC who expressed an interest in grad school. Here, roughly, is the…
February 18, 2014
A Very Short Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
With apologies to Jean-Jacques Rousseau. “The first person who, having donned a crown of gold, took it into his head to say ‘I am king’ and found people simple enough to…
February 15, 2014
A Bad Argument Against Immigration
Here’s a particularly bad argument against immigration: “Liberal immigration laws are unfair to legal immigrants who have played by the rules and waited patiently to get into this country in…
February 12, 2014
Ideal Frat Theory
I’m in the process of writing Against Politics. Among other things, the book argues that Mill was wrong and Schumpeter was right about how political engagement affects us. Political engagement doesn’t…
February 10, 2014
Practical vs. Moral Objections to Open Borders
Yesterday, the Swiss did something evil: they voted to restrict immigration. Tyler Cowen comments: In my view immigration has gone well for Switzerland, both economically and culturally, and I am…