Libertarianism Vs. Radical Capitalism Craig Biddle
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A Response to the Libertarian Critics of Open-Borders Libertarianism
LINCOLN MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW __________________________________ VOLUME 4 FALL 2016 ISSUE 1 ____________________________________ A RESPONSE TO THE LIBERTARIAN CRITICS OF OPEN-BORDERS LIBERTARIANISM Walter E. Block, Ph.D. Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair and Professor of Economics Joseph A. Butt, S.J. College of Business I. INTRODUCTION Libertarians may be unique in many regards, but their views on immigration do not qualify. They are as divided as is the rest of the population on this issue. Some favor open borders, and others oppose such a legal milieu. The present paper may be placed in the former category. It will outline both sides of this debate in sections II and III. Section IV is devoted to some additional arrows in the quiver of the closed border libertarians, and to a refutation of them. We conclude in section V. A RESPONSE TO THE LIBERTARIAN CRITICS OF OPEN-BORDERS LIBERTARIANISM 143 II. ANTI OPEN BORDERS The libertarian opposition to free immigration is straightforward and even elegant.1 It notes, first, a curious bifurcation in international economic relations. In the case of both trade and investment, there must necessarily be two2 parties who agree to the commercial interaction. In the former case, there must be an importer and an exporter; both are necessary. Without the consent of both parties, the transaction cannot take place. A similar situation arises concerning foreign investment. The entrepreneur who wishes to set up shop abroad must obtain the willing acquiescence of the domestic partner for the purchase of land and raw materials. And the same occurs with financial transactions that take place across 1 Peter Brimelow, ALIEN NATION: COMMON SENSE ABOUT AMERICA’S IMMIGRATION DISASTER (1995); Jesús Huerta De Soto, A Libertarian Theory of Free Immigration, 13 J. -
Createspace Word Templates
MOLINARI REVIEW Molinari Review 1, No. 2 (Fall 2019) © The Molinari Institute 2019 All content in this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Published by: The Molinari Institute 402 Martin Avenue Auburn, Alabama 36830 U.S.A. ISBN: 978-1-947236-00-4 MOLINARI REVIEW The Molinari Review is a peer-reviewed, open-access, print-on-demand, interdiscipli- nary journal of libertarian research. We publish scholarship, sympathetic or critical, in and/or on the libertarian tradition, broadly understood as including classical liberalism, individualist anarchism, social anarchism, anarcho-capitalism, anarcho- communism, anarcho-syndicalism, anarcha-feminism, panarchism, voluntaryism, mu- tualism, agorism, distributism, bleeding-heart libertarianism, Austrianism, Georgism, public choice, and beyond – essentially, everything from Emma Goldman to Ayn Rand, C. L. R. James to F. A. Hayek, Alexis de Tocqueville to Michel Foucault. (We see exciting affiliations among these strands of the libertarian tradition; but you don’t have to agree with us about that to publish in our pages.) Disciplines in which we seek to publish include philosophy, political science, eco- nomics, history, sociology, psychology, anthropology, theology, ecology, literature, and law. We aim to enhance the visibility of libertarian scholarship, to expand the boundaries of traditional libertarian discussion, and to provide a home for cutting- edge research in the theory and practice of human liberty. INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS Submissions should be sent by email to Roderick T. Long at [email protected] as Word .doc or .docx files, prepared for blind review (i.e. all author information re- moved), and accompanied by an abstract of around 150 words as a guide for referees. -
NOLA Workshop Agenda
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY ANTONIN SCALIA LAW SCHOOL Workshop on Labor Markets and Employment Law Sunday, November 11 - Thursday, November 15, 2018 The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans Agenda Sunday, November 11 The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans 3:00 – 5:00 pm Registration (Lobby) 5:00 – 6:30 pm Welcome, Introductions (Carrollton) Class 1: The Economics Perspective: Incentives Matter - Butler Reading Assignment: Butler, Drahozal, & Shepherd, Economic Analysis for Lawyers, 3rd ed., Carolina Academic Press (2014): Chapter I, pp.3-53 6:30 pm Welcome Reception and Dinner (Reception - Mercier Courtyard, Dinner - Crescent View) The History of the Law & Economics Center - Butler (Spouses welcome) Monday, November 12 The Ritz-Carlton (all class sessions held in Carrollton Room) 7:00 – 8:00 am Breakfast (Broadmoor) (Spouses Welcome) 8:00 – 9:15 am Class 2: Overview of Labor Markets - Morriss Reading Assignment: Butler, Drahozal, & Shepherd, Chapter VIII, §A, pp. 421-425 Kristle Cortes, Andrew Clover, and Murat Tasci, The Unintended Consequences of Employer Credit Check Bans on Labor and Credit Markets, Fed. Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Working Paper 16-25R2 (Jan. 2018) David Autor, Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and Future of Workplace Automation, 29(3) J. Econ. Persp. 3-30 (2015). 9:15 – 9:30 am Break 9:30 – 10:45 am Class 3: Hiring, Employment at Will - Meiners Reading Assignment: Butler, Drahozal, & Shepherd, Chapter VIII, §B, pp. 425-453 Richard A. Epstein, In Defense of the Contract at Will, 51 U. Chi. L. rev. 947, 955-977 (1984). 10:45 – 11:00 am Break 11:00 am – 12:15 pm Class 4: Human Capital and Signaling - Morriss Reading Assignment: Butler, Drahozal, & Shepherd, Chapter VIII, §C, pp. -
President Obama's Leadership Style What Americans Think of Congress
The Diane Rehm Show President Obama's Leadership Style Wednesday, April 21, 2010 - 10:06 a.m President Obama's popularity has been falling at home but rising abroad: analysis of the president's leadership style, how it has evolved and his effectiveness in Washington and around the world. Guests James Thurber professor and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University Richard Murphy served as U.S. Ambassador to Syria, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia, and former Assistant Secretary of State for Near East and South Asian Affairs under President Reagan Ron Elving Washington editor for NPR. What Americans Think of Congress http://thedianerehmshow.org/audio-player?nid=153 Monday, February 15, 2010 - 10:05 a.m Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with how their government works - or doesn't. With millions unemployed, soaring deficits and concerns about health-care, voters want Congress to act. The future of bipartisanship in a hyper-partisan age. Guests James Thurber professor and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University Andrew Kohut director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press Chris Cillizza is the author of "The Fix" on washingtonpost.com Charlie Cook editor and publisher of the "Cook Political Report" Tom Davis Tom Davis served in Congress from 1995-2008, and was chairman of the Republican congressional campaign committee from 1998-2002. Tom Udall is the junior senator from New Mexico. He was elected in 2008. Previously he served as a U.S. Representative and as New Mexico's State Attorney General. -
A Strategic Flip-Flop in the Caribbean 63
Hoover Press : EPP 100 DP5 HPEP000100 23-02-00 rev1 page 62 62 William Ratliff and Roger Fontaine U.S. interference in Cuban affairs. In effect it gives him a veto over U.S. policy. Therefore the path of giving U.S. politicians a “way out” won’t in fact work because Castro will twist it to his interests. Better to just do it unilaterally on our own timetable. For the time being it appears U.S. policy will remain reactive—to Castro and to Cuban American pressure groups—irrespective of the interests of Americans and Cubans as a whole. Like parrots, all presi- dential hopefuls in the 2000 presidential elections propose varying ver- sions of the current failed policy. We have made much here of the negative role of the Cuba lobby, but we close by reiterating that their advocacy has not usually been different in kind from that of other pressure groups, simply much more effective. The buck falls on the politicians who cannot see the need for, or are afraid to support, a new policy for the post–cold war world. Notes 1. This presentation of the issues is based on but goes far beyond written testimony—“U.S. Cuban Policy—a New Strategy for the Future”— which the authors presented to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Com- mittee on 24 May 1995. We have long advocated this change, beginning with William Ratliff, “The Big Cuba Myth,” San Jose Mercury News,15 December 1992, and William Ratliff and Roger Fontaine, “Foil Castro,” Washington Post, 30 June 1993. -
0803Freemanbookreviews
vincingly challenges the argument that the biases of Book Reviews economists render their views on economic issues no more credible than those of the general public. He next considers Public Choice explanations for The Myth of the Rational Voter: why mistaken views inform the typical voter’s deci- Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies sions. Because of the extremely low probability that the by Bryan Caplan outcome of an election will turn on one vote, voters Princeton University Press • 2007 • 276 pages • $29.95 have little motivation to become well informed. This has become known as rational ignorance—voters are Reviewed by Dwight R. Lee rational to remain ignorant on most, if not all, issues n one sense, The Myth of the they’re voting on. But Caplan doesn’t think the concept IRational Voter makes a strong case of rational ignorance adequately explains voting behav- for democracy. Bryan Caplan, pro- ior. He argues that rationality requires updating one’s fessor of economics at George beliefs in response to new evidence or arguments. Even Mason University, argues that 1) by this minimum standard, however, most voters are citizens accurately communicate irrational because they have emotional attachments to their preferences to politicians their political views that make them resistant to oppos- through voting; 2) politicians are ing evidence. This is “rational irrationality” because, responsive to those preferences, Caplan explains, it’s subject to the law of demand.The except that 3) when voter preferences are particularly higher the personal cost of irrationality, the less irra- misguided, politicians will often exert leadership and tional people will be. -
Rescuing Burke
Missouri Law Review Volume 72 Issue 2 Spring 2007 Article 1 Spring 2007 Rescuing Burke Carl T. Bogus Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Carl T. Bogus, Rescuing Burke, 72 MO. L. REV. (2007) Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol72/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Missouri Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bogus: Bogus: Rescuing Burke MISSOURI LAW REVIEW VOLUME 72 SPRING 2007 NUMBER 2 Rescuing Burke Carl T. Bogus* I. INTRODUCTION Edmund Burke needs to be rescued. His legacy is held hostage by the modem conservative movement, which proclaims Burke to be its intellectual progenitor. Conservatives consider Burke the fountainhead of their political philosophy - the great thinker and eloquent eighteenth-century British statesman who provides conservatism with a distinguished heritage and a coherent body of thought. Burke has achieved iconic status; Reaganites wore his silhouette on their neckties.' Legal scholars applaud court decisions and jurisprudential philosophies as Burkean, or denounce them as not being genu- inely Burkean. But Burke's memory has been wrongfully appropriated. Ed- mund Burke was a liberal - at least by today's standards - and it is time to restore him to his proper home. This Article has three objectives. The first is to demonstrate Burke's lib- eralism. -
Manifesto for a Humane True Libertarianism
Manifesto for a Humane True Libertarianism Deirdre Nansen McCloskey July 4, 2018 The first chapters of Humane True Liberalism, forthcoming 2019, Yale University Press. All rights reserved. #1. Libertarians are liberals are democrats are good I make here the case for a new and humane version of what is often called “libertarianism.” Thus the columnist George Will at the Washington Post or David Brooks at the New York Times or Steve Chapman at the Chicago Tribune or Dave Barry at the Miami Herald or P. J . O'Rourke at the National Lampoon, Rolling Stone, and the Daily Beast. Humane libertarianism is not right wing or reactionary or some scary creature out of Dark Money. In fact, it stands in the middle of the road—recently a dangerous place to stand—being tolerant and optimistic and respectful. It’s True Liberal, anti- statist, opposing the impulse of people to push other people around. It’s not “I’ve got mine," or “Let’s be cruel.” Nor is it “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you, by force of arms if necessary.” It’s “I respect your dignity, and am willing to listen, really listen, helping you if you wish, on your own terms.” When people grasp it, many like it. Give it a try. In most of the world the word “libertarianism” is still plain "liberalism," as in the usage of the middle-of-the-road, anti-“illiberal democracy” president of France elected in 2017, Emmanuel Macron, with no “neo-” about it. That's the L-word I’ll use here. -
Behavioral Public Choice and the Law
Texas A&M University School of Law Texas A&M Law Scholarship Faculty Scholarship 10-2015 Behavioral Public Choice and the Law Gary M. Lucas Jr. Texas A&M University School of Law, [email protected] Slaviša Tasić University of Mary, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar Part of the Behavioral Economics Commons, Law and Economics Commons, Political Economy Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Gary M. Lucas Jr. & Slaviša Tasić, Behavioral Public Choice and the Law, 118 W. Va. L. Rev. 199 (2015). Available at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/720 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Texas A&M Law Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Texas A&M Law Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BEHAVIORAL PUBLIC CHOICE AND THE LAW Gary M Lucas, Jr.* Slavisa Tasict ABSTRACT ......................................... 200 I. INTRODUCTION.............. .................. ..... 200 II. How IRRATIONALITY CAUSES GOVERNMENT FAILURE ...... ..... 204 A. IrrationalityAmong Voters.................................205 B. IrrationalityAmong Politicians...........................213 III. SPECIFIC TYPES OF IRRATIONALITY THAT CAUSE GOVERNMENT FAILURE ......................................... ...... 217 A. The Intentions Heuristic: Elevating Intentions Over Consequences. .................................... 218 B. The Availability Heuristic: MiscalculatingRisk............223 -
Accountability Claims in Constitutional Law
Copyright 2018 by Nicholas O. Stephanopoulos Printed in U.S.A. Vol. 112, No. 5 ACCOUNTABILITY CLAIMS IN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW Nicholas O. Stephanopoulos ABSTRACT—Several of the Supreme Court’s most controversial constitutional doctrines hinge on claims about electoral accountability. Restrictions on the President’s power to remove agency heads are disfavored because they reduce the President’s accountability for agency actions. Congress cannot delegate certain decisions to agencies because then Congress is less accountable for those choices. State governments cannot be federally commandeered because such conscription lessens their accountability. And campaign spending must be unregulated so that more information reaches voters and helps them to reward or punish incumbents for their performances. There is just one problem with these claims. They are wrong—at least for the most part. To illustrate their error, I identify four conditions that must be satisfied in order for incumbents to be held accountable. Voters must (1) know about incumbents’ records, (2) form judgments about them, (3) attribute responsibility for them, and (4) cast ballots based on these judgments and attributions. I then present extensive empirical evidence showing that these conditions typically are not met in the scenarios contemplated by the Court. The crux of the problem is that voters are less informed than the Court supposes, more likely to be biased by their partisan affiliations, and less apt to vote retrospectively than in some other way. Accountability thus does not rise in response to the Court’s interventions— at least not much. The qualifiers, though, are important. If the Court’s claims are mostly wrong, then they are partly right. -
Review of Bryan Caplan's the Myth of the Rational
Review of Bryan Caplan’s The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies Francesco Caselli1 December 2007 1London School of Economics, CEPR and NBER ([email protected]). I am thankful to Silvana Tenreyro for useful discussions and Daniel Vernazza for comments and research assistance. This bold, imaginative book advances an entirely new theory of voters’ behavior. The starting point for this theory is that individuals are endowed with a set of beliefs, or a worldview, and derive psychological benefits from acting in accordance with these beliefs. However, the beliefs of most people about many issues are systematically wrong, in the sense that the world really works differently from the way people like to imagine. For example, a majority of people think that free trade is bad for the economy, while in fact it is deemed by most economists to be good. Individuals also care about their own material well-being. Since acting on wrong beliefs is often costly in terms of material well being, agents must keep an eye out for situations where they face a potential trade-off between sticking to their (possibly wrong) ideas and minding their more prosaic interests. How they solve this dilemma depends on the price to pay in case of mistake. In Caplan’s view, in most everyday situations the cost of being true to one’s wrong beliefs is large, and people choose material interests over beliefs. For example they ignore their anti-trade bias in their consumption and labor supply decisions. There is one place, however, where the material cost of indulging one’s world view is individually trivial, and this is the voting booth. -
Newsletter July 2018
Royal Economic Society Issue no. 182 Newsletter July 2018 ‘Go west (or east), young woman!’ Features Since the last Newsletter, much has been made in the print and broadcast media of the gender pay gap. Sadly, the latest Conference report p.3 Inomics Salary Report confirms that women economists are likely, as a general rule, to be paid less than their male coun- Inomics 2018 Salary Report p.8 terparts. This applies in both academia and the private sector. Like all general rules, however, this one has its exceptions. The Bank of England’s One Bank Report shows that female economists in senior academic posi- research agenda: update p.10 tions earn more than men in the region described as ‘Australia and Oceania’ — the difference is about nine per cent. For RES Strategy, 2018-23 p.13 female economists in the private sector, however, North Doing Economics p.16 America is the place to be. Here, senior level female econo- mists typically earn the same as or slightly more than their Women in the early days of the RES p.19 male equivalents. Elsewhere the conventional gap remains, The 50th History of though the data suggests that it may be very slowly closing. Economic Thought Conference p.22 Whatever the reason for the persistent gap may be, it cannot be that women have come late to the economics party. Ian Preston’s article shows that a number of women were very active in the founding of the British Economic Association, Comment the forerunner of the Royal Economic Society. The history Taxation, socialism and social justice p.23 theme is continued with Richard van den Berg’s account of the founding of the History of Economic Thought Conference.