Apparently, this is the new tactic from some who oppose the libertarian view. They say basically this: "If libertarianism is so great, why aren't there any libertarian countries?" (The "Ha! Take THAT libertarianism!" is implied.)

But, as Tom Woods has pointed out (twice), this is exactly the question that a lot of libertarian theory answers ( Read more... )

So, Elizabeth Warren has proposed a strange piece of legislation. Looking at the bill itself [pdf], it's a very confused piece of legislation. The HuffPo covers it here.

( She gets a lot wrong... )

So, how bad is the national debt, exactly? Well, it depends what your concern is. To me, the true concern is that the debt is something that won't go away without a lot of tax revenue - and interest rates on it are really low right now ( Read more... )

I've not read the paper yet, but this abstract looks interesting ( Read more... )

One of the worst parts of teaching is grading papers. In the interest of fairness, teachers have to standardize assignments to some degree - which means that papers all sound more or less the same. Very little that is interesting or creative is allowed to sneak in. This makes grading dull. However, this part is unavoidable ( Read more... )

Just a quick note before I head off to class...

I advise against listening to politicians in Washington describing how "catastrophic" the budget cuts from sequestration are.

( They aren't. )

My wife and I decided that watching the second half of this week's Downton Abbey was a better use of our time than watching the State of the Union. I do not regret that decision. Especially since, in this wonderous age of technology, I can watch a video of the State of the Union any time I want, AND, if I prefer (and I do), I can just read a ( Read more... )

So, it's out.

We found out that "the US economy" (as measured by Gross Domestic Product) shrank by about 0.1% at an annualized rate in the last 3 months of 2012. In other words, the economy shrank by about 1/4 of that in the last quarter of last year.

( Which isn't as bad as it looks, though there are bigger problems ahead. )

Yesterday, Pres Obama was inaugurated for his second term. As is traditional, he gave an inaugural address. As I occasionally like to, here are some of my thoughts on that address.

( Some thoughts )

So, Justice Scalia has made some comments that have equated bans on sodomy with bans on murder or bestiality, and he was questioned about this at PrincetonThe disturbing thing to me is that no one seems to be upset about his comments for the right reason. Instead,I see reactions like these ( Read more... )