Author: Matt Bruenig

Is Social Security defensible on traditionalist grounds or not?

I wrote about the new hotness of mushy traditionalism (instead of conventional normative argument) being mobilized to somehow support libertarianism. I got this response from Adam Gurri, which am not satisfied with because it does not answer back my concerns, but rather rehashes an abstract explanation of what traditionalism means. To show I read it,… Continue reading Is Social Security defensible on traditionalist grounds or not?

Here is exactly how the Census supplemental poverty calculation is derived

Previously I wrote the smashing hit “Here is exactly how the Census poverty calculation is derived.” It explains in great detail how the Official Poverty Metric (OPM) works. Here, I do the same thing for the Supplemental Poverty Metric (SPM). Units All poverty metrics require some way of drawing lines around sets of people and… Continue reading Here is exactly how the Census supplemental poverty calculation is derived

It isn’t your money

Greg Newburn brought to my attention this old piece from Will Wilkinson. In it Wilkinson argues against the Murphy-Nagel (and before them Hale, Proudhon, pieces of Hobbes, Rousseau, etc.) view that it is incoherent for someone to say some bit of money that is taxed is their money being taken. Before making his point, Wilkinson… Continue reading It isn’t your money