Matt Yglesias is basically right about what happened in the 2016 election. Despite the elaborate theories that have been floated over the past few months, the real story as told by the exit polls is very boring: Donald Trump won because Hillary Clinton was an extremely unpopular candidate. Donald Trump did not win because of… Continue reading The Boring Story of the 2016 Election
On the Difference Between Political and Technical Concerns
One of the frustrating things about the centrist response to single payer proposals is that they cannot seem to determine in their own minds whether a particular objection is political or technical. Indeed, often objections will start off as technical and then, when pushed back against, quickly morph into a political argument. It’s fine of… Continue reading On the Difference Between Political and Technical Concerns
You Prevent Private Coercion With Labor Market Regulation
McArdle has joined the ranks of conservatives suddenly concerned about private coercion. In a prior post, I discussed Dougherty’s entry into that discussion and so here I want to also address McArdle’s. Overall McArdle’s piece mostly mirrors the ones that came before it: mass outrage at someone’s opinions or statements can destroy their ability to… Continue reading You Prevent Private Coercion With Labor Market Regulation
You Need Rules
This piece about Google Guy from Michael Brendan Dougherty was filed a week ago, but I only now have enough time to respond to it. In the post, Dougherty vents his frustration with the argument that conservative labor market institutions are responsible for the termination of Google Guy. The argument he criticizes goes like this:… Continue reading You Need Rules
The Trump NLRB Will Smash the Google Guy
The Google Guy who wrote the memo about Google’s diversity efforts has provided great fodder for the take-makers. Was he doing free speech? Was Google doing political correctness? Can a non-government actor hurt free speech? These and other profound questions about the nature of liberalism are all at stake. Curiously enough, nearly every person’s opinion… Continue reading The Trump NLRB Will Smash the Google Guy