I had 3 posts over at Demos’ Policy Shop this week. Here is a rundown with links: There Is No Such Thing As Free Contract. Excerpt: The point here is that the gospel of mutually beneficial transactions makes little mention of the fact that transactions are only mutually beneficial within circumstances established by public policy.… Continue reading Policy Shop Weekly Digest: Free Contracts, Hoppe, Polanyi
Me and Modern Monetary Theory
I am considering reading some texts on Modern Monetary Theory. I have read some of the secondary descriptions of it on the web, and I generally find them somewhat confusing. So I want to actually see what these real texts say. As a preliminary matter, I want to explain my understanding of one of the… Continue reading Me and Modern Monetary Theory
Salon: The 1 percent’s Ivy League loophole
Elizabeth Stoker (@e_stoker) and I had a post over at Salon today about tax subsidies for alumni donations used to grease the wheels of legacy admissions. Here is an excerpt: But if this is true, then alumni donations are not donations at all. Rather, they’re implicit transactions: alumni pay universities and receive additional admissions consideration… Continue reading Salon: The 1 percent’s Ivy League loophole
Policy Shop Weekly Digest: The Week of Polanyi
I had 2 posts over at Demos’ Policy Shop this week. Here is a rundown with links: Libertarianism’s Battle With History. Excerpt: But as much as market fanatics tried, they never could succeed in casting the economy as something separate from or above social order. Instead, what we saw (and what we see in developing… Continue reading Policy Shop Weekly Digest: The Week of Polanyi
There is a difference between conventional and chemical weapons
One of the popular memes coming out of this Syria debacle is an assertion that there is no difference between conventional and chemical weapons. I’ve yet to see someone explain what the Just War Theory response on this is (granted I don’t follow this stuff anymore). So I figure I will just take a stab… Continue reading There is a difference between conventional and chemical weapons