Russell Roberts's Blog, page 1550

Division of Knowledge

In my latest column in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, I take a stab at explaining the puzzling complexity of modern economies.

The Importance of Rules – the Vitality of Principles

Here's a letter to The Atlantic:

Sebastian Mallaby cogently summarizes Paul Romer's vital contributions to the theory of economic growth – contributions that highlight the role, not of mechanistic additions to the stock of technology and capital goods, but, instead, of good ideas ("The Politically Incorrect Guide to Ending Poverty," July/August).

According to Mallaby, "Romer began to emphasize that 'ideas' included more than just technologies and manufacturing processes.  Ideas were also...

A trend or fooled by randomness?

The Lakers point totals in the first five games of the series: 102, 94, 91, 89, 86.

People's Romance

Here's a letter to USA Today:

Mitt Romney joins the chorus of those who lament that politicians' responses to the BP oil spill are infused with politics ("We need a leader, not a politician," June 15).

These lamentations reveal that public understanding of government remains detached from reality in ways that are untrue of our understanding of almost any other area of life.  Everyone knows, for example, that professional football players are big, muscular, fast, and physically aggressive.  And...

Speaking in St. Louis

I'll be giving a talk in St. Louis this Thursday night at the Discussion Club. My topic is "The Future of Capitalism." If you're in the area and would like to attend, info is here. Reception is at 6:30 followed by dinner and my talk. If you're coming, try to let them know today.

Some Links

Bob Higgs wishes that the end were near for apocalyptic fear-mongering.

I dare anyone to read this short essay in the Washington Post by Charles Lane and not conclude that the $23 billion "teacher bailout" has almost nothing to do with education and nearly everything to do with interest-group politics.  And here's the take on this same issue by the ever-insightful Steve Landsburg.

University of Maryland Professor of Environmental Policy Robert Nelson, writing in the Miami Herald, explains that...

Copying in the fashion world

The latest EconTalk is Johanna Blakely talking about how easy it is to copy stuff in the fashion world and the implications for innovation and prices. We also talk about how many pairs of shoes we each own and my fashion weaknesses.

Matt Ridley and Ideas Having Sex

During the next few weeks I will have much more to say about Matt Ridley's spectacular new book, The Rational Optimist. To launch my effort to persuade every living creature to read Matt's book I post this video of the talk that Matt recently gave at the Mercatus Center at GMU.  (HT Claire Morgan)

By the way – and this, admittedly, from a blogger who named his son 'Thomas Macaulay Boudreaux' – Thomas Babington Macaulay's 1830 essay mentioned by Matt in this talk is among the greatest literary ...

Government-controlled Prices are Freely Set Prices

In this very nice op-ed, Todd Zywicki – my GMU colleague over in the law school – recently explained how Sen. Richard Durbin's efforts to have government control debit-card interchange fees will harm consumers.

Sen. Durbin today tries to defend his intrusions against Todd's indictment of them.

I sent this letter to the Washington Times in response to Sen. Durbin's Orwellian nonsense:

All tyrants, from the monstrous to the petty, abuse language in their attempts to beautify their bullying.  Sen...

Build It and They Will Prosecute

The Federal Trade Commission will investigate Apple for that company's alleged threat to monopolize the market for software used to run mobile devices such as the iPhone.

Chief among the many reasons for questioning the wisdom of this investigation is that the FTC's case against Apple is illogical on its face.  That case rests on the theory of "network effects" – effects which, as the Wall Street Journal reports, antitrust enforcers believe "grant outsize advantages to first movers and make...