Bryan Caplan's Blog, page 52

Governing Least: What’s Really Wrong with Utilitarianism

One argument against utilitarianism is that no one actually follows it.  I call this the Argument from Hypocrisy.  A better objection, though, is that even highly scrupulous utilitarians don’t comply with their stated principles; I call this the Argument from Conscience.   In Governing Least, Moller powerfully develops a parallel objection: While utilitarians often urge self-sacrifice, they rarely preach other-sacrifice.  But given their principles, they totally should!  Moller’s explanation...

Dan Moller’s Governing Least

Michael Huemer’s The Problem of Political Authority is definitely my favorite work of libertarian political philosophy.  Dan Moller’s new Governing Least, however, is definitely now my second-favorite work of libertarian political philosophy.  The two books have much in common: Both use common-sense ethics to argue for libertarian politics.  Both are calm, logical, and ever-mindful of potential criticisms.  Both strive to persuade reasonable people who don’t already agree with them.  Both ar...

More Bang for Your Buck; or, Better Ways to Buy Your Happiness

Money has little effect on happiness.  Ancient Greeks like Epicurus said it, and modern empirical psychology confirms it.  Why do we have so much trouble accepting this?  In part, because our immediate reaction to money is highly favorable – and that sticks in our minds.  Before long, however, hedonic adaptation kicks in.  We start to take our good fortune for granted… and then we largely forget that our fortune is good.

But there’s probably another important reason why we have so much troubl...

Open Borders: Thanks for Your Support

Many thanks to EconLog readers for helping give me two amazing birthday gifts…

#4 on Amazon for All Books

#1 on Amazon for New Books

And of course it’s still not too late to pre-order…

The post Open Borders: Thanks for Your Support appeared first on Econlib.

Open Borders Launch Fun

To help you celebrate the pre-order launch for Open Borders, here’s…

1. The official website.

2. Zach Weinersmith’s celebratory launch comic!

3. Promotion #1: I will do personalized podcasts for the three people who buy the MOST copies today.  Just email me a screen cap of your Amazon order.  And remember: Even precocious kids can enjoy this book, so please think of the children!

4. Promotion #2: If you’re an educator and you assign Open Borders for your course, I will do a Skype session wit...

Pre-Order Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration

Today’s my birthday, and I have so much to celebrate.  Foremost on my mind: My first graphic novel, Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration, is finally available for pre-order for the insanely low price of $13.99!  And it would really make my birthday if you pre-ordered right now… for yourself and anyone else in your life who’d appreciate it.

I had a good feeling about this project from the beginning… and then I got my absolute first choice for artist, Zach Weinersmith of Saturda...

Why I’m an Economic Optimist but Happiness Pessimist

Seven years ago, my mentor Tyler Cowen did an interview with The Atlantic entitled, “Why I’m a Happiness Optimist but Economic Pessimist.”  His point: Though GDP growth has been disappointingly low for decades, the internet does give us tons of free, fun stuff.  The more I reflect on the Paasche price index, though, the more I’m convinced that Tyler’s picture is exactly upside-down.  At least in the First World, the sensible position is economic optimism combined with happiness pessimism.

How...

Fine on Sturgeon

Sociologist Gary Alan Fine is probably best known for his ethnography of role-playing games.  But he’s also written the amusing “Ten Lies of Ethnography.”  Wittiest passage:

Science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon allegedly noted in response to claims that most science fiction is of poor quality that “90 percent of science fiction is crap, but then 90 percent of everything is crap.” Following Sturgeon’s “law,” 90% of all ethnography is crap. Although we should dispute the numbers and should...

Reflections on The Sopranos

I just finished re-watching the entirety of The Sopranos, HBO’s classic Mafia drama. I saw it season-by-season when it originally aired (1999-2007), and I still hew to the allegedly philistine view that the ending was not only bad, but insulting. Overall, though the show’s reputation is well-deserved. Here are the top social science insights I take away. (minor spoilers)

1. Human motivation is overdetermined. For any important action, people usually have several plausible reasons, and pinpoi...

Paasche Says Progress

When economists debate economic stagnation, I routinely recall my undergraduate macroeconomics textbook, Dornbusch and Fischer’s Macroeconomics (5th edition). In Appendix 2-1, these famed economists introduce readers to two main contrasting price indices: the Laspeyres, or base-weighted, and the Paasche, or current-weighted:

While this may seem technical, much is at stake. Suppose a stagnationist belittles the economic importance of the internet. “So we get some free stuff. How much can it p...