REJOINDER TO BOETTKE ON COASEAN ECONOMICS AND COMMUNISM

In the view of Boettke (1998), Coase (1960) casts lights of understanding in a myriad of fields, including, preeminently, property rights theory and the Soviet system of economics. The claim of the present author, in sharp contrast, is that this seminal article of Coase’s is a snare and a delusion. It has led economists down a mistaken path for lo this past half century, and Boettke (1998) is but one more unfortunate example of this.Ronald Coase; Communism; Central Planning; Property Rights

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: CENTRALIZING CLASS WARRIOR

Abraham Lincoln was the great centralizer. His War of 1861 was only the tip of the iceberg in this regard. This core of his philosophy can also be seen in his “contributions” to class warfare, the American “system” of public works, strong tariff protection, public lands policy, welfare payments to large corporate interests, and in the contrasts between the Confederate and the U.S. Constitutions.Class warfare, Lincoln, tariffs, public lands, Confederate Constitution, centralization

IS THERE A PH.D. GLUT IN ECONOMICS IN ACADEMIA?

The academic market for Ph.D. economists in academia works like any other semi heavily regulated market with a large element of government ownership and with large time lags in supply: there are shortages and surpluses, but these tend to be self correcting, with enough time allowed for adjustments. Contrary to the claims of some, there is no such thing as a chronic glut.oversupply; academic market; market process; glut; Austrian economics

Overcoming difficulties in privatizing roads

The present article considers, and rejects, four arguments against the privatization of roads, and in favor of our present system of road socialism. They are 1. Eminent domain is cheap, efficient, and necessary, but only government can avail itself of their “benefits.” 2. Roads are not perfectly competitive, but rather, necessarily, are characterized by monopolistic elements, which only the state can address. 3. Roads are different then everything else; people impose waiting costs on others without taking them into account; this externalities problem is a market failure that, again, only government can solve. 4. Road privatization is unfair to abutting property owners. In section 3, the paper deals with five objections to, or difficulties with, street and highway privatization: 1. The government has violated “Non-Compete” clauses to protect private investors in roadways. 2. Private industry would find it impossible to discern rational prices for its services. 3. Should public roads be commercialized before being privatized? That is, should the state first charge a price for these services and then privatize, or do the opposite? 4. Road privatization would be a public relations nightmare. How should this be dealt with

Banks, insurance companies, and discrimination

This article examines some of the reasons why banks and insurance companies have been accused of discrimination, and shows that this is by and large a false accusation. Economic analysis demonstrates that racial discrimination is not a profit-maximizing strategy. Actually, unwise public policies are actually precluding many consumers from the market.redlining; financial regulation; unintended consequences

The Trolley: a Libertarian Analysis

In the trolley case, an individual is faced with killing one man in order to save five equally innocent people. This philosophical conundrum pits deontology (do not murder) against utilitarianism (saving lives). Numerous non-libertarian commentators have weighed in on this challenge. The present paper offers a libertarian analysis of this case

Continuums

There are continuum problems in political economy. There are no objective non-debatable solutions to any of them. All answers to them are arbitrary. Responding to these challenges are, ideally, the responsibility of courts, juries, etc