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

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

Expiration of private property rights: a note

According to libertarian law, upon what occasions may a person’s private property rights in goods, commodities, in himself, be alienated from him? The present paper is an attempt to wrestle with this question. We consider abandonment, punishment, salvage, misplacement, liberation of property

Judith Jarvis Thomson on Abortion; a Libertarian Perspective

Introduction: Judith Jarvis Thompson, an eminent philosopher from MIT, has written the most widely cited article of all those ever written about abortion. She likens the fetus to a trespasser. Suppose you wake up in bed next to a famous violinist who is (innocently) connected to your kidney, through a sort of umbilical cord, without which he will die. What rights does he have? What obligations do you have? Using this brilliant analogy to pregnancy, she sheds light on the abortion controversy. Method: The method used in the present paper is to widely quote Thompson’s (1971) essay, and then to distinguish it from a libertarian analysis of the pro-choice, and pro-life positions on abortion. Discussion: The present essay is an attempt to distinguish Thompson (1971) from a libertarian analysis of abortion. I offer a third alternative: evictionism. Here, the mother may evict the fetus from the womb at any time she wishes, since she is the sole owner of the “terrain.” She has private property rights over her own body. Conclusion: Although there are some strong parallels between the two approaches, there are also important differences. Thompson (1971), then, is not entirely congruent with the libertarian philosophy. To wit, she fails to recognize the libertarian insight that abortion is actually a complex act, consisting of two parts, one licit, the other illicit. The first is eviction of the fetus from the mother. The second constitutes murdering the fetus, when mere eviction could separate the two. However, her violinist example is congruent with this philosophy

A Collection of Essays on Libertarian Jurisprudence

We attempt to demonstrate that while it should be against the law to interfere with any property owner from receiving sunlight from directly above, this should not at all apply to tall buildings, which place into shadow their neighbors, and thus deprive them of sideways sunlight

Libertarianism and Original Appropriation Homesteading: Response to Dominiak

What is the ultimate justification for private property rights? How do they first legitimately come into being? Both Dominiak and I reject the usual explanation: they come into existence based upon a grant of executive privilege, based upon the will of the king or the democratic legislature. For this leaves open the issue of why either of them have the right to grant private property rights in the first place. Dominiak claims this is based upon first or prior possession. In the present paper I will criticize that alternative, and defend the John Lockean notion of “mixing labor” with land and natural resources as a means of coming to own them via homesteading.What is the ultimate justification for private property rights? How do they first legitimately come into being? Both Dominiak and I reject the usual explanation: they come into existence based upon a grant of executive privilege, based upon the will of the king or the democratic legislature. For this leaves open the issue of why either of them have the right to grant private property rights in the first place. Dominiak claims this is based upon first or prior possession. In the present paper I will criticize that alternative, and defend the John Lockean notion of “mixing labor” with land and natural resources as a means of coming to own them via homesteading