“Opponents of capital punishment frequently proclaim that the State has no moral right to take the life of anyone, even a most reprehensible murderer. Yet that is absolutely the wrong conclusion for anyone who believes that capital punishment deters. To show why, suppose that for each murderer executed (instead of say receiving life imprisonment), the […]
Archive for April, 2006
Apr12th2006
“Early empirical analysis by Isaac Ehrlich found a substantial incremental deterrent effect of capital punishment, a finding that coincides with the common sense of the situation: it is exceedingly rare for a defendant who has a choice to prefer being executed to being imprisoned for life. Ehrlich’s work was criticized by some economists, but more […]
Apr11th2006
“We now know that the secret to curing hunger and poverty is capitalism and free trade. We have seen that demonstrated irrefutably in East Asia, which has experienced the greatest alleviation of poverty in the history of man. In half a century, places like Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea have gone from subsistence to […]
Apr10th2006
Quote Of The Day
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Economics, FreeTrade and General. 0 Comments“The trade issue is crippling the Democrats. The unions are terrified by trade, and they’re still a major Democratic constituency. Hillary Clinton will be caught in this dilemma unless the party faces up to it and says, ‘Look, we really can’t be against trade with poor countries.’ ” –Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia University economist who wrote […]
Apr7th2006
Democrats And Vouchers
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Education, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues) and Vouchers. 6 CommentsHarvard University economist Jeffrey Alan Miron writes:
Democratic politicians tend to oppose education vouchers. One reason is that Democrats obtain substantial support from teachers’ unions, which see vouchers as a serious threat.
Yet one constituency Democrats claim to represent—the economically disadvantaged, especially minorities—is the one with the most to gain from vouchers. This group has the worst […]
Apr7th2006
“This is a bit off the topic, but I cannot let pass the claim that vouchers would drain the good students from public schools, and would leave the students who remain there much worse off. The true situation illustrates how competition works. Schools that lose students to better schools would be under great pressure from […]
Apr6th2006
How much does ‘taxing the rich’ harm the economy? Harvard economist Greg Mankiw quotes this study:
A tax hike of 12.8 percentage points (one standard deviation) leads to 122 fewer hours of market work per adult per year and a 4.9 percentage point drop in the employment-to-population ratio. It also increases the size of the shadow […]
Apr6th2006
Quote Of The Day
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Academia, Economics, General and Unions. 5 Comments“Minimum wage laws are like protective tariffs insulating unionized workers from the competition of other workers. It is robbing a less affluent Peter to pay a more affluent Paul — all the while using noble rhetoric that appeals to the uninformed and the unthinking, which includes many people with fancy degrees and even fancier illusions […]
Apr5th2006
The Patriotic Immigrant
Published by in Economics, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues) and Immigration. 9 Comments…is, often times, much more genuine and personal. From a somewhat old article by Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post:
“I miss my country.”
The taxi had come late. The dispatcher had been rude. The airport was a long drive, I couldn’t afford to miss the plane and, yes, I’m afraid I snapped at the driver. We […]
Apr5th2006
“Many economists have recognized for more than a decade that the generous minimum wages and other rigidities of the French labor market caused unemployment rates that have remained stubbornly high since the early 1990’s. Immigrants, youths, and other new entrants into the labor market have been hurt the most since they have had the greatest […]
Apr4th2006
Wal-Mart To The Rescue
Published by in Economics, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues) and Wal-Mart. 4 CommentsIf you live in a high crime, high unemployment neighborhood, and are fed up with unions, bad economic policies, and misguided politicians chasing the few remaining jobs in your neighborhood out, you may have some good news coming your way if Wal-Mart has its way:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said Tuesday it plans […]
Apr4th2006
“Another example is the rent controls that many nations imposed during and after World War II. Most have since removed their rent controls, but certain cities like New York have kept them, although in a modified form. Most serious studies of the effects of rent controls in NY and elsewhere show that they speed up […]
Apr3rd2006
Quote Of The Day
Published by in General, Hispanics (Minority Issues) and affirmative action. 0 Comments“I agree that most of the diversity arguments about affirmative action are worth little. Diversity arguments were used in the past by Ivy League universities to keep down the number of Jews, and are now used to keep down the number of Asian Americans. A diligent student can learn from any good teacher, no matter […]
