Monthly Archives: December 2015

How Should We Fix Higher Education?

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Arnold Kling

Daniel Drezner warns against some of the standard nostrums. When politicians and pundits argue in favor of reallocating resources from one college major to another, they’re trying to say that they can pick disciplinary winners and losers better than universities, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics of Education | 14 Comments

Peter Lawler on Higher Education

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Arnold Kling

He writes, the traditional forms of the college serve the genuinely higher forms of liberal education that conservatives often champion. The study of philosophy in light of great texts always serves viewpoint diversity by reminding us that what just is … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics of Education | 6 Comments

My Opportunity to be Wrong

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Arnold Kling

In my post on Libertarians and Mass Shootings, I wrote, As of this morning, that still would be my guess. A Charles Manson who happens to be Arab-American. Of course, I have plenty of opportunity to be wrong. Just to … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 19 Comments

PSST

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Arnold Kling

Thor Berger and Carl Benedikt Frey write, in 2010, only 0.5% of the US labour force is employed in industries that did not exist in 2000. We have been creating new industries that require few workers, and they are displacing … Continue reading →

Posted in PSST and Macro | 4 Comments

Scott Sumner’s Theory of Hysteresis

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Arnold Kling

In The Midas Paradox, he writes, if depressions do encourage statist policy interventions, then deflationary policies may impose costs that are much larger that [sic] those predicted by natural rate models of the business cycle. Recently, Blanchard and Summers have … Continue reading →

Posted in books and book reviews, Economic History, PSST and Macro, Scott Sumner is Coherent | 3 Comments

Scott Sumner on Targets, Instruments, and Indicators

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Arnold Kling

When I was in graduate school, Benjamin Friedman’s paper on targets, instruments, and indicators of monetary policy (appears to be gated) was assigned in several courses. So I think of it as a classic, but mine may be an idiosyncratic … Continue reading →

Posted in books and book reviews, Economic History, Monetary Economics, Scott Sumner is Coherent | 9 Comments

Libertarians and Mass Shootings

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Arnold Kling

I think that any way that you cut it, mass shootings will make people more statist. I have been saying for quite some time that this is not a libertarian moment, primarily because of concerns with terrorism. The San Bernadino … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 31 Comments

Piketty, Inequality, and Terrorism

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Arnold Kling

The WaPo reports, The new argument, which Piketty spelled out recently in the French newspaper Le Monde, is this: Inequality is a major driver of Middle Eastern terrorism, including the Islamic State attacks on Paris earlier this month — and … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic education and methods | 11 Comments

Bill Gates’ Energy Initiative

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Arnold Kling

Tech Insider reports, The Gates-led Breakthrough Energy Coalition will be investing over $1 billion dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports. The exact dollar amount pledged is unknown, but a Gates spokesperson told Tech Insider that “it represents many billions of … Continue reading →

Posted in books and book reviews, energy and the environment, Libertarian Thought | 19 Comments

Off Topic: Don’t Take Up Swimming

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Arnold Kling

I took it up in early October. About a month ago, I developed a bad cough, and which I just took to be “cough due to cold.” I curtailed many activities, including swimming. The other day, I felt better enough … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments