Monthly Archives: December 2019

The agony of the center-right

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Arnold Kling

Yoni Appelbaum writes, If the center-right decides to accept some electoral defeats and then seeks to gain adherents via argumentation and attraction—and, crucially, eschews making racial heritage its organizing principle—then the GOP can remain vibrant. Its fissures will heal and … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 47 Comments

Essay backup: how the Internet turned bad

Posted on December 12, 2019 by Arnold Kling

we may be giving up autonomy too readily

Posted in business economics, Libertarian Thought | 8 Comments

A cynical view of the UK-US relationship

Posted on December 12, 2019 by Arnold Kling

Peter Zeihan writes, Most of the pro-Brexit crowd voted the way they did because they don’t like faceless European bureaucrats deciding issues for Britain. The reality is that Britain’s only way forward post-Brexit is to assign even greater levels of … Continue reading →

Posted in International issues | 3 Comments

Essay backup: mental transaction costs

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Arnold Kling

why micropayments don’t work well and Amazon Prime does

Posted in business economics | 4 Comments

A few reflections on Paul Volcker

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Arnold Kling

1. After I earned my Ph.D, my first job was as an economist at the Fed. Volcker was chairman. The staff was happy that he greatly increased the prestige of the Fed. But he had no use for anyone on … Continue reading →

Posted in Monetary Economics | 3 Comments

Essay backup: Let’s compete with Facebook

Posted on December 10, 2019 by Arnold Kling

rather than play fantasy-despot regulator

Posted in business economics | 5 Comments

Adversity and SAT scores

Posted on December 10, 2019 by Arnold Kling

The WSJ, had an article in the print edition on November 27 that I cannot find on line (their search function is not helpful). The print article was called ‘Adversity’ Has Big Effect on SAT Scores. What I can find … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics of Education, statistical methods | Tagged | 11 Comments

Essay backup: complex is not the same as complicated

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Arnold Kling
Posted in Economic education and methods | 5 Comments

Falling back on consequentialism

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Arnold Kling

In a review of a book by Dan Moller, I write, In appealing to our moral intuition against committing armed robbery, has Moller found a philosophical trump card that libertarians can play against their opponents? I am doubtful. In fact, … Continue reading →

Posted in books and book reviews, Libertarian Thought, links to my essays | 6 Comments

Essay backup: the game-playing society

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Arnold Kling

life and business increasingly involve score-keeping and strategy

Posted in business economics, culture | 5 Comments