Author Archives: Josh Weil

No Cuts, No Fees, Education Should Be Free

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Ignorance is Bliss?

Once again, my favorite contrarian Robin Hanson has gotten me to think really hard about interpersonal psychology. In this post, he argues that we prefer someone to be ignorant in why they like us. I initially disagreed with him, but the more I think about his hypothesis the more plausible it seems. I think his point is that if people [...]
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Digging up the Archives

Here’s the introduction from Don Boudreaux’s prophetic essay from 2001 on his post 9-11 fears: I’m writing these words in the early-morning serenity of my home, two weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks. All appears peaceful, fine, and as it was before September 11. My son, Thomas, is upstairs sleeping the sweet sleep of a [...]
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Why Economic Growth Matters

An excerpt from an upcoming article I am writing for the Cal Patriot: The good news is the world is becoming more capitalist over the years. It’s completely possible in a few generations to make drastic economic progress. A 6 percent annual increase in GDP results in a doubling per capita income every twelve years. This [...]
Posted in Econ 101 | Tagged | 1 Comment

Who Are You Calling Friend, Buddy?

An email I received this morning from attorney general candidate Alberto Torrico with critical commentary by yours truly: Dear Friend, For the first time in California’s history, our state government spent more money on prisons than higher education. So? This is a meaningless comparison. Maybe it costs more to lock someone up than to send him to school. I’m all for controlling penitentiary costs, but [...]
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March 4th

Tomorrow is a “day-of-action” strike in response to UC budget cuts, fee increases, and Subway shops. Based on the previous walkouts and the March 4th rhetoric, I’m predicting campus tomorrow will devolve into a destructive clusterf&#* of various politicos competing to make the most noise and gain status. You can read a pro side here, at “Occupy CA.” Social [...]
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Ideas pt.2

Last post, I talked about the dangerous potential of government implemented top-down bad ideas. I think every sane person will agree that Chinese peasantry backyard steel production was clearly a horrible blunder. However, it’s not satisfactory to eliminate only the obviously foolish government programs (farm subsidies come to mind). There are high costs of government [...]
Posted in Government Spending, Knowledge problem, education | Tagged , | 3 Comments

State-Run Schooling

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More on Ideas

A successful implementation of an idea in a particular time and circumstance may not produce the same results elsewhere. This recognition of the indispensable role of local knowledge is critical to understanding why top down solutions are dangerous. When an unsuccessful top down solution is forced upon a people through government, the accountability feedback mechanism does not [...]
Posted in Innovation, Knowledge problem | Tagged , , | 1 Comment