Category Archives: Folk Economics

Sowell, Mises, and the Pain of Going Against the Grain

By Charlie Deist | Published: February 13, 2010
In the last two days, I have observed that people who possess strong convictions about the way the world is can frequently turn bitter if their worldview substantially differs from popular opinion. The first piece of evidence was a quote by Milton Friedman about Ludwig von Mises: “The story I remember best happened at the initial [...]
Also posted in Psychology & Behavior | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

What’s in a Word?

By Charlie Deist | Published: January 25, 2010
Over at Marginal Revolution, Alex Tabarrok notes the emergence of discussions among libertarians about the shortcomings of the word “capitalism.” He cites some libertarian writers who have even started referring to free-markets as socialism, because they believe it more accurately represents the concept they are trying to convey. This sounds like a ridiculous notion that [...]
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Got To Admit It’s Getting Better…

By Josh Weil | Published: January 23, 2010
A lot better over the time. Even those who value a narrower income gap can celebrate these finding. If articles like this can’t convince people that the standard of living drastically improves over time, I don’t know what can. Social Bookmarking
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Lend Me Your Ears

By Josh Weil | Published: January 17, 2010
Two links for your listening pleasure: Thomas Sowell on economic facts and fallacies. Libertarian economist David R. Henderson debates liberal economist Mark Weisbrot. Social Bookmarking
Also posted in Econ 101, Freedom | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Economic Sanctions Harm Innocent People

By Josh Weil | Published: December 22, 2009
Sanctions don’t work in countries with strong governments. They haven’t worked for past the 45 years in Cuba. They haven’t worked in North Korea. Kim Jong Il will still get his Gucci sunglasses while ordinary North Koreans suffer from our blockade. For whatever twisted logic or folk economics, on December 15th the House of Representatives voted [...]
Also posted in Unintended Consequences | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Libertarians and Conservatives: Strange Bedfellows (pt. 1)

By Charlie Deist | Published: December 17, 2009
For better or for worse, the United States has a distinct two-party model. Conservatives are represented by the Republican Party and progressives by the Democratic Party. These are broad generalizations, but most people would describe themselves as one or the other. Both parties’ voters have wide ranges of intelligence. Yes, believe it or not, there [...]
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Folk Economics

By Charlie Deist | Published: November 16, 2009
I considered titling this post “Folkonomics,” but I decided that the -onomics suffix is quickly becoming overused what with all the Freak-’s and the Superfreak-’s, not to mention Wendy’s new Threeconomics (three small sandwiches for three dollars). I have no time for cutesy neologisms. This is serious. The term folk economics has been used by Michael [...]
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