Mere Economics

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Latest — 18 Apr 2025

I Got in Trouble for This One!

Lots of people didn't like (or didn't understand?) this piece when I wrote it. I still stand by every word of this piece originally published at The Independent Institute. Here's Howie Baetjer arguing something very similar: Without important regulations, we risk higher prices, lower

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Mere Economic Curiosity

Note: I originally published this essay at the American Institute for Economic Research. Recently, I argued that studying economics instills gratitude. A friend responded by asking me what intellectual virtues are necessary for understanding economics. Gratitude may be a result of studying economics, but what antecedents undergird enriching encounters with

A. Smith Savvy

The woollen coat, for example, which covers the day-labourer, as coarse and rough as it may appear, is the produce of the joint labour of a great multitude of workmen. The shepherd, the sorter of the wool, the wool-comber or carder, the dyer, the scribbler, the spinner, the weaver, the

Why Do We Give Engagement Rings?

I explain Margaret Brinig's classic paper–Rings and Promises–as the second speaker in this video:

Diamonds are Forever - The Resource Curse

I'm posting a 14-part series of mini-essays on diamonds (but really about the economic point of view). Here's part 14, the conclusion. The Resource Curse Some economists have made the counterintuitive case that a nation apparently blessed with an abundance of natural resources is actually cursed.

First, Do No Harm

In Mere Economics, Art and I urge Christians to take a Hippocratic Oath regarding the causes they support. Ask: “Are the means I’m supporting compatible with the ends I’m trying to achieve?” Answering that question means learning mere economics. It’s not enough, for instance, to support a

Shifting Tariff Discourse: Suddenly, Higher Prices Are Good

Years ago, Eliezer Yudkowsky paraphrased Frank Herbert's Dune: "Politics is the mind-killer." The idea is on full display in the ongoing discussions of tariffs, the cratering stock market, and the rising probability of a recession. We were promised Donald Trump would Make America Great Again with

F.A. Hayek's Commentary on the Book of Genesis

You didn't know he had one? Well, he doesn't, at least not exactly. But in revisiting the introduction to The Fatal Conceit, I was surprised to see him frame the problem of comparative political economy similarly to how many Christian economists (myself included) think about our

Mere Economics: The Extended Edition

In order to write a book that is roughly the length of Mere Christianity, Art and I left quite a bit of material on the drawing room floor. We had plans to discuss political economy and public goods in greater detail. We wanted a chapter on business cycles. And can

Diamonds are Forever - Private Governance

I'm posting a 14-part series of mini-essays on diamonds (but really about the economic point of view). Here's part 13. Private Governance Yes, diamonds are well-protected, but they also have characteristics which make them easier to steal, characteristics that raise the costs of protecting them. Namely,