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Art Carden

Profits are Informative, Not Decisive

There are a lot of ways to make money that you probably shouldn’t pursue. Selling drugs to children, for example. Unfounded celebrity gossip. Pyramid schemes. Pornography. Economics can explain why these ventures are profitable, but it cannot determine whether these ventures are good. Similarly, physics can tell you what

Observations From a "No Kings" Protest

I wasn't planning to go, but some friends said they were going. So we made signs and joined in. As I've told everyone, the best thing about this sign is that I can use it again when the Democrats are back in power. Protectionism, sadly, is

Embrace "Small Steps Toward a Better World"

You shouldn't just enjoy Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok's blog. You should embrace its motto, "Small Steps Toward a Better World." As Thomas Sowell keeps saying, there are no solutions, only trade-offs--and just because a small step in the right direction isn't

It's the Small Stuff: Look Around At Our World of Wonders

I've long loved Don Boudreaux's metaphor of the prosperity pool. Every new innovation, convenience, or increase in output is a drop in the prosperity pool: "a modern, prosperous market economy... is largely the result of many small innovations, each of which is not very significant

The Global Division of Knowledge Improved on "Batman"

My youngest loves the Batman movies and video games, so when it was his night to choose a move, he chose the 1989 version of Batman starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger. I was surprised at how poorly it held up. Everything seemed hokey, the special effects made

The Global Division of Knowledge Gives Us "Andor"

Like a lot of Star Wars fans, I've been kind of disappointed in the franchise since Disney took it over. I liked The Force Awakens a lot and absolutely loved Rogue One. I thought The Last Jedi was interesting--a good movie on its own--but it created a lot

It Is Finished: Pastoral Prayer From Resurrection Sunday

In my role as an elder at Immanuel Church, I usually offer a pastoral prayer at Sunday worship. Lest one think the story finished on Good Friday, here's the pastoral prayer from this past Sunday: Holy God and good father, you have turned our mourning into dancing. We

It is Finished: Jesus Christ’s Death and Burial for Blasphemers, Persecutors, and Insolent Opponents

I delivered the Good Friday message at Immanuel Church in Birmingham, Alabama on Friday, April 19, 2025. The text, which draws on 1 Timothy 1:12-17 and John 19, is below. The sky went dark, and the temple veil tore. It was noon on a Friday in a backwater of

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

Tariff Musings

Economists have been beating the drum for free trade for at least two and a half centuries, at least since Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations. People refuse to learn, or they just don't care. The new tariffs--calculated incoherently from meaningless data--will bring a big price tag.