Mere Economics (Page 9)

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I Listen to Things: Led Zeppelin Covers & Remakes

As a rule, I don't listen to music with lyrics while I'm working--but rules are made to be broken. Sometimes I just need some inspiration, and Amazon, Apple, YouTube, and other streaming services offer a cornucopia. Unlimited economic progress is one of the themes in Strangers

Law and Economics Classics - Property Rights

At Grove City College, I teach Law and Economics--a course that explicitly examines how "people expand their options by cooperating." It therefore lies at the heart of "mere economics." Today, I conclude. Demsetz, Harold. “Toward a theory of property rights.” American Economic Review 57, no. 2

Should We Cheer A Sinking Ship?

You pick up the Wall Street Journal and read a headline announcing that the U.S. is headed for another record trade deficit. Remembering that GDP is the sum of Consumption, Investment, Government Purchases, and Net Exports, you fret because the equation Y = C + I + G + (X-IM) (where X is

Will Google Ever Lose its Monopoly?

Inspired by this (in)famous headline, I wrote this essay, which originally appeared at The Independent Institute, and which Art and I adapt for Mere Economics. Actually, it’s a trick question. Google (excuse me, Alphabet) doesn’t have a monopoly. Not by any sensible definition of the word. Is

#FreeBookFriday: David Friedman on Price Theory and Radical Capitalism

David D. Friedman, son of 1976 Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman, describes himself as someone who teaches economics in a law school despite never having taken a course in either. Despite this, he has made important contributions to the theories of anarchy and capitalism. Furthermore, he has graciously made some of

Diamonds are Forever - Commitment

I'm posting a 14-part series of mini-essays on diamonds (but really about the economic point of view). Here's part 9. Commitment At least in the United States, engagement rings are a relatively recent invention. Before 1935, it was not customary for a man to offer a

Why Go To College?

Why go to college? Three reasons: For a Credential. For a lot of students, college is about making friends and memories for a few years before getting out with a credential everyone sees as a ticket to the middle class--but not because you learned anything useful. As Bryan Caplan explains,

Sowell Sagacity

It has often been asserted that women receive only about two-thirds of what men receive for doing the same work. While this assertion is open to very serious challenges on empirical grounds, the more relevant analytical point here is that it treats employers’ perceptions as if they were independent of

#FreeBookFriday: Last Set of Gratis "Mere Economics" Sources

Robert L. Schuettinger and Eamonn F. Butler, Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls: How Not to Fight Inflation. Milton M. Shapiro, Foundations of the Market Price System. Sun Tzu, The Art of War. Francis Wayland, The Elements of Political Economy. Philip H. Wicksteed, The Commonsense of Political Economy. And