Cato on Campus - Economics: Public Choice

Bryan Caplan on Voter Irrationality

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Bryan explains the Miracle of Aggregation, shows that its key assumption doesn't hold up empirically, then focuses on systematically biased beliefs about economics.

Tyler Cowen on Bloggingheads.tv

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:34:00 EDT

"The chat covers many topics, including whether capitalism will triumph, whether you should have more kids, and which country is most likely to be hit by the next nuclear weapon attack."

Inequality and Excess

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:47:00 EDT

By Arnold Kling: "What the American people really should feel awkward and defensive about is the level of inequality and excess of political power. Instead of asking ourselves what we can do about Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, we should be asking ourselves about what we can do about the Clintons and the Spitzers. Those who want more and more power should be our biggest concern."

Incentives, Incentives, Incentives

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:10:00 EDT

By Allen R. Sanderson: "If incentives work so well, maybe there are ways to improve public sector outcomes through the application of these same 'incentives matter' principles."

Public Choice

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:02:00 EDT

"Public Choice studies the intersection between economics and political science. The journal plays a central role in fostering exchange between economists and political scientists, enabling both communities to explain and learn from each other�s perspectives." Now available online.

Atlas Shrugged and Public Choice: The Obvious Parallels

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:13:00 EST

By Bryan Caplan: "Though there is little evidence of mutual influence, Ayn Rand and public choice converge on a strikingly similar vision of the political process. Both emphasize the contradiction between the propaganda of government intervention and the reality. Government supposedly intervenes to advance the interests of the majority. In reality, however, its goal to advance the interests of political insiders at the expense of everyone else."

Tim Hartford on BHTV

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:52:00 EST

Cato's own Will Wilkinson speaks with author and economist Tim Hartford about his new book, The Logic of Life. "Tim�s book isn�t just another foray into pop econ. It�s a fascinating and entertaining overview and synthesis of a good deal of the most important recent research in economics." - Will Wilkinson

5 Myths About Our Ballot-Box Behavior

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:41:00 EST

By Bryan Caplan: "We haven't even made it to the New Hampshire primary, but millions of Americans are already sick of hearing about the 2008 race. Bad as the torrent of news is, I find the repetition of myths about voters and voting even more galling. Whether you're arguing with friends or watching the news, you hear many claims about how American democracy works that just aren't true."

Regulatory Competition: A Primer

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:55:00 EST

By Jennifer Smith-Bozek: "A given government jurisdiction�local, state, or federal�can provide regulatory alternatives to compete with those of another government. Regulatory competition can attract more businesses and jobs, yield regulations that are more efficient and less expensive, and thereby provide more options to consumers."

Pigs Don't Fly: The Economic Way of Thinking about Politics

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:05:00 EST

By Russell Roberts: "Politicians are just like the rest of us. They find it hard to do the right thing. They claim to have principles, but when their principles clash with what is expedient, they often find a way to justify their self-interest."

Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:15:00 EST

"The economist and blogger Tyler Cowen provides quirky and insightful advice for life based on his signature urbane style of economic reasoning."

Undercover Economist: Your Vote Doesn't Count

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:07:00 EST

The concept of a �vote� is meaningless when it comes to the market. If Benn�s claim [that the poor are better represented in a democracy than in a market] means anything at all, surely it means this: that a poor person has more influence over the service he or she receives from the government than over the service he or she receives from the market. That claim means something, but it is also hard to sustain.

So You Want to be a Masonomist

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:40:00 EDT

By Arnold Kling: "Years from now, perhaps people will be saying that something big got started recently at the George Mason University department of economics. Maybe if you become a Masonomist now, you will be getting in early on a trend that will soon catch on much more widely."

Robert Frank on Economics Education and the Economic Naturalist

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:35:00 EDT

"Frank argues that the traditional way of teaching economics via graphs and equations often fails to make any impression on students. In this conversation with host Russ Roberts, Frank outlines an alternative approach from his new book, where students find interesting questions and enigmas from everyday life. They then try to explain them using the economic way of thinking."

Democracy and Other Failures

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:32:00 EDT

By Doug Campbell: "The theory of public choice helps explain why we get stuck with so many bad economic policies. Or does it?"

The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:09:00 EDT

By Bryan Caplan: "In theory, democracy is a bulwark against socially harmful policies. In practice, however, democracies frequently adopt and maintain policies that are damaging. How can this paradox be explained?"

Rent Seeking Behind the Green Curtain

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Jonathan H. Adler explains that "due to the cost and complexity of environmental rules, the environmental policy arena presents an extremely attractive target for those who wish to seek rents in Washington. Indeed, if there is one consistent interest group, it is the inside-the-beltway consultants, lobbyists, and litigators, who benefit from the continuation of a Byzantine regulatory structure, the intimate knowledge of which is incredibly valuable and rare."

The Fundamentals of Rent Seeking

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

By Gordon Tullock: "Once the concept of rent seeking was discovered - and defined as the outlay of resources by individuals and organizations in the pursuit of rents created by government - there followed a flourishing of research as relevant ideas began to disseminate throughout economics. It is now rare to find an issue of an economics journal that does not refer at least implicitly to the concept of rent seeking."