"February is for curmudgeons, whinge-bags, and misanthropes. You can't begrudge us one month of the year or blame us for being even crabbier, it's so short. There is nothing good about it, which is why it's so great." ~Lionel Shriver
Happy February, friends! What are you most looking forward to this month? Aim high... you even get an extra day, so make it lovely.
We're hoping to build closer connections with you this month. Maybe you'll consider leaving a comment at EconLog or EconTalk, or taking up one of our EconTalk Extras. Maybe you'll join us for our next online reading group on Lionel Shriver's novel The Mandibles.* Or maybe you'll take the plunge and commit to our next Virtual Reading group, in which we'll read Why Not Socialism? and Why Not Capitalism? side-by-side.**
In the meantime, we hope you enjoy our February edition. As always, if you have comments and/or suggestions for us, feel free to drop us an email at econlib@libertyfund.org. We love to hear from you.
* Starting Monday, February 10 via Facebook and twitter.
** Starting Wednesday, March 11. Email srogers@libertyfund.org for more details.
EconLib Feature Articles, February 2020
Raj Chetty and The New Scientism:
Big Data, Economic Engineering, and The Failure of Economic Education
by Nikolai G. Wenzel
In this Feature, we continue to bring you reactions to the much-heralded new Harvard course led by Raj Chetty.
"Chetty is an exciting lecturer and an innovative thinker. He is addressing a real problem in the literature (understanding social problems) and a real problem in education (flawed principles of economics classes). But while I understand the appeal of Chetty’s Big Data approach, it has deep problems of its own. I cannot forget the lessons of all that failed economic tinkering." Read More.
Why Did Armen Alchain Have to Teach Economics About Property Rights?
by Peter J. Boettke
"Alchian’s unique positioning within the economics profession is largely a consequence of the particularities of his time. To an earlier generation of economists educated in the late 19th and early 20th century, many of his insights were just common-knowledge among serious students of classical and early neoclassical economics. But to the generations educated in the post WWII era, Alchian’s insights were so alien to their way of thinking that either he was dismissed as a relic of an earlier age, or exalted to the status of one of the most clever and creative thinkers in the profession." Read More.
Are Economists Basically Immoral?
By Russ K. McCullough
In this new Liberty Classic, Russ McCullough recommends Paul Heyne's fascinating exploration on ethics, theology, and the teaching and methodology of economics.
"Spoiler alert, the answer is “no”. However, it is easy to see how economists get a bad rap when the public thinks economics is all about greed and maximizing profit." Read More.
He Tells Us It's the Institutions.
by Arnold Kling
In this month's book review, Kling muses on Yuval Levin's appeal "for us to go beyond complaining and instead to participate in the process of building and shoring up our institutions." Kling sees everyone- Left or Right- currently dissatisfied with politics. What can be done? Are our institutions truly in irrevocable decline? Read More.
I’m skeptical of most proposals for reforming education. Progressives tend to favor government schools, whereas conservatives tend to favor an approach that yields high test scores. I don’t buy either view...
Adam Minter on Secondhand
Journalist and author Adam Minter talks about his book Secondhand with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Minter explores the strange and fascinating world of secondhand stuff--the downsizing that the elderly do when they move to smaller quarters, the unseen side of Goodwill Industries, and the global market for rags.
P.S. Don't miss Amy Willis's EconTalk Extra, The Kids Don't Want It, for this episode, designed to facilitate further thought and discussion on this episode.
P.P.S. Don't miss Sarah Skwire's follow-up EconLog post on knitting and recycling yarn.
Before the United States abolished the draft in 1973, some of its supporters argued that an all-volunteer force (AVF) would be too expensive because the military would have to pay much higher wages to attract enlistees. But the draft does not really reduce the cost of national defense. It merely shifts part of the cost from the general public to junior military personnel (career personnel are not typically drafted). Read More.
