Antony Davies
Contributor
Antony Davies is the Milton Friedman Distinguished Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education, and associate professor of economics at Duquesne University.
He has authored Principles of Microeconomics (Cognella), Understanding Statistics (Cato Institute), and Cooperation and Coercion (ISI Books). He has written hundreds of op-eds appearing in, among others, the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, New York Post, Washington Post, New York Daily News, Newsday, US News, and the Houston Chronicle.
He also co-hosts the weekly podcast Words & Numbers. Davies was Chief Financial Officer at Parabon Computation, and founded several technology companies.
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Oh, SNAP
“People make food choices based on a variety of factors, including taste, convenience, and price. Simply paying people to eat more fruits and vegetables is unlikely to change these underlying factors.” ~Antony Davies
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Krugman’s Magic Act
“We’ve reached a point where the political class’s primary concern is no longer doing what’s best for the economy, but getting around the letter of the law while fooling the public as to what they’re really doing.” ~ Antony Davies
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The Tax Code: A Playground for the Few, A Labyrinth for the Many
“The tax code’s complexity has created an environment in which tax-preparation services, lobbyists, favored industries, and politicians thrive, while taxpayers struggle to make sense of ever-changing rules and regulations.” ~ Antony Davies
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Through the Eyes of Greed
“Politicians don’t care whether oil companies are greedy, or altruistic, or neither. Politicians care about using oil companies as a smokescreen to hide from the voters’ wrath.” ~ Antony Davies
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Seek Symmetry
“A better approach is to ensure that employers and employees are on equal footing when it comes to job mobility and competition, by requiring that the terms of the noncompete apply equally to both the company’s and the employee’s competitors.” ~ Antony Davies
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A Tale of Two Realities
“The media’s incentive is to tell us the portion of the truth that is entertaining. And what we have demonstrated by our behavior is that bad news entertains us.” ~ Antony Davies
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The Age of Decline
“We enter the Age of Decline and find ourselves victims of our own success. History tells us that impoverished societies die by war and famine. Now we are learning that prosperous societies die by attrition.” ~ Antony Davies
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Debt Ceiling Theater, The 2023 Revival
“We deserve exactly the government we have insisted upon for all these years. We also deserve the heavy price that will come for our own irresponsibility in repeatedly re-electing this troupe. No partisan theater will ever sugarcoat that.” ~ Antony Davies & James R. Harrigan
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Evidence that Economic Freedom Improves Outcomes
“The four most recent decades of evidence support the claim that Thomas Jefferson made twenty-two decades ago: societies achieve the best outcomes when their governments prevent people from harming each other, but otherwise leave them alone.” ~ Antony Davies
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The Malthusian Contradiction
“The truth is that it’s humans who create resources in the first place. When Malthusians point to explosive population growth, they think they are identifying a problem. They are actually identifying the solution.” ~ Antony Davies
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•
Oh, SNAP
“People make food choices based on a variety of factors, including taste, convenience, and price. Simply paying people to eat more fruits and vegetables is unlikely to change these underlying factors.” ~Antony Davies
-
•
Krugman’s Magic Act
“We’ve reached a point where the political class’s primary concern is no longer doing what’s best for the economy, but getting around the letter of the law while fooling the public as to what they’re really doing.” ~ Antony Davies
-
•
The Tax Code: A Playground for the Few, A Labyrinth for the Many
“The tax code’s complexity has created an environment in which tax-preparation services, lobbyists, favored industries, and politicians thrive, while taxpayers struggle to make sense of ever-changing rules and regulations.” ~ Antony Davies
-
•
Through the Eyes of Greed
“Politicians don’t care whether oil companies are greedy, or altruistic, or neither. Politicians care about using oil companies as a smokescreen to hide from the voters’ wrath.” ~ Antony Davies
-
•
Seek Symmetry
“A better approach is to ensure that employers and employees are on equal footing when it comes to job mobility and competition, by requiring that the terms of the noncompete apply equally to both the company’s and the employee’s competitors.” ~ Antony Davies
-
•
A Tale of Two Realities
“The media’s incentive is to tell us the portion of the truth that is entertaining. And what we have demonstrated by our behavior is that bad news entertains us.” ~ Antony Davies
-
•
The Age of Decline
“We enter the Age of Decline and find ourselves victims of our own success. History tells us that impoverished societies die by war and famine. Now we are learning that prosperous societies die by attrition.” ~ Antony Davies
-
•
Debt Ceiling Theater, The 2023 Revival
“We deserve exactly the government we have insisted upon for all these years. We also deserve the heavy price that will come for our own irresponsibility in repeatedly re-electing this troupe. No partisan theater will ever sugarcoat that.” ~ Antony Davies & James R. Harrigan
-
•
Evidence that Economic Freedom Improves Outcomes
“The four most recent decades of evidence support the claim that Thomas Jefferson made twenty-two decades ago: societies achieve the best outcomes when their governments prevent people from harming each other, but otherwise leave them alone.” ~ Antony Davies
-
•
The Malthusian Contradiction
“The truth is that it’s humans who create resources in the first place. When Malthusians point to explosive population growth, they think they are identifying a problem. They are actually identifying the solution.” ~ Antony Davies