Art Carden
Senior Fellow
Art Carden is a Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. He is also an Associate Professor of Economics at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute.
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On Frank Knight, Intelligence and Democratic Action
“Intelligence and Democratic Action is the work of a distinguished and influential scholar who spent a lifetime wrestling with the tensions between the real and the ideal, the actual and the imagined. It is a brief but deep exploration of the contours of the social sciences, and it is worth serious consideration by anyone concerned…
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A Policy Wishlist for Summer 2021, Initially Composed While Stuck in Traffic
“These may not be very likely, but a man can dream, can’t he–especially when he’s stuck in stop-and-go traffic? If, by some miracle, some of these actually happen, we can move on to other improvements when Fall rolls around.” ~ Art Carden
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Where Economics and Management Studies Overlap: A Brief Review of Austrian Perspectives on Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and Organization
“Elements is a good refresher for people who haven’t thought about it in a while, and I think it’s also a good jumping-off point for teachers looking to organize lectures and classroom activities. Yes, markets tend toward equilibrium, but this Element points us to the journey, and that’s where all the entrepreneurial action is.” ~…
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The Extent of the Market is Limited By the Imagination of the Regulators
“The regulatory state substitutes the knowledge and beliefs of regulators for the knowledge and beliefs of entrepreneurs and innovators. This means entrepreneurs and innovators have to divide their time between actually developing their product and convincing regulators to say ‘yes.’ Regulators are understandably overcautious because of their incentives.” ~ Art Carden
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Being Careful With Numbers, Words, and Visions: Review of Thomas Sowell, Discrimination and Disparities
“Discrimination and Disparities is classic Sowell, and people who are already familiar with his work will find a lot of claims he has made elsewhere. However, these will likely be news to people who haven’t already read Intellectuals and Society, Intellectuals and Race, or Affirmative Action Around the World. Discrimination and Disparities is an important…
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Are You “Wasting” Paper?
“Do we really want already-stressed out people adding to their cognitive load by thinking they might be sinning against Gaia or Greta Thunberg by printing or discarding a sheet of paper? As Bryan Caplan has pointed out, ‘Recycling is the philosophy that everything is worth saving except your time.'”~ Art Carden
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Lumber, Labor, and Gas Markets Tell SAD Stories
“As economists emphasize whenever price gouging rules kick in, ignoring what supply and demand analysis has to teach us usually means making the problem worse rather than better.” ~ Art Carden
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Let’s Make A Deal: The Bourgeois Deal Among Many Others
“As H.L. Mencken famously said, the urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the desire to rule it. We’ve paid the butcher’s bill for generations of guillotine-operating humanitarians and kindly inquisitors. Perhaps we should grow up a little and take a different path.” ~ Art Carden
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“After the Revolution, You Will Like Going Camping!” G.A. Cohen’s Camping Trip Reconsidered
“This doesn’t require a thought experiment: people vote for capitalism and against socialism in droves by trying to move to freer and more prosperous countries. Socialists might have laudable goals like feeding, clothing, and sheltering everyone–and I agree with these–but I would no more suggest socialism to treat poverty and inequality than I would prescribe…
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Markets Help People Care For You Without Caring About You
“To those of you who are working to reduce transaction costs and find easier ways for strangers to cooperate, this absent-minded professor offers a heartfelt ‘thank you.’ Yes, I will try to be more careful next time–but as someone who routinely misplaces keys, coffee cups, sunglasses, and so on, I appreciate the efforts of those…
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•
On Frank Knight, Intelligence and Democratic Action
“Intelligence and Democratic Action is the work of a distinguished and influential scholar who spent a lifetime wrestling with the tensions between the real and the ideal, the actual and the imagined. It is a brief but deep exploration of the contours of the social sciences, and it is worth serious consideration by anyone concerned…
-
•
A Policy Wishlist for Summer 2021, Initially Composed While Stuck in Traffic
“These may not be very likely, but a man can dream, can’t he–especially when he’s stuck in stop-and-go traffic? If, by some miracle, some of these actually happen, we can move on to other improvements when Fall rolls around.” ~ Art Carden
-
•
Where Economics and Management Studies Overlap: A Brief Review of Austrian Perspectives on Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and Organization
“Elements is a good refresher for people who haven’t thought about it in a while, and I think it’s also a good jumping-off point for teachers looking to organize lectures and classroom activities. Yes, markets tend toward equilibrium, but this Element points us to the journey, and that’s where all the entrepreneurial action is.” ~…
-
•
The Extent of the Market is Limited By the Imagination of the Regulators
“The regulatory state substitutes the knowledge and beliefs of regulators for the knowledge and beliefs of entrepreneurs and innovators. This means entrepreneurs and innovators have to divide their time between actually developing their product and convincing regulators to say ‘yes.’ Regulators are understandably overcautious because of their incentives.” ~ Art Carden
-
•
Being Careful With Numbers, Words, and Visions: Review of Thomas Sowell, Discrimination and Disparities
“Discrimination and Disparities is classic Sowell, and people who are already familiar with his work will find a lot of claims he has made elsewhere. However, these will likely be news to people who haven’t already read Intellectuals and Society, Intellectuals and Race, or Affirmative Action Around the World. Discrimination and Disparities is an important…
-
•
Are You “Wasting” Paper?
“Do we really want already-stressed out people adding to their cognitive load by thinking they might be sinning against Gaia or Greta Thunberg by printing or discarding a sheet of paper? As Bryan Caplan has pointed out, ‘Recycling is the philosophy that everything is worth saving except your time.'”~ Art Carden
-
•
Lumber, Labor, and Gas Markets Tell SAD Stories
“As economists emphasize whenever price gouging rules kick in, ignoring what supply and demand analysis has to teach us usually means making the problem worse rather than better.” ~ Art Carden
-
•
Let’s Make A Deal: The Bourgeois Deal Among Many Others
“As H.L. Mencken famously said, the urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the desire to rule it. We’ve paid the butcher’s bill for generations of guillotine-operating humanitarians and kindly inquisitors. Perhaps we should grow up a little and take a different path.” ~ Art Carden
-
•
“After the Revolution, You Will Like Going Camping!” G.A. Cohen’s Camping Trip Reconsidered
“This doesn’t require a thought experiment: people vote for capitalism and against socialism in droves by trying to move to freer and more prosperous countries. Socialists might have laudable goals like feeding, clothing, and sheltering everyone–and I agree with these–but I would no more suggest socialism to treat poverty and inequality than I would prescribe…
-
•
Markets Help People Care For You Without Caring About You
“To those of you who are working to reduce transaction costs and find easier ways for strangers to cooperate, this absent-minded professor offers a heartfelt ‘thank you.’ Yes, I will try to be more careful next time–but as someone who routinely misplaces keys, coffee cups, sunglasses, and so on, I appreciate the efforts of those…