Donald J. Boudreaux
Associate Senior Research Fellow
Donald J. Boudreaux is a Associate Senior Research Fellow with the American Institute for Economic Research and affiliated with the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University; a Mercatus Center Board Member; and a professor of economics and former economics-department chair at George Mason University. He is the author of the books The Essential Hayek, Globalization, Hypocrites and Half-Wits, and his articles appear in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, US News & World Report as well as numerous scholarly journals. He writes a blog called Cafe Hayek and a regular column on economics for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Boudreaux earned a PhD in economics from Auburn University and a law degree from the University of Virginia.
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Covid Collectivism
“This deeply illiberal collectivist ideology thrives on irrational fear brought on by unusually poor information. And it refuses to acknowledge that Covid-19’s dangers, while indeed real, are not as great as suggested by daily screaming headlines, and are heavily confined to infirm groups on whom preventive attention should be, but isn’t, focused. It’s time for…
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Open Letter to Matt Yglesias
“The economy is people – people producing, trading, cooperating, and consuming. Reasonable people disagree over what are the best policies to deal with Covid-19. But contrary to the impression conveyed by your tweet, no serious person argues for sacrificing lives to ‘the economy’ as a lifeless abstraction.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
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Why So Gullible About Government in the Face of Covid-19?
“Tamping down the Covid hysteria by making available accurate information about this disease is what well-informed and public-spirited governments would do. Yet such governments are largely mythical. Real-world governments behave quite differently.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
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The Economic Way of Thinking Brings Clarity
“Nancy Pelosi presides over a chamber of politicians who vote on taxing and spending bills that transfer money from some Americans to other Americans – a fact that (inexplicably!) propels Ms. Pelosi to boast that she and her colleagues, not taxpayers such as Mr. Blitzer, feed poor Americans. On top of this appalling pretension, Ms.…
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The Absurdity of Ad Hominem
“The fact that Nafeez Ahmed, Sam Hammond, and some others dismiss anti-lockdown arguments with ad hominem accusations is evidence as powerful as evidence gets that these people have no idea what an intellectually respectable argument is.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
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Covid Is Not Categorically Different
“Many people today seem almost eager to be misled about the danger posed by Covid. Much of humanity today appears to perversely enjoy being duped into the irrational fear that any one of us, regardless of age or health, is at the mercy of a brutal beast categorically more lethal than is any other danger…
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A Curveball Isn’t an Existential Threat
“Too many people over the past six months have taken leave of their senses. We, our children, and our grandchildren will long live with the consequences of this foolish panic – consequences that almost surely will inflict on humanity harms far worse than any that Covid could possibly have ever inflicted.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
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Human Gullibility
“Economic reasoning, facts, and the actual history of industrial policy and antitrust, compared to that of free markets, do nothing to quell the fervor for vastly enlarged and more vigorous state control over the economy. As Niemietz thoroughly documents, zeal for replacing commerce and cooperation with coercion and commands does not come from a rational…
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Coase and Covid: The Spectrum
“When we take account of the full costs of lockdowns and related mandates, including the pernicious precedents these inevitably set, it’s clear that the lowest-cost – the best – source of protection against disease such as Covid-19 is personal responsibility.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux & Lyle D. Albaugh
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Coase and Covid: The Individualized Option
“The case, in short, for government-orchestrated NPIs is simply invalid. Why was Coase ignored and the individualized option never considered? And why will so many people continue to reject it?” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux & Lyle D. Albaugh
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•
Covid Collectivism
“This deeply illiberal collectivist ideology thrives on irrational fear brought on by unusually poor information. And it refuses to acknowledge that Covid-19’s dangers, while indeed real, are not as great as suggested by daily screaming headlines, and are heavily confined to infirm groups on whom preventive attention should be, but isn’t, focused. It’s time for…
-
•
Open Letter to Matt Yglesias
“The economy is people – people producing, trading, cooperating, and consuming. Reasonable people disagree over what are the best policies to deal with Covid-19. But contrary to the impression conveyed by your tweet, no serious person argues for sacrificing lives to ‘the economy’ as a lifeless abstraction.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
-
•
Why So Gullible About Government in the Face of Covid-19?
“Tamping down the Covid hysteria by making available accurate information about this disease is what well-informed and public-spirited governments would do. Yet such governments are largely mythical. Real-world governments behave quite differently.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
-
•
The Economic Way of Thinking Brings Clarity
“Nancy Pelosi presides over a chamber of politicians who vote on taxing and spending bills that transfer money from some Americans to other Americans – a fact that (inexplicably!) propels Ms. Pelosi to boast that she and her colleagues, not taxpayers such as Mr. Blitzer, feed poor Americans. On top of this appalling pretension, Ms.…
-
•
The Absurdity of Ad Hominem
“The fact that Nafeez Ahmed, Sam Hammond, and some others dismiss anti-lockdown arguments with ad hominem accusations is evidence as powerful as evidence gets that these people have no idea what an intellectually respectable argument is.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
-
•
Covid Is Not Categorically Different
“Many people today seem almost eager to be misled about the danger posed by Covid. Much of humanity today appears to perversely enjoy being duped into the irrational fear that any one of us, regardless of age or health, is at the mercy of a brutal beast categorically more lethal than is any other danger…
-
•
A Curveball Isn’t an Existential Threat
“Too many people over the past six months have taken leave of their senses. We, our children, and our grandchildren will long live with the consequences of this foolish panic – consequences that almost surely will inflict on humanity harms far worse than any that Covid could possibly have ever inflicted.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
-
•
Human Gullibility
“Economic reasoning, facts, and the actual history of industrial policy and antitrust, compared to that of free markets, do nothing to quell the fervor for vastly enlarged and more vigorous state control over the economy. As Niemietz thoroughly documents, zeal for replacing commerce and cooperation with coercion and commands does not come from a rational…
-
•
Coase and Covid: The Spectrum
“When we take account of the full costs of lockdowns and related mandates, including the pernicious precedents these inevitably set, it’s clear that the lowest-cost – the best – source of protection against disease such as Covid-19 is personal responsibility.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux & Lyle D. Albaugh
-
•
Coase and Covid: The Individualized Option
“The case, in short, for government-orchestrated NPIs is simply invalid. Why was Coase ignored and the individualized option never considered? And why will so many people continue to reject it?” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux & Lyle D. Albaugh