Jimmy Alfonso Licon
Jimmy Alfonso Licon, PhD is a Professor of Philosophy at Arizona State University. He specializes in epistemology, ethics, political economy, and law. Before coming to ASU, he taught at Georgetown, University of Maryland, and Towson University. He has a forthcoming book, Better Not to Know: Why Knowing Less is Sometimes Best, and has published in academic journals like Social Epistemology and The Independent Review. He is the editor of Uncommon Wisdom, a Substack and YouTube channel for moral philosophy and economics. He lives in Apache Junction with his wife, a prosecutor.
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The Knowledge Problem Dooms Municipal Grocery Stores Every Time
Without price signals and profit discipline, inefficiency isn’t a risk — it’s a guarantee. Persistent higher costs leave taxpayers with the bill.
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Immigration Arrest Quotas Undermine ICE’s Mission
Numerical targets predictably distort enforcement priorities, ignoring local knowledge, undermining both public safety and economic stability.
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The Second Information Revolution: How AI Makes Liberal Societies Both Stronger and Weaker
Large language models have sparked historic shifts in the economics of knowledge, upsetting the balance between accessibility, privacy, and power.
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How Self-Interest Civilizes Politics
Like the market version, the invisible hand of politics depends less on individual virtue and more on institutions and incentives.
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Only Lobbying and Self-Deception Can Keep Tariffs Alive
Tariffs exploit humans’ self-deception and willful ignorance, making feel-good patriotism into a cover story for rent-seeking, favoritism, and graft.
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What Japan’s Struggling Rice Market Teaches Us About US Tariffs
Tariffs may sound patriotic, but they almost always weaken the very industries they’re supposed to protect.
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What Greta and the Pope Don’t Grasp about Degrowth
There’s nothing humble or merciful about shrinking the economy, squashing free enterprise, or silencing price signals.
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Helping Social Security by Helping Yourself
“Not retiring — instead, doing age-appropriate jobs — is at least a partial solution to the prospect of an insolvent Social Security trust fund.” ~Jimmy Alfonso Licon
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Heaps of Trouble
“The reason sorites logic is so difficult to diffuse is that there is no obvious line or threshold to be established somewhere between the incremental steps that begin with a budget surplus and end with a budget consumed by interest payments.” ~Jimmy Alfonso Licon
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•
The Knowledge Problem Dooms Municipal Grocery Stores Every Time
Without price signals and profit discipline, inefficiency isn’t a risk — it’s a guarantee. Persistent higher costs leave taxpayers with the bill.
-
•
Immigration Arrest Quotas Undermine ICE’s Mission
Numerical targets predictably distort enforcement priorities, ignoring local knowledge, undermining both public safety and economic stability.
-
•
The Second Information Revolution: How AI Makes Liberal Societies Both Stronger and Weaker
Large language models have sparked historic shifts in the economics of knowledge, upsetting the balance between accessibility, privacy, and power.
-
•
How Self-Interest Civilizes Politics
Like the market version, the invisible hand of politics depends less on individual virtue and more on institutions and incentives.
-
•
Only Lobbying and Self-Deception Can Keep Tariffs Alive
Tariffs exploit humans’ self-deception and willful ignorance, making feel-good patriotism into a cover story for rent-seeking, favoritism, and graft.
-
•
What Japan’s Struggling Rice Market Teaches Us About US Tariffs
Tariffs may sound patriotic, but they almost always weaken the very industries they’re supposed to protect.
-
•
What Greta and the Pope Don’t Grasp about Degrowth
There’s nothing humble or merciful about shrinking the economy, squashing free enterprise, or silencing price signals.
-
•
Helping Social Security by Helping Yourself
“Not retiring — instead, doing age-appropriate jobs — is at least a partial solution to the prospect of an insolvent Social Security trust fund.” ~Jimmy Alfonso Licon
-
•
Heaps of Trouble
“The reason sorites logic is so difficult to diffuse is that there is no obvious line or threshold to be established somewhere between the incremental steps that begin with a budget surplus and end with a budget consumed by interest payments.” ~Jimmy Alfonso Licon