Michael Munger
Senior Fellow
Michael Munger is a Professor of Political Science, Economics, and Public Policy at Duke University and Senior Fellow of the American Institute for Economic Research.
His degrees are from Davidson College, Washingon University in St. Louis, and Washington University.
Munger’s research interests include regulation, political institutions, and political economy.
Books by Michael Munger
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Every Flaw in Consumers is Worse in Voters, Part Deux
“A ‘good’ industrial policy is impossible in a democracy. Progressives who want industrial policies don’t have that position only because they mistrust markets. Progressives mistrust democracy, and always have.” ~ Michael C. Munger
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Not Enough Pizza
“It’s hard not to be sad about the passing of old, personalistic cultural tropes. But entrepreneurs exploiting microphone technologies on digital platforms are going to wipe out most of them. And it’s just as well, because we could never make that much pizza.” ~ Michael C. Munger
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Green Energy is the Modern “Broken Window”
“If my choices are to have wealth but no job, or to have a job but no wealth, I’d rather have the wealth. But we don’t have to choose: we can have both wealth and jobs, if we don’t go around breaking all the darned windows.” ~ Michael C. Munger
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You Buy From Other Consumers, Not From Producers
“Attempts to ‘manage’ or ‘plan’ prices do nothing to address the real problem of scarcity, and often make scarcity worse. Price controls are a restriction on the ability of other consumers to have their needs met, and that’s just wrong.” ~ Michael Munger
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What Ain’t So Can Hurt You
“It would be better for society if our leaders were humble and honest about how little they actually know. But it’s better for the candidates for leadership if they pretend to be committed to a whole dog’s breakfast of truths that just ain’t so.” ~ Michael Munger
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Despotic Days?
“The tragedy we see around us is that cultural leaders are abandoning liberal norms, which themselves should bear a certain sacredness or sacrosanctity, so far as they go.” ~ Daniel Klein & Michael C. Munger
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We Have Lifeboat Minds, But We Live in a Walmart World
“Our evolved, atavistic response is that we don’t like the price mechanism, and we resent our dependence on a complex system operating in the background, without anyone being ‘in charge.'” ~ Michael C. Munger
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The Descent into Tyranny
“We must bravely speak out against the governmentalization of social affairs and against the unjust sentiments and beliefs that forward it.” ~ Daniel B. Klein & Michael C. Munger
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Three Topics for Young Political Economists
“I would claim that the growth of platforms that allow peer-to-peer cooperation, and foster the low-cost commodification of excess capacity, are likely to change our relations to work, to ownership, and to each other.” ~ Michael Munger
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All Housing is Affordable Housing
“If developers build cheap housing, the price of all housing except the very most luxurious will fall. Alternatively, if we build more luxury housing, then the price of all housing will fall, as there will be less pressure for gentrification or ‘teardowns.’” ~ Michael Munger
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•
Every Flaw in Consumers is Worse in Voters, Part Deux
“A ‘good’ industrial policy is impossible in a democracy. Progressives who want industrial policies don’t have that position only because they mistrust markets. Progressives mistrust democracy, and always have.” ~ Michael C. Munger
-
•
Not Enough Pizza
“It’s hard not to be sad about the passing of old, personalistic cultural tropes. But entrepreneurs exploiting microphone technologies on digital platforms are going to wipe out most of them. And it’s just as well, because we could never make that much pizza.” ~ Michael C. Munger
-
•
Green Energy is the Modern “Broken Window”
“If my choices are to have wealth but no job, or to have a job but no wealth, I’d rather have the wealth. But we don’t have to choose: we can have both wealth and jobs, if we don’t go around breaking all the darned windows.” ~ Michael C. Munger
-
•
You Buy From Other Consumers, Not From Producers
“Attempts to ‘manage’ or ‘plan’ prices do nothing to address the real problem of scarcity, and often make scarcity worse. Price controls are a restriction on the ability of other consumers to have their needs met, and that’s just wrong.” ~ Michael Munger
-
•
What Ain’t So Can Hurt You
“It would be better for society if our leaders were humble and honest about how little they actually know. But it’s better for the candidates for leadership if they pretend to be committed to a whole dog’s breakfast of truths that just ain’t so.” ~ Michael Munger
-
•
Despotic Days?
“The tragedy we see around us is that cultural leaders are abandoning liberal norms, which themselves should bear a certain sacredness or sacrosanctity, so far as they go.” ~ Daniel Klein & Michael C. Munger
-
•
We Have Lifeboat Minds, But We Live in a Walmart World
“Our evolved, atavistic response is that we don’t like the price mechanism, and we resent our dependence on a complex system operating in the background, without anyone being ‘in charge.'” ~ Michael C. Munger
-
•
The Descent into Tyranny
“We must bravely speak out against the governmentalization of social affairs and against the unjust sentiments and beliefs that forward it.” ~ Daniel B. Klein & Michael C. Munger
-
•
Three Topics for Young Political Economists
“I would claim that the growth of platforms that allow peer-to-peer cooperation, and foster the low-cost commodification of excess capacity, are likely to change our relations to work, to ownership, and to each other.” ~ Michael Munger
-
•
All Housing is Affordable Housing
“If developers build cheap housing, the price of all housing except the very most luxurious will fall. Alternatively, if we build more luxury housing, then the price of all housing will fall, as there will be less pressure for gentrification or ‘teardowns.’” ~ Michael Munger