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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Adam Smith Mends a Broken Heart
“In modern medicine, the enormous size of the cooperation horizon fosters specialization by professionals such as Dr. F and Nurse A. that would be unimaginable in a world without division of labor.” ~ Michael Munger
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Don’t Blame the “Greedy Wealthy”
“The problem is that we have already spent hundreds of billions of dollars on programs to end poverty, and yet there is still….poverty.” ~ Michael C. Munger
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The Good, the Wise, and the Just
“To recognize that it is to your own advantage to trust, and to be trustworthy in turn, is the key to living together in a market economy.” ~ Michael Munger
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Nutzenschmerz
“Only a society afflicted with severe Nutzenschmerz would choose a system where even the neediest are harmed, to ensure that no one else gets an arbitrary or undeserved benefit.” ~ Michael Munger
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Test of Time: The Most Important Failure of US Covid Response
“It is becoming clear that the U.S. failure to yoke up with the private sector is the most important, but least-commented on, failure of Covid response overall.” ~ Michael Munger
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What’s New is Old: The Left Turns Originalist
“The New/Old Antitrust Paradigm would reverse the presumption of legality in mergers and acquisitions, placing the burden of proof on economic actors to want to do…well, almost anything. Any economic restructuring of a business is contingent on obtaining the permission and chop of the appropriate bureaucrats and, incredibly, other ‘stakeholders’ such as competitors and labor…
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Why Do Basketball Players Make More Than Teachers?
“As an educator myself, I am happy to grant that teachers produce value for students, and for society. But even the most marginal teacher, at the worst and least motivated public school, can’t-wait-for-retirement clock puncher, makes far more than the marginal basketball player. You can’t compare the marginal unit of water, or teachers, with diamonds.”…
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Plato v. Mises: Mises Wins
“The Noble Lie is not noble; if we all repeat it and we are taught it in state schools, before long it’s not even a lie. Because worshippers of the state actually persuade themselves that the whole thing is true. Yes, we are all born equal, but some of us are more equal than others.…
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Government, Govern Thyself
“Most people seem to think that the problem with government power is that the wrong people are in office. That’s not right; the problem is that we want to rely on a physician who suffers an illness that cannot be cured.” ~ Michael Munger
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•
Where Did The Wealth Go?
“The cost of the lockdown is the forgone economic activity, all the meals and haircuts and vacations and flights and trips to the theater and the movies and the nightclub. Those things are gone, and they cannot be made up. We had access to fewer desirable things; that’s where the wealth went.” ~ Michael
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•
Adam Smith Mends a Broken Heart
“In modern medicine, the enormous size of the cooperation horizon fosters specialization by professionals such as Dr. F and Nurse A. that would be unimaginable in a world without division of labor.” ~ Michael Munger
-
•
Don’t Blame the “Greedy Wealthy”
“The problem is that we have already spent hundreds of billions of dollars on programs to end poverty, and yet there is still….poverty.” ~ Michael C. Munger
-
•
The Good, the Wise, and the Just
“To recognize that it is to your own advantage to trust, and to be trustworthy in turn, is the key to living together in a market economy.” ~ Michael Munger
-
•
Nutzenschmerz
“Only a society afflicted with severe Nutzenschmerz would choose a system where even the neediest are harmed, to ensure that no one else gets an arbitrary or undeserved benefit.” ~ Michael Munger
-
•
Test of Time: The Most Important Failure of US Covid Response
“It is becoming clear that the U.S. failure to yoke up with the private sector is the most important, but least-commented on, failure of Covid response overall.” ~ Michael Munger
-
•
What’s New is Old: The Left Turns Originalist
“The New/Old Antitrust Paradigm would reverse the presumption of legality in mergers and acquisitions, placing the burden of proof on economic actors to want to do…well, almost anything. Any economic restructuring of a business is contingent on obtaining the permission and chop of the appropriate bureaucrats and, incredibly, other ‘stakeholders’ such as competitors and labor…
-
•
Why Do Basketball Players Make More Than Teachers?
“As an educator myself, I am happy to grant that teachers produce value for students, and for society. But even the most marginal teacher, at the worst and least motivated public school, can’t-wait-for-retirement clock puncher, makes far more than the marginal basketball player. You can’t compare the marginal unit of water, or teachers, with diamonds.”…
-
•
Plato v. Mises: Mises Wins
“The Noble Lie is not noble; if we all repeat it and we are taught it in state schools, before long it’s not even a lie. Because worshippers of the state actually persuade themselves that the whole thing is true. Yes, we are all born equal, but some of us are more equal than others.…
-
•
Government, Govern Thyself
“Most people seem to think that the problem with government power is that the wrong people are in office. That’s not right; the problem is that we want to rely on a physician who suffers an illness that cannot be cured.” ~ Michael Munger
-
•
Where Did The Wealth Go?
“The cost of the lockdown is the forgone economic activity, all the meals and haircuts and vacations and flights and trips to the theater and the movies and the nightclub. Those things are gone, and they cannot be made up. We had access to fewer desirable things; that’s where the wealth went.” ~ Michael