Paul Mueller
Director of Defending Freedom Combatting Collectivism & Senior Research Fellow
Dr. Paul Mueller is a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, where he champions the principles of free enterprise, limited government, and individual liberty. He holds a PhD in economics from George Mason University and spent eight years teaching at The King’s College in New York City before shifting his focus to policy research and public commentary.
He is the author of Ten Years Later: Why the Conventional Wisdom about the 2008 Financial Crisis is Still Wrong, and he hosts The Economist Next Door podcast, which makes complex economic history, trade philosophy, and market dynamics accessible to general audiences. Dr. Mueller additionally serves as a Research Fellow and Associate Director of the Religious Liberty in the States project at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy.His academic research has appeared in journals including the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization and The Adam Smith Review, while his cultural and political commentary regularly features in The American Spectator, Civitas, and The Daily Economy.
He and his wife own and operate a bed and breakfast, The Abbey, in Leadville, Colorado, where they live with their six children.
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A Short ESG Guide: Economic Problems
“The current approach to mitigating climate change guarantees inefficiency and waste. No one knows which technologies and which companies will be most effective.” ~Paul Mueller
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A Short Guide to ESG: Legislation
“Proponents of ESG would like to see more legal requirements for companies to reach net zero, to hire more diverse boards and employees, and to cater to a variety of stakeholder interest groups rather than the interest of shareholders.” ~Paul Mueller
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A Profound Misdiagnosis of American Transit
“We don’t need a resurgence of government spending on research and development to get more innovation in our transit systems. We just need governments to get out of the way!” ~Paul Mueller
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A Short Guide to ESG: Finance
“ESG considerations represent a mainstreaming of impact investing while giving ‘fiduciary’ cover to large institutional investors who invest trillions of dollars of other people’s money in ways that advance mostly political priorities.” ~Paul Mueller
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A Short Guide to ESG: Goals
“ESG goals are not primarily about shareholder value and enterprise value. The goals are often counter to the interests of shareholders and large segments of society.” ~Paul Mueller
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A Short Guide to ESG: Advocates
“I have categorized organizations by their function and highlighted a few organizations worth knowing in each category, from high-level, broad advocacy to nitty-gritty implementation.” ~Paul Mueller
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A Short Guide to ESG: History
“Browsing the websites of ESG-advocating organizations gives the sense that ESG is cutting edge, technologically sophisticated, a wise investment strategy, and the road to increasing profitability.” ~Paul Mueller
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A Short ESG Guide: Terms
“While I have attempted to clarify the ESG advocates’ terms, the devil is in the details. One of the weakest parts of ESG is the ambiguity and disagreement, even among its advocates, as to how to define and measure many of their objectives.” ~Paul Mueller
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A Short ESG Guide: Introduction
“What many find most troubling is how much social control will be exerted by undemocratic and anti-market forces with little accountability.” ~Paul Mueller
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The Biden Administration’s Artificial Intelligence Rent-Seeking Play
“Political incentives being what they are, these evaluations of safety will be used to redirect and tweak AI models towards the priorities of the current administration.” ~Paul Mueller
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•
A Short ESG Guide: Economic Problems
“The current approach to mitigating climate change guarantees inefficiency and waste. No one knows which technologies and which companies will be most effective.” ~Paul Mueller
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•
A Short Guide to ESG: Legislation
“Proponents of ESG would like to see more legal requirements for companies to reach net zero, to hire more diverse boards and employees, and to cater to a variety of stakeholder interest groups rather than the interest of shareholders.” ~Paul Mueller
-
•
A Profound Misdiagnosis of American Transit
“We don’t need a resurgence of government spending on research and development to get more innovation in our transit systems. We just need governments to get out of the way!” ~Paul Mueller
-
•
A Short Guide to ESG: Finance
“ESG considerations represent a mainstreaming of impact investing while giving ‘fiduciary’ cover to large institutional investors who invest trillions of dollars of other people’s money in ways that advance mostly political priorities.” ~Paul Mueller
-
•
A Short Guide to ESG: Goals
“ESG goals are not primarily about shareholder value and enterprise value. The goals are often counter to the interests of shareholders and large segments of society.” ~Paul Mueller
-
•
A Short Guide to ESG: Advocates
“I have categorized organizations by their function and highlighted a few organizations worth knowing in each category, from high-level, broad advocacy to nitty-gritty implementation.” ~Paul Mueller
-
•
A Short Guide to ESG: History
“Browsing the websites of ESG-advocating organizations gives the sense that ESG is cutting edge, technologically sophisticated, a wise investment strategy, and the road to increasing profitability.” ~Paul Mueller
-
•
A Short ESG Guide: Terms
“While I have attempted to clarify the ESG advocates’ terms, the devil is in the details. One of the weakest parts of ESG is the ambiguity and disagreement, even among its advocates, as to how to define and measure many of their objectives.” ~Paul Mueller
-
•
A Short ESG Guide: Introduction
“What many find most troubling is how much social control will be exerted by undemocratic and anti-market forces with little accountability.” ~Paul Mueller
-
•
The Biden Administration’s Artificial Intelligence Rent-Seeking Play
“Political incentives being what they are, these evaluations of safety will be used to redirect and tweak AI models towards the priorities of the current administration.” ~Paul Mueller