Economic Theory
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Lockdowns Have Devastated the Global Poor
“Lockdowns affect the global poor as well as the global elite and it seems that the poorer countries have seen a dangerous decline in living standards which will have lasting consequences that are a public crisis in and of themselves. It should now be abundantly clear that economic hardship is not a minor inconvenience and…
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That Mystical Monetary Theory
“The MMT mistake lies in believing that any alleged shortfall in money or supply of U.S. Treasuries is big enough to finance their entire policy wish list for the foreseeable future. It also assumes that any potential labor or capital goods not currently used can be effortlessly moved to whatever production line politicians desire, without…
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Tales of the Crypt
“Best of all, nobody was forced to subsidize others. They gave to charity, joined with like-minded people, or sought profit. The system wasn’t perfect — nothing is — but it was a far cry better than taxing people to support inefficient, uniform government educational and welfare programs.” ~ Robert E. Wright
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HeterosKedasticity or HeterosCedasticity, That Is the Question
“The deviation of the real world from normal gives opportunity for improvement, if we are able to take advantage of positive deviations and minimize the harm of negative deviations. If we can do that, things don’t average out. Progress can come out of the filtering of randomness. Our worth, as individuals, comes not merely how…
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Fauci Is Wrong: New York Did Not Do it “Correctly”
“The deep human costs of this virus and its corresponding policies have been exacerbated by blind hubris and unfounded pride––which, to no small extent, saw their expression in the conceit of rule by models. Though it might be too little too late, diligent reflection and readjustment in future pandemic combat efforts will be the only…
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The Models Were Wildly Wrong about Reopening Too
“These flawed models begin with an unproven assumption, namely that lockdowns are effective at combating the coronavirus. The models are therefore automatically calibrated to produce a sharp spike in deaths after the removal of lockdowns or any move toward reopening.” ~ Phil Magness
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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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The Desperate Loneliness of Social Media
“Other-directed voters go on social media to try to figure out which politicians and policy proposals will earn them the most plaudits from assorted avatars and social influencers. They value fitting in over logic or consistency and many seem genuinely puzzled when the inconsistencies in their expressed opinions are pointed out to them.” ~ Robert…
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Free Down Payments and Subsidized Mortgages are Not Social Justice
“Despite 50 years of debacles, politicians are still glorified for pretending that free downpayments and subsidized mortgages are “magic beans” that multiply social justice in America.” ~ James Bovard
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Professor Lockdown Now Claims to Have Saved 3.1 Million Lives
“Whether used by Imperial College or Trump, this line of argument falters as social science because it assumes the validity of the very same forecast it purports to demonstrate. Rather than testing the causal inference that lockdowns reduced the COVID death rate, it takes their own forecasted death rate as a given and then purports…
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•
Lockdowns Have Devastated the Global Poor
“Lockdowns affect the global poor as well as the global elite and it seems that the poorer countries have seen a dangerous decline in living standards which will have lasting consequences that are a public crisis in and of themselves. It should now be abundantly clear that economic hardship is not a minor inconvenience and…
-
•
That Mystical Monetary Theory
“The MMT mistake lies in believing that any alleged shortfall in money or supply of U.S. Treasuries is big enough to finance their entire policy wish list for the foreseeable future. It also assumes that any potential labor or capital goods not currently used can be effortlessly moved to whatever production line politicians desire, without…
-
•
Tales of the Crypt
“Best of all, nobody was forced to subsidize others. They gave to charity, joined with like-minded people, or sought profit. The system wasn’t perfect — nothing is — but it was a far cry better than taxing people to support inefficient, uniform government educational and welfare programs.” ~ Robert E. Wright
-
•
HeterosKedasticity or HeterosCedasticity, That Is the Question
“The deviation of the real world from normal gives opportunity for improvement, if we are able to take advantage of positive deviations and minimize the harm of negative deviations. If we can do that, things don’t average out. Progress can come out of the filtering of randomness. Our worth, as individuals, comes not merely how…
-
•
Fauci Is Wrong: New York Did Not Do it “Correctly”
“The deep human costs of this virus and its corresponding policies have been exacerbated by blind hubris and unfounded pride––which, to no small extent, saw their expression in the conceit of rule by models. Though it might be too little too late, diligent reflection and readjustment in future pandemic combat efforts will be the only…
-
•
The Models Were Wildly Wrong about Reopening Too
“These flawed models begin with an unproven assumption, namely that lockdowns are effective at combating the coronavirus. The models are therefore automatically calibrated to produce a sharp spike in deaths after the removal of lockdowns or any move toward reopening.” ~ Phil Magness
-
•
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
-
•
The Desperate Loneliness of Social Media
“Other-directed voters go on social media to try to figure out which politicians and policy proposals will earn them the most plaudits from assorted avatars and social influencers. They value fitting in over logic or consistency and many seem genuinely puzzled when the inconsistencies in their expressed opinions are pointed out to them.” ~ Robert…
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•
Free Down Payments and Subsidized Mortgages are Not Social Justice
“Despite 50 years of debacles, politicians are still glorified for pretending that free downpayments and subsidized mortgages are “magic beans” that multiply social justice in America.” ~ James Bovard
-
•
Professor Lockdown Now Claims to Have Saved 3.1 Million Lives
“Whether used by Imperial College or Trump, this line of argument falters as social science because it assumes the validity of the very same forecast it purports to demonstrate. Rather than testing the causal inference that lockdowns reduced the COVID death rate, it takes their own forecasted death rate as a given and then purports…