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Trevor Kraus

Story Editor

Students For Liberty

Trevor is a writer, editor, and diehard sports fan. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and after a stop in Madrid, Spain, where he taught high school English, he currently lives in Chicago. He believes in the beauty and morality of free speech, free markets and free people. On weekends, you’ll find him traveling and golfing — or some combination thereof.

Blog Posts

Rob Your Neighbor: the philosophy of publicly funded projects

December 19, 2022
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Basic Economics

You’ve probably heard of “Rob Your Neighbor.” You might know it as “White Elephant” or another name, but the gist of it is: a family gets together for the holidays and everyone brings a wrapped gift — usually with a limit of, say, $30.  All the gifts are put on a common table, or under the Christmas tree, and each family member draws a number. Number 1 gets to choose first. She chooses the biggest, or shiniest, or most interesting-looking gift, and opens it in front of everyone. Number 2 then has two options: he can either “steal” that gift, or select a new one from the

Why economics is not just graphs and charts

November 29, 2022
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Basic Economics

What American universities are doing to economics students is shameful. I can’t speak to universities in other countries, but I’ll bet the same applies in most of them. When I was a freshman in college, for example, I enrolled in a class called Econ 1051. I wasn't interested in economics; it was just a prerequisite for my journalism major, but obviously I still wanted to do well. I still have many of my notes from that class. Here’s the study guide I put together for an exam: I’m pleasantly surprised to see some mention of concepts like division of knowledge/labor, comparative

Western cultural myths about China prevent us from seeing reality

October 1, 2022
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Philosophy

One way or another, the “wise, old Chinese man” became one of Western pop culture’s oldest tropes.  I think part of the trope comes from two fictional characters: one is Charlie Chan, whose alliterative name even evokes his heritage; the other, Mr. Miyagi, gave us the memorable tagline “wax on, wax off,” even though he’s actually Japanese. His wisdom and power became associated with Eastern culture. Even the sitcom Seinfeld poked fun at the trope way back in 1994: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8uiGGYAtvE&t=37s I think that trope is a big part of why

How the government is fueling the obesity epidemic

May 31, 2022
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Lobbying & Special Interests

Americans are famous for their poor diets. We eat far too much high-fructose corn syrup, overly processed foods, and one of our most iconic corporations, McDonald’s, is the poster-child for junk food. I was no exception as a child. My diet consisted of macaroni and cheese, fish sticks, pizza, ice cream, potato chips, and little else.  And of course, McDonald’s. But, like so many Americans, I didn’t want anything to do with lettuce, pickles, and onions, so I ordered plain cheeseburgers: bun, meat, and cheese; they came with a Coke, naturally.  I was young and

1984 is as relevant as ever in 2022

May 13, 2022
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Censorship

There are a few books that almost every American high schooler has to read. Lord of the Flies is one. The Catcher in the Rye seemingly becomes every freshman’s favorite. Then there’s To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and Huck Finn.  But there’s only one book I was assigned in high school that I go back to again and again: George Orwell’s 1984. I wound up reading 1984 twice more, including once in a foreign language — I remain fascinated by Orwell’s appendix on “Newspeak.” Did it secretly signal a different, more uplifting

Favelas and rental cars: lessons about property rights

April 26, 2022
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Basic Economics

My friend and I were road tripping through the Southwestern U.S. and were passing through Utah — the prettiest state in the U.S., if you ask me.  My friend had rented the car instead of using his own. He turned to me and said, “I’ll Venmo you for half.”  “Sure thing,” I replied. “But just out of curiosity, why did you rent a car instead of using yours?” “I don’t wanna put all these miles on mine, man. The rental…we can just beat the crap out of it.” “Fair enough,” I said, but suddenly I was no longer admiring the mountains; my mind was spinning. He