Art Carden

Associate Professor of Economics
Samford University
Art Carden is an Associate Professor of Economics at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition, he is a Senior Research Fellow with the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics, a Research Fellow with the Independent Institute, a Senior Fellow with the Beacon Center of Tennessee, and a member of the Adjunct Faculty of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research in 2008, 2009, and 2011 and he has had the honor of teaching in summer programs sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies and the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He contributes regular commentaries to Forbes.com and the Washington Examiner.
His research has appeared in journals like the Journal of Urban Economics, Public Choice, Contemporary Economic Policy, and Business and Politics, and his commentaries have appeared on Mises.org, USNews.com, and ForeignPolicy.com as well as in newspapers like the Tennessean, the Birmingham News, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the Los Angeles Business Journal, the Orlando Business Journal, and numerous other outlets. Before joining the faculty at Samford, he taught economics at Rhodes College in Memphis and earned his PhD in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis.
Blog Posts
The timber industry illustrates exactly what’s wrong with international trade restrictions.
It is an easy mistake to think that restrictions on international trade that help one industry “grow and prosper” will help all industries “grow and prosper.”
Learn More...Most benefits of eating local are wildly exaggerated, and this is why
The locavore movement, like many parts of environmentalism, has an unfortunate tendency to dress itself in the clothing of science before lapsing into mysticism.
Learn More...Diary of a stupid jerk: why we need free speech on campus
Like just about every other male between the ages of 13 and 25, I had tendencies, habits, and dispositions that could be charitably described as self-absorbed and boorish.
Learn More...What is “risk preference,” you ask? Consider the waffle…
It looked … delicious. I was sure that it would taste delicious, too. But eating it would have been a bad idea for two reasons.
Learn More...How capitalists can create value by reducing waste
To see the sharing economy as merely “cheaper taxis and cheaper hotels” is to miss the point entirely.
Learn More...Innovation in healthcare could be dangerous, but the alternative is worse.
The relevant alternative to a cheap healthcare provider for a lot of people isn’t a medical doctor — it’s Google.
Learn More...Why I deserve what you created: word count welfare
I am furious. I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and learned that my friend Steve Horwitz had written almost 3,000 words in a single day in his new book chapter on inequality.
Learn More...Government surveillance and academic thought policing are taking us to 1984.
Parallels between the world of Orwell’s 1984 and our own are obvious — and troubling.
Learn More...Do you have a license to mow that lawn? 5 ways occupational licensing laws hurt (almost) everyone
A city ordinance requires teenagers to have a business license before cutting grass for money.
Learn More...Best Selling Computer Game of All Time Teaches… Economics, Entrepreneurship, and Cooperation?
On the 8th anniversary of Minecraft’s launch, let’s take a moment to appreciate just how great it is.
Learn More...F.A. Hayek accomplished several careers’ worth of economic achievements in one lifetime
Each of his separate bodies of work would constitute a monumental achievement. Hayek did it all over the course of a single career that established him as one of the most important social thinkers of the 20th century.
Learn More...Confront, slander, reject: The anti-intellectual legacy of Karl Marx
Marx espoused confrontation and slander over careful and critical intellectual debate.
Learn More...Stop toxic partisan posts: Take the social media pledge.
My own hands are dirty and my own heart is impure; however, I have seen the light. I repent.
Learn More...Turn off the rage machine: Stop reading the news
We’re consuming entertainment, not insight, when we keep up with the news.
Learn More...This Christmas, blame supply and demand for your expensive gifts
Even Santa’s elves can’t repeal the laws of supply and demand.
Learn More...The economics within Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Thanks to people like Rey, secondhand power converters make their way into the hands of idealistic young future pilots shopping at Tosche Station.
Learn More...The best person to plan your next flight is you
There’s more to travel than the sticker price of different ways of getting from point A to point B.
Learn More...France’s burkini ban fights Islamic oppression with secular oppression
Imposing the values of secularism on “oppressed” Muslim women who wish to buy burkinis merely replaces one form of religious oppression with another.
Learn More...Yes, there’s an Envelope Lobby, and they’re more powerful than you might think
It’s a useful illustration of the logic of political action when the state is in a position to dispense favors, whether those favors be subsidies or mandates or barriers to entry that protect special interests’ profits.
Learn More...5 ways market competition can reduce global poverty
Economic competition in functioning market economies it the best surefire way to reduce global poverty. That, and letting people leave poor countries for rich ones.
Learn More...Tired of expensive football tickets? Blame yourself
Can you really blame universities for charging high prices for football tickets when so many people are willing to pay for them?
Learn More...Elon Musk is no capitalist hero, but he’s no Bond villain either
Musk brings to the conversation a vision of changing how we get around, how we power what gets us around, and where we live. In so doing, he is working to address some of the most important challenges facing our species.
Learn More...To Reduce Concussions in the NFL, Reduce the Amount of Equipment
When the costs of risky behavior are reduced, people tend to increase the amount of risky behavior they engage in.
Learn More...What Economists Mean When They Say People Act “Rationally”
Limits to the homo economicus version of rationality are also limits to the explanatory power of some aspects of introductory-level economics. They do not, however, compromise the case for laissez-faire. If anything, they strengthen it.
Learn More...Despicable Me’s Gru Is an Example of the Entrepreneur No One Wants to Have Around
This behavior means that even the greediest of businessman, to make money, has to identify with the needs and wants of others, put them in the shoes of others, and help solve problems.
Learn More...The Unspoken Truth About Government Policies That Are Supposed to Help People
Economics can be counterintuitive and abstract, but it is also essential for understanding how the world works—especially when we’re trying to make policies in the spirit of good intentions.
Learn More...Nintendo’s Rebooted NES Console a Nostalgic Reminder of Our Economic Progress
Adjusting for inflation, that a regular NES and 30 games would be about $2450 in 2015 dollars. And we can get all that today for $70. That’s a 97 percent price decrease without adjusting for quality
Learn More...Here’s Who I’m Blaming for Hamilton’s Exorbitant Ticket Prices
The law of demand still applies even to overrated musicals.
Learn More...