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...Tag Archive: Income Inequality
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Income Inequality or Income Mobility: For What Should We Fight?
The rapid decline of poverty over the past forty years shows that there has never been more hope for rising incomes among the poor. We can help them best by promoting mobility through economic freedom.
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What should we do about luck?
What should we do about the fact that some people are able to earn more money than others? Should government redress the resulting disparities in income? The answer is often believed to hinge upon our conclusion about the role of luck in affecting income-earning abilities. Those on the political left emphasize factors beyond the individual’s […]
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Better market-oriented proposals that reduce income inequality
I was initially excited to see that progressive Dean Baker has written a piece on “Eight Market-Oriented Proposals That Reduce Income Inequality” for AEI. It begins promisingly by criticizing overly strict occupational licensing for high-skilled workers. But it then studiously avoids the really big wins. Namely: 1. Immigration. High-skilled immigration reduces conventionally measured inequality by […]
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Does inequality make us miserable?
Indeed, classical liberals are usually much more concerned with the alleviation of poverty, rather than hand-wringing about who might have a larger slice of an ever-widening pie.
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Relief from wars & politics
Reports of the world’s demise are greatly exaggerated.
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Friday Links
Saturday, September 17th will be the five year anniversary of the beginning of the Occupy Wall Street protests. This week’s links cover the protests and what they did (or didn’t) accomplish. The Lasting Effects of Occupy Wall Street, Five Years Later Throwback: What Reason Saw at Occupy Wall Street Protests What Occupy Wall Street Got […]
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You Need to Consider the Moral Aspects of “Feeling the Bern”
Many voters, especially younger voters, are “feeling the Bern.” But what exactly are they feeling? Generally, these individuals believe that some people (financially successful individuals) owe other people (low-income individuals)—and that some people, like those of the working class or youth demographic, are entitled to receive benefits at the expense of others. Is This an […]
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Open Letter, Part 2: Minimum Wage Laws Are Immoral
Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of an open letter from Prof. Howard Baetjer to a friend who commented on one of his Facebook posts about minimum wage laws. You can view part 1 here. Baetjer and his friend, Adam, look at the minimum wage issue from very different perspectives, so Baetjer wrote an open […]
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People Hate the Top One Percent. Here’s What’s Wrong With That
As I was walking around the waterfront in Vancouver, I noticed some beautiful yachts. I took a picture with the largest, dreaming about how nice it would be to have one of my own. After my walk, I returned to my hotel room, scrolled through the television channels, and stumbled across the show Secret Lives […]
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Everyone Is Ignoring How Free Trade Really Impacts Income Inequality
As the election season heats up, candidates from both sides of the political spectrum seem to agree on one thing: Free trade hurts Americans. There is also a fierce debate about whether—or to what degree—free trade increases income inequality in the country. As commentators continue to disparage free trade (often on products like smartphones, computers, […]
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Child Labor is Terrible, But the Alternative is Worse
Does the “Made in Bangladesh” tag on your shirt—which could just as easily be read as “Made by Child Labor”—make you feel bad? There’s no question it should make us reflect on the incredible standard of living that we enjoy. But as Texas Tech Professor Benjamin Powell explains, we shouldn’t feel bad or unethical for […]
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