I can’t take any economist seriously if they don’t talk about market power. And every single one of these tenets studiously ignores that problem.

https://www.isegoria.net/2020/06/once-you-grasp-its-lessons-you-can-never-again-be-a-normal-citizen/comment-page-1/#comment-3193093

A good point. Economists studiously refuse to give advice to normal people. No wonder you can’t be an ‘normal citizen’ if you study labor economics.

If Bryan Caplan’s thoughts were dangerous to the profits of Global Kapital, would he have attained his position? If he began thinking dangerous thoughts, could he keep it?

Bryan Caplan, GMU econ prof, NYT bestseller, father of 4, shill.

Q.E.D.

I will unpack this.

1. I denigrated the promotion mechanism of academia.
2. I implicated the promotion mechanism as such.
3. I suggested that the man’s continued social and financial well-being is contingent on his perpetual slavish conformity to the will of a faceless, nameless, ageless leviathan — a, dare I say it, Cthulhu.
4. I implied likewise for his children.

It is worth asking: How does a man end up in such a position?

He has made a series of poor choices, to be sure. No one forced him to take the path that he has taken.

But he is no less a tragic figure.

Failed by his elders, failed by the state, failed by his rabbinic elite, failed by his “rabbinic” elite. He played the tournament set before him, and played well. One “win” after another, each “victory” drawing him forward not towards freedom and prosperity but unto an ever more perfect subjection.

Let us have a moment of silence in honor of a soul lost to myopic heedlessness.

Truly would the Jews be so much better off had they hewn to the path laid out by the godfather of their foundling state: Adolf Hitler.

Using the phrase “far outweigh” indicates a shill at work.

But at least he acknowledges that there are negatives.

A great many people want to swing their fists past where others’ noses begin. Will you grant them that freedom? If not, then you are limiting someone’s freedom in a way that he cares about. Don’t expect him to be okay with that.

Property rights are the freedom to own. Nothing is more zero sum than ownership – except if you want to invite the tragedy of the commons.

??? That sounds like hokum. But, maybe your “freedom” is different from mine. I would, for instance, include in my “freedom” the ability to visit Mauritious. Or Iceland. Or Paraguay. Or to be able to eat grapes from Chile when there are none from … where ever grapes come from. I dunno. Nome? :)

Yeah, if the Universe is finite, and it is, then freedom is zero sum. But for the same reason the universe is finite, I – and this is just me – don’t care about that particular beyond-point.

Is cooperation loss of freedom? If so, then the history of humanity is of loss of freedom. But that sounds like hokum.

Prof. Capian makes some good points — and then says something so totally dumb as this! What is going on in his mind? Or am I wrong in thinking that some of his other points make good sense?

My guess is that in Capian’s mind, the sentence he wrote means: “makes the average American who graduated from an Ivy League college poorer”. He simply forgets there are Americans who are not part of his very restricted social circle.

As someone once said: We can have a welfare system or we can have open borders. One or the other. Choose.

Beyond a certain point, freedom is zero sum. This is the point libertarians miss. Every ruling class knows this, and will defend its own freedom by oppressing the competition. So it must be. But let’s at least be honest about it.

Bryan Caplan, GMU econ prof, NYT bestseller, father of 4, shill.

Q.E.D.