Jesse Burkhead, Public School Finance: Economics and Politics (Syracuse, 1964). As part of an ongoing investigation of the claims in Nancy MacLean’s “Democracy in Chains,” I was led to the three editions of James M. Buchanan’s textbooks “The Public Finances.” Buchanan’s citations are sparse, but in the second edition (I think), he refers readers to […]
Cheap Family Fun in Birmingham? Try Samford Sports.
I’ll get the obvious out of the way: I work at Samford, I can go to Samford events for free*, and it is in my personal interest to get as many excellent students on campus as possible because they might at some point become excellent Samford undergraduates. But if you’re looking for a good afternoon […]
Recent Reading e7
Robert Nelson, The New Holy Wars I reviewed this for The Freeman in 2011 and reread it for an IHS discussion colloquium at Samford recently. Nelson reads economics and environmentalism as theological systems, meaning that they involve sets of transcendent ordering principles. It aged well; especially the chapter on Frank Knight. Neil V. Sullivan, Bound […]
A Thought Dog Binge with Dexter Guff
I’ve recently started listening to the best productivity podcast I’ve ever encountered: Dexter Guff is Smarter Than You, and You Can Be Too. Guff is the thought leader’s thought leader, and his podcast is thought leadership at its thought-leadering best. In a few short episodes, I’ve learned how to turn a big profit by buying […]
More in the Recent Reading Series
Doing the Best I Can, Kathryn Edin & Timothy Nelson: I bought this on Bryan Caplan’s recommendation, and it doesn’t disappoint. He’s right that it’s absolutely engrossing: the authors do extensive interviews that give readers a look into the lives of unwed urban fathers. The cultural difference is particularly puzzling as the authors point to […]
Even More Recent Reading
Tyler Cowen, Stubborn Attachments. You can find this for $0 on Medium, and it’s a preface to his most recent book The Complacent Class. His argument is inspiring if not airtight: he argues that we should not discount the welfare of future generations, and if this is the case it has pretty radical policy implications: […]
Salvation: Brain Candy For The Gym
I watched the first few episodes of “Salvation” after looking through Amazon Prime for something to watch on the elliptical at the gym as there are only so many podcasts you can listen to and YouTube lectures you can watch before you need a break. The first four episodes are online, and it’s worth a look […]
More Recent Reading
Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains: A conspiracy theory trashing the intellectual legacy of 1986 Nobel Laureate James Buchanan. Note the lack of a link: this book will worsen your understanding of the world rather than improve it. James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent: Societies are comprised of individuals who have to make […]
Who Were Buchanan’s Influences?
If nothing else, Democracy in Chains has sparked new research into Buchanan’s intellectual family tree. I didn’t think there were any more Pokemon to catch in “Democracy in Chains,” but I just caught a few new Omittisaurs (thanks, Daniel J. Smith, for pointing to chapter 15 of “Economics from the Outside In”). P. 163, discussing […]
When God Is Silent, It Might Be Because He Has Already Spoken.
Immanuel Church elder Matt Waldrep once posted this on Facebook: “It is no aid to anyone to simply state that we ought to pray for God’s will to be done in a circumstance about which he has already spoken plainly in his word, especially if there is an implicit call to action for you. Yes […]