Where has all the Nuance gone?

With so much of our news content being distributed in short clips and 140 character tweets, it is becoming more difficult to find nuanced information on the topic du jour. Below are few articles that I think add some gray to some current black and white headline issues.

1. Bryan Caplan opines on the hypocrisy and hyperbole that is rampant in public policy discussions.

2. Jeffrey A. Tucker highlights the limitations of interpreting US trade deficit data in an economy with international supply chains and large service based sector economies in his recent AIER post.

3. Mike Munger compares capitalism and democratic socialism in both their ideal and corrupted forms as systems for coordinating production and cooperation in his recent AIER article.

Please use the comment section below to share articles that you feel offer a fuller discussion on a topic that you find interesting.

Krugman, Krugman Everywhere

I had mixed feelings after enjoying Tyler Cowen’s podcast episode with Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman more than I expected. On one hand, I found Krugman’s insights to be very thoughtful and more nuanced than his opinions shared in his frequent New York Times Op-Ed column. From listening to him speak, it was clear he is very intelligent and still has the ability to think like an economist when he desires. I am also further disappointed that he uses his written platform for partisan pandering and increasing his popularity rather than stimulating intellectual discourse. Regardless of how you feel about Krugman, the episode is definitely thought provoking and worth a listen.

Bryan Caplan reacts to some of Paul Krugman’s comments in the above mentioned podcast in his recent article to discuss the idea that we, including Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, hold markets to a much higher standard than we do our own government. He asserts that we criticize markets for imperfections but allow the government to operate as long as it avoids disaster.

I do not think comparing markets to government is entirely fair. Markets have the advantage of being able to make adjustments to real time information as changes are implemented, while government action requires voting, making decisions based on old information, and a significant time lag before implementation. Further changes require repeating the process all over again. Markets can behave more like an outfielder adjusting his course to chase down a fly ball while government action works more like an artilleryman where he has to wait and see where the projectile lands before being able to make adjustments for the next shot.

Please use the comments section to share links to any interesting podcasts/books you are currently consuming.

True Impact of "Securing the Border"

I wanted to share some interesting content I've come across in the past week. I do not have much expertise on the topic, but think these perspectives are provocative and are worth sharing. 

1. Malcolm Gladwell's recent podcast episode suggests that US attempts to secure its borders are not having their intended effect  (Hint: works a lot more like a prison and a lot less like a castle)
2. Bryan Caplan's recent Economist article discusses the cost of closed border policy on the World economy. (Hint: $78 Trillion)

Please use the comment sections to share your thoughts or other interesting articles on the subject.