Against Politics

Toward a depoliticized society

The positive external effects of stimulus

Some politicians have expressed great frustration over the fact that not all countries are doing their part in engaging in deficit spending and/or manipulating the money supply to stimulate “the economy.” It is not difficult to imagine how such a perspective will invariably culminate in complaints that countries that have not done enough to stimulate [...]

Globalist cranks

Justin Raimondo writing on the finale of the American Empire: It will be suddenly discovered, if it hasn’t already, that the real problem is global in scope and can only be solved by international economic regulators with the power of force behind them. The current crisis is bound to produce a crop of cranks and [...]

John Rawls and the sin of merit

For those who have always suspected a strong religious undertone in the writings of John Rawls, the following piece by Joshua Cohen and Thomas Nagel will come as a revelation. Reflecting on Rawls’s senior thesis “A Brief Inquiry into the Meaning of Sin and Faith: An interpretation based on the concept of community” they write: [...]

Four prosperity killers

Whether you believe that the Federal Reserve’s recent monetary decisions represent the smartest response to the current financial meltdown or puts us on the road to third world hyperinflation, there seems to be little disagreement about the risk of high inflation (or even stagflation). To Larry Kudlow this means that all the elements are in [...]

A conversation with Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Nassim Nicholas Taleb on economic models that we would be better off without: Every time I saw [Federal Reserve Chairman Ben] Bernanke [on television], I would have a fit of rage. He claimed that we were in a period of “great moderation.” He did not understand that Black Swans are preceded by low volatility and [...]

Cold analytical reasoning

In his remarks (PDF) introducing Liberale Vernunft, Sociale Verwirrung, a selection of  essays translated in German, Anthony de Jasay contrasts his approach of critical analysis of modern liberalism with futile attempts to justify a strict liberal alternative by appealing to arbitrary values and emotions. On taking the counter-offensive, I should also like to see it [...]