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Why the State of Economic Literacy Is So Appalling (and What to Do about It)

In this talk, Russell Roberts makes the case for remaking the way we talk about economics–moving the emphasis away from the sterile and toward the soulful. Using examples taken from the public policy trenches, Roberts talks about how economics can re-engage the importance of human possibility and the individual. Roberts,…

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I, Pepsi

From Ideas on Liberty One of Frédéric Bastiat’s great insights into understanding economics was to distinguish what is seen from what is not seen. Searching out the unseen is in many ways the essence of economics. A soda bottling plant may seem like a strange place to do economics, but…

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A Sausage By Any Other Name

A version of this essay ran in the St. Louis Post Dispatch on 4-4-01 It is said that there are two things you should not watch being made: sausage and law. Once upon a time there was a great sausage maker from Arizona. He made sausage from the innards and…

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How Safe is that Trucker in the Window?

You might have noticed that Mexican trucks have been in the news lately. Who wins and who loses when Mexican trucks are allowed to carry cargo into the United States? The New York Times reports that a NAFTA dispute resolution panel has ruled that NAFTA requires the U.S. to let…

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Relying on Relatives

From Ideas on Liberty One of the highlights of the 2000 presidential campaign was Winifred Skinner. You may remember her—she was the can-collecting 79-year-old woman who used the money from her foraging for tin and aluminum to finance her prescription drugs. She was interviewed on Good Morning America about her…

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Is Holiday Spending Good for America?

When I travel, I often find myself on an airplane chatting with a stranger and mentioning that I’m an economist. “That must be awfully handy around tax time,” my seatmate will often reply. Or “I bet you’re good at balancing your checkbook.” Truth is, I hate balancing my checkbook and…

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Subliminal Advertising for Politicians

Text from National Public Radio, Morning Edition When I teach economics and talk about how difficult it is for advertisers to sway consumers, someone always brings up subliminal advertising. The student then tells me about the classic experiment when a movie theater repeatedly flashed the words “Eat Popcorn, Drink Coke”…

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In Praise of the Oh-So-Dependable Cardboard Box

From St. Louis Post-Dispatch When you think of the greatest inventions of all time, you think of the wheel, movable type, electricity. When you think of the greatest inventions and products of the 20th century, you think of plastic, the transistor, the mass-produced car, the passenger plane, the radio, the…

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Would a ban on soft money hurt special interest politics?

Text from National Public Radio, Morning Edition The rush toward campaign finance reform continues to pick up momentum. People want to purge money from politics. That’s a little like asking to take the grinder out of the sausage factory. The whole thing is about money. The Federal government will spend…

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Microsoft Woods

Text from Morning Edition The record-shattering performance of Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open has galvanized the Justice Department to examine his dominance of the game of golf. According to lawyers involved in the case, Tiger Woods incredible success on the tour and his enormous earnings have reduced the amount…

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Transforming the Political Marketplace

From Ideas on Liberty What we expect from our politicians goes a long way toward determining what kind of politicians we can expect to find in office. Just as suppliers compete by trying to please their customers, politicians compete by trying to please voters. Just as the features of cars…

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Nothing’s Free: How Lotteries Work

From Ideas on Liberty, at FEE.org My brother and I have a game we play from time to time. He calls me with a can’t-miss investment opportunity and my job is to figure out what’s wrong with it. There is always something wrong with it. In fact, the better it…

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Illuminating the Unseen

From Ideas on Liberty, Vol. 49, No. 3, at FEE.org The good effects of laws are often easily seen. The bad effects, unseen. So observed Frederic Bastiat 150 years ago. His basic insight remains true today. We live in busy times. Information bombards us. In such a world, even that…

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