Author Archive | Tyler Cowen

Daniel Klein, a good friend of mine, has written a very interesting essay on The People’s Romance: Why People Love Government (as much as they do). Klein writes from a libertarian point of view, asking why people are so attached to government, even when the record of government in an area is a poor one. […]

Read David and Juan immediately below. Apropos their topic, I have a few nominations for best all-time songs about obsession, particularly love obsession: “Aneurysm,” by Nirvana. “I Want You (She’s so Heavy),” by The Beatles. “Mother,” by John Lennon, plus much of Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band album. And if you want to get sweet, there […]

Deltoid discusses the latest scandal of Amazon reviewing. A mistake led the identities of Amazon reviewers to be revealed on the Canadian web site, it turned out that many of the reviews were puff pieces by authors and their friends. Negative reviews often had a conflict of interest motive, and were written by the author’s […]

Yesterday I was browsing through Culture and Resistance, the collection of interviews with the late Edward Said. Said, of course, is well known for his advocacy of the Palestinian cause. I came across the following: “Interviewer: Your books were banned in Arafat’s realm. Is that still the case? ES: It’s difficult to know actually. You […]

One of the most frequent questions about culture I receive is the following: “do you know any jazz that I will like as much as pre-1960 (or fill in your own date) jazz?” I, too, for the most part prefer what came before and led up to Sun Ra. But I do have a particular […]

“After investing tens of thousands in education and training costs, Germany is losing its best qualified professionals to better paid positions elsewhere, economists complain. . . Every seventh person with a doctorate in science leaves Germany for the United States, The Scientist magazine has reported. Three of the four German Nobel Prize winners work in […]

“A complacent Saddam Hussein was so convinced that war would be averted or that America would mount only a limited bombing campaign that he deployed the Iraqi military to crush domestic uprisings rather than defend against a ground invasion, according to a classified log of interrogations of captured Iraqi leaders and former officers. Mr. Hussein […]

The answer surprised me. In Great Britain there is one surveillance-dedicated video camera for every fourteen people. Commentator Randall Parker discusses the implications for crime prevention (see the link). I wonder if another factor is not operating as well: the British trust their government not to misuse the taped material. It is harder to imagine […]

A new service claims it can make your connection to Kazaa anonymous, for $5.95 a month. “Available for $5.95 per month, AnonX sets up a virtual private network, or VPN, between a user’s computer and the company’s computers. The AnonX computers act as proxies, and actually do the Web surfing for the subscriber. In theory, […]

Here is a link to the new NYU Journal of Law and Liberty.

Several VC readers have asked me the following question: can we not have free immigration into the United States, but deny immigrants welfare benefits? Several European nations, such as Denmark, already have watered-down versions of this idea, here is one recent proposal. Can immigration without welfare work? Yes and no. I favor increasing legal immigration, […]

I heard on the radio this morning that Tower Records has declared bankruptcy. This is not a mere reorganization, most of the stores are losing money. The company could not find a buyer, in part because this is a bad time for selling CDs through a storefront. I grew up with Tower Records and built […]

Last week I considered how we might improve the quality of immigration, among other topics. What about the Bush immigration plan? The ever-inventive Randall Parker has produced an excellent analysis at www.Parapundit.com. Here is his summary: “*The factors that separate out current illegals from those who are unwilling or unable to come to the US […]

I have already argued that we should substitute legal for illegal immigration. But what standards should be applied to the legal entrants? I hear two major complaints about the current groups of immigrants, legal and illegal combined: 1. Too many are unskilled.2. Too many don’t speak English. Whether or not we agree with these complaints, […]

Let’s go back to the original list of policy alternatives: 1. Let everyone in.2. Let everyone in but terrorists and the infectious.3. Let many people in but try to control their behavior ex post.4. Try to keep as many people out as possible.5. Try to influence who gets in.6. Create new and differential legal categories, […]