Pileus

Three years ago, I was asked to deliver the keynote address at the American Jewish Committee Annual Dinner.  I chose to use that opportunity to explain what was so special about my childhood nei...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/28/everything-i-ever-needed-to-know-about-community-i-learned-in-the-shtetl-of-squirrel-hill/

Today the Parliament of Catalonia declared independence from Spain, a move Spain declares illegal. It is the first contested independence declaration in Western Europe since Sinn Fein declared th...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/27/dialogue-on-catalan-independence/

Over at Learn Liberty, I take on the recent kerfuffle over intergenerational mobility. Some scholars and journalists are saying that the U.S. has a major “problem” with mobility because its �...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/25/intergenerational-mobility-isnt-always-a-good-thing/

My latest for Learn Liberty looks at proposals for starting an equalization program to redistribute from rich to poor states in the U.S. and finds them wanting. Due to the audience for that blog,...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/25/federalism-isnt-unfair/

Over at Learn Liberty, I take up the question of what the rest of the world should do if Catalonia’s referendum on independence on October 1 succeeds, as is expected. I apply some straightforwa...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/should-the-u-s-recognize-catalonia-if-it-secedes-from-spain/

My latest post at Learn Liberty explores the close parallels between certain arguments for immigration restrictions and gun restrictions: A common argument for restricting immigration to the Unit...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/whats-wrong-with-immigration-restrictions-the-same-thing-thats-wrong-with-gun-control/

In my latest blog post for Learn Liberty, I take on arguments against decentralizing health care policy to the states on the grounds of fiscal capacity: So if federal ACA spending were cut or eve...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/the-health-care-shell-game-why-not-leave-policy-to-the-states/

In 2010 and 2015, I did some data analysis to see which states had the most libertarians, based on Libertarian Party and Ron Paul election results. I’ve now done something similar for 2016. Unf...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/20/where-were-the-libertarians-in-2016/

Did the emergence of the state reduce the rate of human death from warfare? Steven Pinker’s outstanding book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, surveys many reasons wh...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/20/evaluating-pinkers-claim-that-states-reduced-war/

My latest Learn Liberty blog post is on the topic above and can be found here. Excerpt: Kant’s moral philosophy justifies extremely strong individual rights against coercion. The only justifica...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/09/immanuel-kant-philosopher-of-freedom/

Now that the 2016 election results are available by town for New Hampshire, I thought I would take a look at where libertarian candidates tended to do well or poorly, and how that pattern compare...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/28/the-changing-political-geography-of-new-hampshire/

There’s been some debate about whether independent conservatarian candidate Aaron Day (former chairman of the Free State Project Board of Directors) cost Republican Kelly Ayotte her U.S. Senate...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/19/yes-aaron-day-probably-cost-kelly-ayotte-re-election/

“What if we can’t make government smaller?” the Niskanen Center’s Will Wilkinson asks. He says that the evidence, particularly Wagner’s Law, shows that government spending is impervious...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/12/can-government-spending-be-cut-after-all/

I’ve started a new blogging gig at Learn Liberty, a project of the Institute for Humane Studies. I’ll be putting links to these posts here. My posts there will have the benefit of an editor, ...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/09/partisan-politics-makes-smart-people-stupid/

On this day, we celebrate other North American states’ following New Hampshire’s lead and declaring independence from the United Kingdom. Contrary to the contrarians, New Hampshire secession ...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2016/07/04/happy-secession-day-why-n-h-secession-from-the-u-k-was-awesome-and-totally-justified/

On March 15, I had the opportunity to testify at the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats, chaired by California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, on the topic of...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/my-testimony-on-national-self-determination-movements-to-the-house-foreign-affairs-subcommittee-on-europe-eurasia-and-emerging-threats/

Are you an economics graduate student casting about for dissertation topics? I have a few ideas for you. As part of the rewriting of Freedom in the 50 States, I’ve been reviewing the economic l...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/03/research-questions-for-economics-graduate-students/

Last year, I offered a bet that if an election were held this year in Catalonia, Catalan independentist parties would win a majority of valid, nonblank votes. One was, and they didn’t. The only...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/in-which-i-lose-a-bet/

On September 27, Catalonia, an “autonomous community” of Spain, votes in a regional election that will likely determine whether the region declares independence from Spain. The Economist and ...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/why-catalan-independence-might-be-good-for-the-world/

I don’t blog much here anymore, in part because I’ve been too busy with Ethics & Economics Education, and in part because I find it easier to share quick thoughts on Twitter. Here’s a littl...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/23/why-has-catalonias-independence-movement-lost-steam/

In the U.S., states have full authority over local government. Some states strictly centralize power and leave local government little to do. For instance, Hawaii has a single school district for...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/how-decentralized-is-your-state/

Updated to include two scatter plots Having examined which states have the most and least libertarians, I’ve decided to do something similar for the 239 populated towns of New Hampshire. Towns ...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/the-most-and-least-libertarian-towns-in-new-hampshire/

A few years ago, I did a statistical analysis of which states had the most libertarians, using data from 2004 and 2008 Libertarian Party vote shares and 2008 Ron Paul vote shares and contribution...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/06/18/where-the-libertarians-are-part-2/

New at e3ne.org, I discuss my conversations with high school students about the moral legitimacy of border restrictions: We started our discussion with a little bit of improv theatre. I played a ...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/06/09/talking-with-high-school-students-about-open-borders/

How can one group of human beings come to enjoy a right to enforce its authoritative commands on other human beings? In other words, how does government come to enjoy a right to rule, and how do ...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/is-the-u-s-government-illegitimate/

New at e3ne.org, I take up Peter Singer’s argument that we in affluent societies have far-reaching duties to aid the global poor, possibly to the extent of bringing ourselves down almost to the...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/is-poverty-like-a-pond/

Recently I finished reading the book Gaming the Vote by William Poundstone. I also assigned part of it to my Ethics & Economics Challenge students. It’s a fun and informative read, draping heav...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/20/the-meaning-of-the-arrow-theorem/

At e3ne.org, I have posted some reflections on my last discussion with the Ethics & Economics Challenge students, on the topic of private property rights. The work of Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robin...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/property-rights-necessary-but-not-sufficient-for-prosperity/

This week’s post at e3ne.org is about the miracle of the price system: Natural disasters harm people’s standard of living by destroying resources, but in a free marketplace, rising prices and...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/01/the-miracle-of-the-price-system/

The theory of comparative advantage shows how voluntary exchange benefits both parties and encourages specialization. You don’t need to possess an absolute advantage in any particular productiv...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/27/do-you-really-understand-comparative-advantage/

The economic thinking behind “buy local” campaigns is typically terrible. One such example is the claim that a dollar “circulates more” when you spend it locally. The rate of circulation ...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/what-buy-local-campaigns-get-wrong/

I have a “nutshell” summary and critique of John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty now up at e3ne.org. Excerpt: Mill thus defends freedom of conscience, speech, and lifestyle on completely “practi...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/mill-on-paternalism/

How does globalisation, especially foreign direct investment, influence the risk of intrastate conflict? While several prominent studies have found that globalisation reduces the probability of c...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/fdi-civil-conflict/

The latest in my series of blog posts based on discussions with Ethics & Economics Challenge students is up at e3ne.org. It’s on whether it’s possible for us to have a right to do wrong in so...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/a-right-to-do-wrong/

I’ve recently begun the Ethics & Economics Challenge program with students at Merrimack Valley High School in Concord, N.H. We’ve been discussing what Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiment...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/adam-smith-on-beneficence-justice/

The search for a legacy always begins in earnest as presidents approach the final years of their time in office. Josh Kraushaar (National Journal) has an interesting piece on the Obama legacy. A ...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/the-eight-year-mirage/

Thomas B. Edsall has an interesting piece in the New York Times on the “Republican Discovery of the Poor,” the embrace of economic populism, and the promotion of reforms, including changes to...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/11/the-reformicons/

Just came across this Templeton Foundation conversation on the role of reason in moral thought and action. Very enlightening. Over time, I have become more of a “Smithian” in acknowledging th...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/09/does-moral-action-depend-on-reasoning/

Bryan Caplan argues that social conservatives should prefer libertines to hypocrites, contrary to the common meme that “at least hypocrites have moral standards.” The argument is pretty simpl...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/libertines-hypocrites-and-the-weak-willed-with-an-application-to-socialism/

Despite candidate Obama’s promises of greater openness and transparency, the last few years have not been good ones with respect to freedom of the press. As Al Hunt observes: “The Obama admin...

https://pileusblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/the-big-chill/