OpenMarket: Business and Government

Many contemporary environmentalists share two important beliefs: a) that anthropogenic climate change is the biggest threat to the future of humanity and b) that a profit-based economic system is the biggest barrier to addressing that problem. A new short documentary from Reason TV makes the opposite case, arguing that accelerating economic growth and advances in technology are the best strategy for mediating the impact of both the planet’s growing human population and the future dislocations climate change will present us with.

J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently said that “most state-owned enterprises don’t do a particularly good job.” The head of the world’s largest bank not being a fan of socialist planning would normally be a dog-bites-man story, but Dimon’s interview nevertheless produced headlines around the world. This story highlights how risk-averse today’s generation of business leaders have become when it comes to making a certain “political” comments.

Antitrust policy interventions into the market rarely work as intended.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Liberty Media Corp, which already owns Sirius XM satellite radio, including its Pandora streaming service, and 33% of concert promotion giant Live Nation Entertainment, wants permission from the US Department of Justice to purchase a controlling stake in iHeart Media Inc. 

August 25 of this past year was the 230th anniversary of the death of Mary Ball Washington, the mother of the first president of the United States. Her life was extraordinary, as she lived into her 80s, seeing her son George lead the Continental Army to victory against Great Britain in the Revolutionary War and then become the nation’s first President in 1789.

Most policy proposals for fighting poverty are zero-sum. The best way to help the poor, the argument goes, is to take from the rich. Van de Vossen and Brennan argue instead for positive-sum policies, which make everyone better off. Why keep the pie the same size, when it could grow instead?

Tim Carney’s new book on social alienation and U.S. politics, Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse, raises the bar for Trump-era political analysis. Building on recent research on economics and civic life from various sources, Carney presents an incisive analysis of The Donald’s 2016 campaign that redefines who supported the 45th president and why.

Cowen argues that most people underestimate the amount of good that big businesses do. They make possible affordable communications, books, culture and art (and the supplies needed to make them), transportation that expands employment options for workers, safe and diverse food supplies, architecture, and more.

Smith and Wilson combine insights from their experimental economics research with insights about human character from Adam Smith’s "Wealth of Nations" and especially his 1759 book "The Theory of Moral Sentiments."

Koppl uses the role of experts to explain the difference between approaching social problems from the top down versus from the bottom up. Koppl defines an expert as anyone who is paid for their opinion. This is not tied to any credential, degree, affiliation, or any objective measure of knowledge. If someone sees fit to pay you for your opinion on something, you’re an expert on that something.