Free Thoughts

Do Republicans who are more libertarian have a better chance of being elected now? How about more extreme progressives? Does this year’s results tell us anything about the 2016 presidential election?What role does messaging and partisanship play in winning elections? What role does money have in influencing elections? More specifically, how much of an effect do campaign contributions have on electoral outcomes, policy outcomes, and issue awareness among policymakers?Show Notes and Further ReadingByron Shafer and William Claggett, The Two Majorities: The Issue Context of Modern American Politics (book)John Sides and Lynn Vavreck, The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Presidential Election (book) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan Russell claims that business ethics is more than just a set of ethical dilemmas. Isn’t that what ethics is about, though? Facing a moral quandary and figuring out how to solve it? How do the teachings of Aristotle tie into all of this? What does it mean to live a good life? What does a wise choice look like?Show Notes and Further ReadingRobert Skidelsky and Edward Skidelsky, How Much is Enough? (book)Daniel C. Russell, The Cambridge Companion to Virtue Ethics (book)Daniel C. Russell, Happiness for Humans (book)Dan Russell, “Happiness — A Feeling or a Future?” (video) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does the internet work? Will net neutrality rules cause the internet to be less innovative? Would a non-neutral internet create barriers to market entry? Should the internet be treated like a public utility? What would that look like, and would it work?Show Notes and Further ReadingHal J. Singer, “Net Neutrality: A Radical Form of Non-Discrimination” (2007 article in Regulation magazine)Bruce M. Owen, “Antecedents to Net Neutrality” (2007 article in Regulation magazine)Christopher S. Yoo, “Network Neutrality or Internet Innovation?” (2010 article in Regulation magazine)Gerald R. Faulhaber, “The Economics of Network Neutrality” (2011 article in Regulation magazine)Christopher S. Yoo, “A Clash of Regulatory Paradigms” (2012 article in Regulation magazine)Christopher S. Yoo, “The Questionable Call for Common Carriage” (2014 article in Regulation magazine) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are libertarians isolationists? Why do libertarians seem to disagree so often when it comes to foreign policy? When is it appropriate to go to war? What about humanitarian interventions? If we need to cut spending, should it come out of the military? What do conservatives get wrong about foreign policy? What do liberals/progressives get wrong?Show Notes and Further ReadingJustin Logan, “War’s Declining Significance As A Policy Tool in the Comtemporary Age” (Chapter 8 in Peace, Love, & Liberty)Robert Higgs, Crisis and Leviathan (book)Walter A. McDougall, “Back to Bedrock: The Eight Traditions of American Statecraft” (article in Foreign Affairs)Richard K. Betts, “The Delusion of Impartial Intervention” (article in Foreign Affairs)   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is libertarian paternalism? Is paternalism without coercion even possible? Does it work? Can we trust those who are in charge of creating good “choice architecture” to be better at their jobs than any typical bureaucrat? How do we know what someone’s “true preferences” are? And don’t these sort of “nudges” strip people of their agency?Show Notes and Further ReadingCass Sunstein and Richard Thaler, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (book)Bill Glod, The Limits of Libertarian Paternalism (interview with Glen Whitman)Slippery Slopes and the New Paternalism (Cato Unbound Series) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What drives us to be concerned about others? In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith says people are basically self-interested, and this is what drives market economies. Does this mean he’s saying people are selfish? Smith has a pretty simple formula for happiness. “Man naturally desires, not only to be loved, but to be lovely.” What does he mean by that? Can the study of economics really be about finding better ways to care for others…by recognizing that people are self-interested? How does that work?Show Notes and Further ReadingRussell Roberts, How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness (book)Adam Smith, The Weath of Nations (book)Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (book) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s the proper scope of criminal law, from a libertarian point of view? Why does America lead the world in incarceration rates? How is the federal War on Drugs affecting our legal system?Burrus and Lynch explain how policies like mandatory minimum sentencing and three strike laws erode civil liberties and talk about the proliferation of strict liability standards in criminal law. They also discuss the effects tactics like police militarization and no-knock raids have on small communities like Ferguson, Missouri and the more generalized problem of police misconduct in America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Kopel joins us this week for a discussion on the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: the right to keep and bear firearms. Aaron and Trevor introduce the debate over gun rights in America today by asking questions: Why allow people to own guns at all? Aren’t we past that point as a civilization? Does having more guns around actually reduce crime? How many crimes each year are stopped by guns…and how many don’t occur in the first place because criminals think their victims could have guns? Is it worth the risk to have guns in the home? Are public health concerns about gun ownership well-founded? Assault weapons—what are they and why do American gun control groups want to ban them in particular? And if the Second Amendment gives us the right to keep and bear arms, what’s to stop an individual from owning something like a tank or a personal rocket launcher?Show Notes and Further ReadingDavid B. Kopel, The Truth About Gun Control (book)John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws (book) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If the government’s been spying on us for decades, what’s new now? Why is bulk data collection so particularly nefarious? What is metadata anyway, and what does the government do with it? Does the government actually catch terrorists through mass surveillance? Why do people treat terrorism differently from other violent crimes? The defenders of surveillance say that “if you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of,” but does this justification hold water? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor Michael Huemer claims that if normal people acted like governments do, we would generally be horrified and find their behavior morally contemptible…so why do most people intuitively feel that government is justified in its actions? Professor Huemer, Aaron, and Trevor tackle problems of political obligation, political legitimacy, and political authority, and explain the differences between each of these terms.Show Notes and Further ReadingMichael Huemer, The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey (book)Michael Huemer, Ethical Intuitionism (book)Prof. Huemer’s personal web site. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.