Kurt W Rotthoff:      Home Page      CV      Published Papers  


Economics and Liberty     (These papers are intended for the use of my ECON 3437 class only)

Syllabus

 

Schedule and Readings:

January  18. Syllabus and Introduction                                            

Political Compass

Bruce Yandle: My Trade Deficit...

Are all laws like this?

What do you own?

The Most important truth about hard work, and also reading, that you can find 

Census Data

Podcast: How Not to Be Terrible at College

A letter to Students

 

January  25. Reading Day!

 

February 1. Bodies (Guest: James Stacey Taylor                                                          

Paul M. Hughes, Exploitation, Autonomy, and the Case for Organ Sales International Journal of Applied Philosophy 12, 1 (1998): 89--95.

Paul Hughes, Constraint, Consent, and Well-Being in Human Kidney Sales Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 34, 6 (2009): 606-631.

Samuel J. Kerstein, Autonomy, Moral Constraints, and Markets in Kidneys Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 34, 6 (2009): 573-585

T. L. Zutlevics (2001). Markets and the Needy: Organ Sales or Aid? Journal of Applied Philosophy 18, 3 (2001):297-302.

Janet Radcliffe Richards et al, The case for allowing Kidney Sales Lancet 351 (1998):  1950-52.

David Rose on EconTalk

 

February 8. Markets and Catholic Social Thought (Margaret Taylor-Ulizio)                                 .

Principles of CST

Economic Life

Economic Theory and CST

Changing Economy and the New Code of Canon Law

And if you get bored: Check out this blog  

You most likely have read these, but if there is extra time (if not, at least skim them):

Rerum Novarum

Centesimus Annus 

 

February 15. Reading Day! HW (This homework is due, by email, to me by the end of this classtime - it is due to me by 1:00 on Friday 2/15)

 

February 22. The Morality of Capitalism (with Greg Salmieri) 

Ethics Interview

The Ethics of Objectivism

Ayn Rand "Man's Rights" and "The Nature of Government"

The Ethics of Emergencies

 

March 1. Exam (12-1)

 

March 8. Clark Neily

Jacobs v. Jacobs (NY 1885)

Lochner v. New York (NY 1905)

Williamson v. Lee Optical (US 1955)

Patel v. Texas Dept. of Licensing & Regulation (Tex 2015) (Willett, J., concurring)

Neily, Beating Rubber Stamps Into Gavels: A Fresh Look At Occupational Freedom (2016)

Berliner, et al., Occupational Licensing Run Wild (2017)

 

March 15. SPRING BREAK!

 

March 22. Optimal Tax Policy (Sara LaLumia)

Measuring the Effects of Corporate Tax Cuts

Is This Tax Reform, or Just Confusion?

 

March 29. Voting (Once again, James Stacey Taylor)

Vote Buying and Election Promises: Should Democrats Care About the Difference? 

The Causes and Consequences of Vote Buying

Vote Selling and Self-Interested Voting

 

April 5. No Class - HW (This homework is due, by email, to me by the end of this classtime - it is due to me by 1:00 on Friday 4/5)

 

April 12. Drugs and Crime (Guest: Angela K. Dills)

The Minimum Leagal Drinking Age and Public Health

Ride-Sharing, Fatal Crashes, and Crime

Social Host Liability and Under-aged Drunk-driving Acidents

The Cost of the War on Drugs

3 Absurd Reasons for Banning Drugs 

 

April 19. No Class - Happy Easter!

 

April 26. Education and Fungibility (with Rey Hernandez-Julian

What's College Good For?

Is the Return to Education the Same for Everybody?

Tim Harford’s guide to statisticsin a misleading age

Why have Undergraduate Grades Increased?

Knowledge Decay between Semesters

Student Appearance and Academic Performance

Brian Caplan on EconTalk

May 3. Good Profit (Guest: Brian Brenberg)                                   .

Book - I will give it to you in class.

I fell like I can relate to this Journey, and believe this is a great video to end the class on: Arthur Brooks TED Talk

Why Capitalism Works

Mike Rowe

Final Exam May 9, 10:45-12:10

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inequality (Guest: Sean Mulholland, also here)                          

Public Policy, Susan Athey on EconTalk

Peter Gottschalk "Inequality, Income Growth, and Mobility: The Basic Facts" The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 11, No. 2, Spring 1997, 21-40

Dalton Conley "Don't Blame the Billionaires: Who Cares About the Excesses of the Rich? It's the Fate of the Poor that Matters" The American Prospect. December 15, 2009

Tyler Cowen "The Inequality that Matters" The American Interest Magazine. January- February 2011

Emmanuel Saez "Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States"

The Impact of Unemployment Benefit Extensions on Employment Hagedorn, Manovskii, and Mitman

What matters more?

Taxing the rich won't solve inequality

World poverty rate to fall below 10% for the first time

A $15 minimum wage would hurt entry-level workers 

Steven Horwitz

Thomas Sowell

Wealth Inequality in America

Is There Income Mobility in America

Happiness Inequality

The Unfairness of Equal Outcomes

 

The Environment                                                                                   .

NPR: So, Should We Recycle?

Martin Weitzman on EconTalk

What's really warming the world?

Benjamin Zycher on solar power

Thomas Schelling on Adapting to Climate Change

Free-Market Environmentalism Is Literally for the Birds

Pete Geddes on EconTalk

Environmental Economics: The key to understanding Environmental Economics is understanding unintended consequences

Bruce Yandle. Environmental Turning Points and the Race to the Top Independent Review. 9 (2) 2004: 211-226.

Eight Great Myths of Recycling Daniel K. Benjamin. PERC Policy Series PS-28, September 2003 (Audio Version)

Are Biofuels worse than Gasoline?

Global Warming

Save the Fish, Establish Property Rights

Electric cars can be dirtier than traditional gas cars

Everything you ever wanted to know about recycling Marketplace

Climate Change on English Wine Marketplace

The hidden costs of hamburgers Marketplace

Why you should...

Energy and Poverty

Plastic Bags

 

 

 

 

Markets                                                              . .                    . 

Property Rights in Peru Daniel K. Benjamin. PERC

How (Not) to Buy Property in Nigeria

12 Economic Concepts

The Seattle Minimum Wage Study

Mike Rowe on Charles Koch

Bootleggers and Baptists in Retrospect Bruce Yandle. Regulation. 18 (3) 1999:5-7

The Human Side of Trade

Free Market  Murray Rothbard. Liberty Fund. Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.

The Moral Case for Capitalism

Social Justice

Steven Kaplan on EconTalk

I, Pencil

Can this be true? And if it is, what does it mean?

Bastiat Petition of the Candlemakers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Readings:

 

The Industrial Revolution: Past and Future

Hernando de Soto The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else (2000), pp. 1-67.

Corporate Financial Structure Annette Poulsen. Liberty Fund. Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.

MBN 15-16

Free Trade  Alan Blinder. Liberty Fund. Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.

Nations Don't Trade with Each Other, Individuals Do

EPAs Endangerment Finding Endangers Economy

Fuel Economy Cartel

Bootleggers and Baptist

Politics Without Romance James M. Buchanan. Policy. 19 (3) 2003: 1-19.

Coase, Ronald. The Lighthouse in Economics J.L. & Econ (1974): 357-376 

Variable Pricing Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson. The Financial Times. 2009

Common Objections

Should we cut the Minimum Wage and here

Todd Kendall Internet Crime

School Choice

Weight

The History of Economic Thought

Externalities Bryan Caplan. Liberty Fund. Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.

Market Prices

Lochner and Motetti The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports

Eric Hanushek on EconTalk

Coase, Ronald. The Problem of Social Cost. Journal of Law and Economics 3, no. 1 (1960): 1–44.

The Tragedy of the Commons, Bunny style

Morris M. Kleiner and Robert T. Kudrle “Does Regulation Affect Economic Outcomes? The Case of Dentistry” Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Oct., 2000), pp. 547-582.

Medical Licensing: An Obstacle to Affordable, Quality Care by Shirley Svorny

Anca M. Cotet and Dan Benjamin “Medical regulation and Health Outcomes: The impact of the Physician Examination Requirement

MBN 13, 17-19, 24

Tuner, Chad, Robert. F. Tamura, Sean E. Mulholland, Scott L. Baier. 2007. "Education and Income of the States of the United States: 1840-2000," 2007. Journal of Economic Growth, 12:2, 101-158.

Other works, Read at least one (more if you have some free time):

Medoff, Marshall. 1999. "Allocation of Time and Hateful Behavior: A Theoretical Analysis of Hate and Hate Crimes." American Journal of Economics and Sociology 58: 959-973.

Gale, Lewis R., Will C. Heath, and Rand W. Ressler. 2002. "An Economic Analysis of Hate Crime." Eastern Economic Journal 28: 203-15.

A Comparative Look at Private and Public Schools’ Class Size Determinants,” (2010). Education Economics, 18:4, 435-454. (with Angela K. Dills)

The Faculty Flutie Factor: Does Athletic Performance Affect a University’s US News and World Report Peer Assessment Score?” (with Aleksandar (Sasha) Tomic and Samuel N. Sholander)

Mulholland, Sean. 2011. "Hate Source: White Supremacist Hate Groups and Hate Crime" Working Paper.

Mulholland, Sean. 2010. Hate Fuel: On the Relationship Between Local Government Policy and Hate Group Activity. Eastern Economic Journal, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 480-499.

Iannaccone, Laurence R. 1992. "Sacrifice and Stigma: Reducing Free-riding in Cults, Communes, and Other Collectives," Journal of Political Economy, 100(2), 271-291.

Ryan, Matt E., and Peter T. Leeson. 2010. "Hate Groups and Hate Crimes". Working Paper.

Sobel, Russell S. and Brian J. Osoba. 2009. "Youth Gangs as Pseudo-Governments: Implications for Violent Crime," Southern Economic Journal 75:4, pp. 996-1018.

McLaughlin, Patrick A., Ignoring Implementation Costs of the Clean Air Act: A Costly Mistake (Novermber 10, 2010)

Jason Johnston

Cool it

Physics for Future Presidents Excerpt

If you have a little extra time you could also read this book review

The Impact of a Professional Sports Franchise on County Employment and Wages. John Jasina and Kurt W Rotthoff International Journal of Sport Finance November 2008. Vol. 3, Issue 4, pp 210-227

Glaeser and Shleifer (2003) The Rise of the Regulatory State

McChesney (1987) Rent Extraction and Rent Creation in the Economic Theory of Regulation

Timothy J. Muris Rules Without Reason: The Case of the FTC Regulation, Vol.6 (Sept.-Oct. 1982)

Does Federal Financial Aid Affect College Enrollment?

This is a 'green job'

Richard Muller Naked Copenhagen

Retrofit buildings more eco-friendly than 'green' construction

Can Hunting Endangered Animal Save the Species?

James Hansen on TED

Global Warming in Pictures

Cheer Up! Matt Ridley's book, interview by John Dyson

Education (Guest: Angela K. Dills) Sean, also here

A letter to Students

Milton Friedman (1962) The Role of Government in Education Chapter 6 in Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 85-107.

Jeff Miron (2001) The Case Against Public Colleges and Universities. The Milken Institute Review, Spring 2001.

The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement Erik A. Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann
    (This is a long, but good, one)

MBN 14 - 19

Rey:

 

Government Policy and Tuition in Higher Education

Merit-Based Scholarships and Student Effort

The Net-Price Myth

 

Efficiency and Externalities

Weighing Benefits and Costs of Unemployment Insurance

Milligan, Moretti, and Oreopoulos Does Education Improve Citizenship? Evidence from the U.S. and the U.K. 

Saudis seek Payment

MBN 25

Government Spending is no Free Lunch

Clunkers Math

Externalities

Hernendez-Julian, Mansour, and Peters (working paper) The Effects of Intrauterine Malnutrition on Birth and Fertility Outcomes


Property Rights and Liberty (Guest: Jim Otteson)

Bailouts on EconTalk

The Use of Knowledge in Society Frederich v. Hayek. American Economic Review,35  (4) 1945: 519-30 

David Hume A Treatise of Human Nature "Of the Origin of Justice and Property" (Part 2 Section 2 - only)

Adam Smith and the Great Mind Fallacy James R. Otteson Social Philosophy and Policy (2010), 27: 276-304

The Unintended Consequences of the Welfare State James R. Otteson

The Moral Case for Capitalism

Social Justice

If you have a little extra time you could also read: Adam Smith' Moral Theory (Parts 1 & 2) Read in "Adam Smith's Marketplace of Life" by a James R. Otteson (available with SHU's E-Book reader, through the library website)

 

Property Rights

Property Rights Armen A. Alchian. Liberty Fund. Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.

I, Pencil

Bootleggers and Baptists in Retrospect Bruce Yandle. Regulation. 18 (3) 1999:5-7

 

We the Living (Guest: Robert A Mayhew)

Book - I will give it to you in class.

Angela

Miron and Zwieble. 1995 The Economic Case against Drug Prohibition

Mark Thornton Alcohol Prohibition was a Failure

Dose of Reality: The Effect of State Marijuana Legalizations

Globalization of the U.S. Black Market: Prohibition, The War on Drugs, and the Case of Mexico

Three View's on America's Longest War

Miron Drug War Crimes

Friedman Drugs, Violence and Economics

Why Is the U.S. Prison Population So Large?

Randy Barnett on ‘the harms of drug prohibition’

Friedman Why Drugs Should Be Legalized

The Cost of the War on Drugs

3 Absurd Reasons for Banning Drugs 

 

 

 

Prices and Taxes                                                                                  .  . 

IDK

The Business of the Minimum Wage

EITC

The Laffer Curve

The Working Nation

Capital Income Tax

Burkhauser on EconTalk

Mankiw on Taxes

Boxers and Taxes

Going John Gault

William Bernstein on EconTalk

Mankiw on Taxes (again)

Romer and Romer The Macroeconomic Effects of Tax Changes: Estimates Based on a New Measure of Fiscal Shocks

Marginal Tax Rates, Work, and the Nation's Real Tax System C. Eugene Steuerle

Arthur Laffer on Marketplace

Tax Avoidance in Spain

The U.S. and a Flat Tax?

Casey Mulligan Podcast

The Culture of Dependency

Econ Chronicles

Taxes

The GOP Tax Bill

The State and Local Tax Deduction

Tax Deductions and Public Schools

How do we Tax the Income of Entrepreneurs?

 

Drugs (Guest: Dan Rees)                                                    .

Anderson, Hanson, and Rees

Anderson and Rees

Pacula et al.

Anderson and Rees Counterpoint

Kleinman

Nagourney and Lyman

Pacula and Sevigny

Asbridge, Hayden, and Cartwright

Sabet

Freidman

The Problem with Pot

 

Neil Barofsky on EconTalk

Steve Fazzari on EconTalk

Restoring Faith in Financial Markets John C. Bogle

 

 

 

Morality and Markets:

Michael Matheson on EconTalk

Timothy Taylor on EconTalk

 

 

 

 

Maybe: Ian Ayers on EconTalk, , Tyler Cowen on EconTalk

 

Markets, the Fed, and the Financial Crisis (with Danielle Zanzalari)                                                          .  .   

True Progressivism

Charles Calomiris on EconTalk

A Transaction Tax?

Why the Fed's Stimulus 'didn't work', interview with John Taylor 

Steven Kaplan on EconTalk

Prices

Financial Regulation

Bailouts and Regulation

Was the Bailout Needed?

Stress Testing

George Selgin on EconTalk *

 

Immigration (Guest: Peter Jaworski)

Are immigrants more likely to commit crimes?

A Libertarian Argument Against Open Borders

Aliens and Citizens: The Case for Open Borders

The Fallacy of Open Immigration

 

 

 

. Regulation (with Patrick McLaughlin)                                . . .

Regulation and Income Inequality

Stigler (1971) The Theory of Economic Regulation

Susan E. Dudley and Jerry Brito, Regulation: A Primer, pp. 1-10, 35-56, 89-104. 

Office of Management and Budget, Executive Order 12,866

Jerry Ellig and Patrick McLaughlin The Quality and Use of Regulatory Analysis in 2008

A Former Lobbyist Tells All 

 

Property Rights and Exam

If you are looking for something a little extra: Constitution of Liberty, Essays in Persuasion

An interview with Charles Koch

Something to Think About

 

Tax Policy

Optimal Taxation in Theory and Practice

Can the Graduated Income Tax Survive Optimal Tax Analysis?

A Review of Recent Research on Labor Supply Elasticities

On Corporate Taxes:

Corporate Expatration, Inveersions, and Mergers: Tax Issues

Strengthening the Indispensable U.S. Corproate Tax