Samuelson on socialism
25 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, Marxist economics Tags: East Germany, West Germany, economics of central planning
World’s Best Tweet about Communism and Capitalism
25 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, economics of bureaucracy, growth disasters, history of economic thought, liberalism, Marxist economics, Public Choice Tags: capitalism and freedom, capitalism and socialism, economics of central planning
I shared a very clever tweet back in 2018 that highlighted the huge gap between “almost capitalism” and “almost socialism.” That column was entitled the “World’s Best Tweet about Socialism and Capitalism.” And capitalism won the comparison (needless to say). Let’s do the same thing today, but we’ll replace socialism with communism. And our “Best […]
World’s Best Tweet about Communism and Capitalism
Socialism Is an Economic Cancer
26 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, Marxist economics Tags: economics of central planning
Building on my four-part series (here, here, here, and here) explaining the case against socialism and my five-part series (here, here, here, here, and here) on socialism in the modern world, today’s column will look at the economic argument against that statist ideology. Practically speaking, this seems unnecessary. After all, we can simply look at […]
Socialism Is an Economic Cancer
The Ultimate Knowledge Problem
20 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in Austrian economics, F.A. Hayek Tags: economics of central planning
TweetOver at EconLog, Kevin Corcoran has an excellent post refuting a naive-person’s assertion that central planners can acquire all the knowledge they need to successfully ‘plan’ an economy simply by asking people, questionnaire-style, what they want. But there’s an additional point to be made in response to this naive-person’s assertion. The additional point is this:…
The Ultimate Knowledge Problem
Is @BernieSanders right? Is there a difference between socialism and communism?
24 Apr 2020 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, growth disasters, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, Marxist economics, privatisation, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: economics of central planning, fall of communism, regressive left, The fatal conceit
when four millennials traveled to Cuba recently to investigate socialism
08 Feb 2020 Leave a comment
in Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, industrial organisation, labour economics, law and economics, macroeconomics, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, theory of the firm Tags: Cuba, economics of central planning, fall of communism
When Marxists are mugged by reality
29 Sep 2019 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, economics of regulation, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, law and economics, managerial economics, market efficiency, Marxist economics, organisational economics, personnel economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: economics of central planning, fall of communism, The fatal conceit
The man who could not believe Marks & Spencer was open to the public
17 Apr 2019 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of bureaucracy, Marxist economics, Public Choice Tags: economics of central planning, fall of communism
Central planning on steroids
13 Nov 2018 Leave a comment
in economics of education, human capital, labour economics, Marxist economics, occupational choice Tags: China, economics of central planning, The fatal conceit, The pretence to knowledge
Bruce Caldwell – The Road to Serfdom
07 Aug 2018 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, F.A. Hayek, history of economic thought, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice Tags: economics of central planning
How Don Lavoie Changed the Debate about Socialism and Central Planning
12 May 2018 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, industrial organisation, Marxist economics, property rights Tags: economics of central planning
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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