I am very sad to learn that Andrew Coulson has died.
My colleague Chris Coyne analyses the lobotomized brain of a defense hawk. Here’s the abstract:
Economists model national defense as a pure public good optimally provided by a benevolent and omnipotent “defense brain” to maximize social welfare. I critically consider five assumptions associated with this view: (1) that defense and security is a pure public good that must be provided by a national government, (2) that state-provided defense is always a “good” and never a “bad”, (3) that the state can provide defense in the optimal quantity and quality, (4) that state expenditures on defense are neutral with respect to private economic activity, and (5) that state-provided defense activities are neutral with respect to domestic political institutions. I discuss an alternative framework—the “individualistic view”—for analyzing defense provision and suggest it is superior for understanding reality.
On a related note, David Henderson and Chad Seagren call for an end to all draft registration.
Do high-income Americans really not pay ‘their fair share’ of taxes?
Tyler Cowen’s next Conversation is with Nate Silver.
