Tyler Cowen points us to a paper that casts doubt on protectionists’ frequent assertion that America’s impressive economic growth during the 19th century was the result of high tariffs. (Indeed, as did Cecil Bohanon and T. Norman Van Cott, the finding of the author that Tyler points us to is that “the large increase in labour force is the single most important factor behind the development of the U.S. economy.”)
Pete Boettke offers this quotation from Jim Buchanan on the scientific role of the economist.
Richard Ebeling writes about Adam Ferguson.
William O’Keefe rightly calls for an end to Uncle Sam’s cronyist ethanol mandate.
Ed Krayewski warns against the hagiography now pouring forth following the death of the ruthless and calamitous Fidel Castro. (HT Hans Bader)
And David Henderson points us to Cuban native George Borjas’s remembrance of Castro.
Tim Worstall gets Castro right. A slice:
It is polite, human and common to withhold criticism of the dead in the immediate aftermath of their demise. But leaving 11 million people grossly poorer than they ought to be in the name of a bankrupt ideology is not the stuff of which hagiographic obituaries are made.
Jeff Tucker also gets Castro right. A slice:
Very soon after Castro took power, however, he celebrated the public execution of political rivals, confiscated private lands, proclaimed his attachment to Marxism-Leninism, and a solidified totalitarian rule that would last half a century. The result was not the democracy and freedom that people wanted but an incredible nightmare for a struggling country.
