Bryan Caplan: Difference between revisions
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[[File:BryanCaplan.jpg|thumb|180px|Bryan Caplan]] |
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'''Bryan Caplan''' is a professor of [[economics]] at [[George Mason University]] in [[Fairfax, Virginia]]. His professional work has been devoted to the philosophies of [[libertarianism]] and free-market [[capitalism]] and [[anarchism]]. He is a blogger at the EconLog blog along with [[Arnold Kling]], and occasionally has been a guest blogger at [[Marginal Revolution (blog)|Marginal Revolution]] with two of his colleagues at George Mason, [[Tyler Cowen]] and [[Alex Tabarrok]]. |
'''Bryan Caplan''' (born 1971) is a professor of [[economics]] at [[George Mason University]] in [[Fairfax, Virginia]]. He received his B.S. in economics from [[University of California, Berkeley]] and his Ph.D. from [[Princeton University]]. His professional work has been devoted to the philosophies of [[libertarianism]] and free-market [[capitalism]] and [[anarchism]]. He has been published in such journals as ''American Economic Review'', ''Public Choice'', and the ''Journal of Law and Economics''. He is a blogger at the EconLog blog along with [[Arnold Kling]], and occasionally has been a guest blogger at [[Marginal Revolution (blog)|Marginal Revolution]] with two of his colleagues at George Mason, [[Tyler Cowen]] and [[Alex Tabarrok]]. He is an [[adjunct professor|adjunct scholar]] of the [[Cato Institute]] in Washington, D.C. |
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Currently, his primary research interest is [[public economics]]. He has criticized the assumptions of [[Rationality|rational]] voters that form the basis of [[public choice]] theory, but generally agrees with their conclusions based on his own model of "rational irrationality."{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} Caplan has long disputed the efficacy of popular voter models, in a series of exchanges with [[Donald Wittman]] published by the Econ Journal Watch. Caplan outlined several major objections to popular political science and the economics sub-discipline public choice.<ref>http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/CaplanCommentApril2005.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/WittmanReplyApril2005.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/CaplanRejoinderAugust2005.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/Wittman2ndReplyAugust2005.pdf</ref> Caplan later expanded upon this theme in his book ''[[The Myth of the Rational Voter|The Myth of Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies]]'',<ref>Bryan Caplan, ''[[The Myth of the Rational Voter|The Myth of Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies]]'' (Princeton University Press, 2007)</ref> in which he responded to the arguments put forward by Wittman in his ''The Myth of Democratic Failure''. |
Currently, his primary research interest is [[public economics]]. He has criticized the assumptions of [[Rationality|rational]] voters that form the basis of [[public choice]] theory, but generally agrees with their conclusions based on his own model of "rational irrationality."{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} Caplan has long disputed the efficacy of popular voter models, in a series of exchanges with [[Donald Wittman]] published by the Econ Journal Watch. Caplan outlined several major objections to popular political science and the economics sub-discipline public choice.<ref>http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/CaplanCommentApril2005.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/WittmanReplyApril2005.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/CaplanRejoinderAugust2005.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/Wittman2ndReplyAugust2005.pdf</ref> Caplan later expanded upon this theme in his book ''[[The Myth of the Rational Voter|The Myth of Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies]]'',<ref>Bryan Caplan, ''[[The Myth of the Rational Voter|The Myth of Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies]]'' (Princeton University Press, 2007)</ref> in which he responded to the arguments put forward by Wittman in his ''The Myth of Democratic Failure''. |
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He maintains a website that includes a "Museum of Communism" section, that "provides historical, economic, and philosophical analysis of the political movement known as Communism", to draw attention to human rights violations of which, despite often exceeding those of [[Nazi Germany]]{{Citation needed|reason=We need a reliable citation that human rights violations of the "political movement known as Communism" exceeded that of Nazi Germany, or the line should go|date=September 2010}}, there is little public knowledge.<ref>http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/musframe.htm</ref> |
He maintains a website that includes a "Museum of Communism" section, that "provides historical, economic, and philosophical analysis of the political movement known as Communism", to draw attention to human rights violations of which, despite often exceeding those of [[Nazi Germany]]{{Citation needed|reason=We need a reliable citation that human rights violations of the "political movement known as Communism" exceeded that of Nazi Germany, or the line should go|date=September 2010}}, there is little public knowledge.<ref>http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/musframe.htm</ref> Caplan has also written an online [[graphic novel]] called ''Amore Infernale''.<ref>[http://www.bcaplan.com/ai.pdf]</ref><ref>[http://campusprogress.org/rws/1909/revenge-of-the-nerd-bryan-caplan]</ref> |
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He wrote an essay entitled "Columbus: The Far Left is Dead Right", referencing how his agreement with the far-left on [[Christopher Columbus]] was unusual. Caplan decried some of Columbus's defenders for engaging in cultural relativism to defend his policies of mass enslavement.<ref>http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2006/10/columbus_the_fa.html</ref> |
He wrote an essay entitled "Columbus: The Far Left is Dead Right", referencing how his agreement with the far-left on [[Christopher Columbus]] was unusual. Caplan decried some of Columbus's defenders for engaging in cultural relativism to defend his policies of mass enslavement.<ref>http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2006/10/columbus_the_fa.html</ref> |
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==Quotations== |
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{{Cquote2|Through the lens of the Jock/Nerd Theory of History, the welfare state doesn’t look like a serious effort to "equalize outcomes." It looks more like a serious effort to block the "revenge of the nerds"—to keep them from using their financial success to unseat the jocks on every dimension of social status.|Bryan Caplan [http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2007/06/redistribution_1.html]}} |
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{{Cquote2|In a modern democracy, not only can a libertarian be elitist; a libertarian has to be elitist. To be a libertarian in a modern democracy is to say that nearly 300 million Americans are wrong, and a handful of nay-sayers are right.|Bryan Caplan [http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2006/11/elitism_or_popu.html]}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
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*[http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/anarfaq.htm Anarchist Theory FAQ] |
*[http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/anarfaq.htm Anarchist Theory FAQ] |
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*[http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2010/07/the_libertarian_2.html Why conservatives should be libertarians] |
*[http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2010/07/the_libertarian_2.html Why conservatives should be libertarians] |
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*[http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/autobio.htm ''Intellectual Autobiography of Bryan Caplan''] by Bryan Caplan |
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*[http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/whyaust.htm Why I am not an Austrian economist] |
*[http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/whyaust.htm Why I am not an Austrian economist] |
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*[http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/06/caplan_on_the_m.html Caplan on voting] Caplan discusses his book on [[EconTalk]] |
*[http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/06/caplan_on_the_m.html Caplan on voting] Caplan discusses his book on [[EconTalk]] |
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Revision as of 14:32, 2 February 2011
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Bryan Caplan (born 1971) is a professor of economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He received his B.S. in economics from University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. from Princeton University. His professional work has been devoted to the philosophies of libertarianism and free-market capitalism and anarchism. He has been published in such journals as American Economic Review, Public Choice, and the Journal of Law and Economics. He is a blogger at the EconLog blog along with Arnold Kling, and occasionally has been a guest blogger at Marginal Revolution with two of his colleagues at George Mason, Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok. He is an adjunct scholar of the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.
Currently, his primary research interest is public economics. He has criticized the assumptions of rational voters that form the basis of public choice theory, but generally agrees with their conclusions based on his own model of "rational irrationality."[citation needed] Caplan has long disputed the efficacy of popular voter models, in a series of exchanges with Donald Wittman published by the Econ Journal Watch. Caplan outlined several major objections to popular political science and the economics sub-discipline public choice.[1][2][3][4] Caplan later expanded upon this theme in his book The Myth of Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies,[5] in which he responded to the arguments put forward by Wittman in his The Myth of Democratic Failure.
He maintains a website that includes a "Museum of Communism" section, that "provides historical, economic, and philosophical analysis of the political movement known as Communism", to draw attention to human rights violations of which, despite often exceeding those of Nazi Germany[citation needed], there is little public knowledge.[6] Caplan has also written an online graphic novel called Amore Infernale.[7][8]
He wrote an essay entitled "Columbus: The Far Left is Dead Right", referencing how his agreement with the far-left on Christopher Columbus was unusual. Caplan decried some of Columbus's defenders for engaging in cultural relativism to defend his policies of mass enslavement.[9]
Quotations
Through the lens of the Jock/Nerd Theory of History, the welfare state doesn’t look like a serious effort to "equalize outcomes." It looks more like a serious effort to block the "revenge of the nerds"—to keep them from using their financial success to unseat the jocks on every dimension of social status.
— Bryan Caplan [3]
In a modern democracy, not only can a libertarian be elitist; a libertarian has to be elitist. To be a libertarian in a modern democracy is to say that nearly 300 million Americans are wrong, and a handful of nay-sayers are right.
— Bryan Caplan [4]
References
- ^ http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/CaplanCommentApril2005.pdf
- ^ http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/WittmanReplyApril2005.pdf
- ^ http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/CaplanRejoinderAugust2005.pdf
- ^ http://www.econjournalwatch.org/pdf/Wittman2ndReplyAugust2005.pdf
- ^ Bryan Caplan, The Myth of Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies (Princeton University Press, 2007)
- ^ http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/musframe.htm
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2006/10/columbus_the_fa.html
External links
- Bryan Caplan's Website
- The EconLog blog
- "The Myth of the Rational Voter" (essay)
- Anarchist Theory FAQ
- Why conservatives should be libertarians
- Intellectual Autobiography of Bryan Caplan by Bryan Caplan
- Why I am not an Austrian economist
- Caplan on voting Caplan discusses his book on EconTalk
- Caplan on labor markets Caplan discusses labor markets on EconTalk
- Caplan on voter ignorance on NPR Caplan discusses voter ignorance on NPR
- Video of interview/discussion with Caplan by Will Wilkinson on Bloggingheads.tv
- Wikipedia neutral point of view disputes from September 2010
- 1971 births
- American atheists
- American economists
- American libertarians
- Anarchist academics
- Anarcho-capitalists
- George Mason University faculty
- Historians of anarchism
- Libertarian economists
- Libertarian theorists
- Living people
- Princeton University alumni
- University of California, Berkeley alumni