19 ms·

He can be very visible because the Mercatus center is funded the Koch empire which invests in a huge network of strongly right wing policy. IMHO following too f

by dv_dt 8y ago

He can be very visible because the Mercatus center is funded the Koch empire which invests in a huge network of strongly right wing policy. IMHO following too far along the thinking of a lot of the Koch supported flavors of libertarian groups leaves society at large unable to respond to unbalanced, unchecked corporate power. https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mercatus_Center https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mercatus_Center BTW due to recent relaxation of IRS disclosure requirements, we will be increasingly blind to this kind of funded sentiment generation from very moneyed interests.

davidw 8y ago
If people want to write libertarian stuff, I can choose to read it, or not, or disagree with it - like Tabarrok. Cowen, OTOH, seems to relish the contrarianism a lot. For example, a hot issue right now is housing, and the deleterious effects of local government regulations (zoning) are something that many on both left and right agree on. But on more than one occasion, Cowen seems to take some other tack that maybe all that regulation is good, somehow. It's like he's just going against the grain in order to be seen as a 'thinker' or something. I can't quite put my finger on it. He's a bright guy, and I've bought and enjoyed some of his books, and I used to read the blog, but I've started skipping it lately.
- dv_dt 8y ago
  You can consider his intellectual contributions as if it were an independent sample of ideas, but I think of Cowan, and the Mercatus center more like giant corporate PR centers. There is basically massive funding making the ideas of Koch seem reasonable and commonplace. This by both repetition from seeming independent sources as well as control of academic sources of information. There isn't nearly the kind of vast funding, and certainty not focused as the Koch funding is to generate ideas and support for more social constructs and support of ideas in the direction of maybe the market really shouldn't determine everything - or at least markets where there is massive asymmetry between participants.
  - drcode 8y ago
    I agree that disentangling personal financial incentives in the intellectual space of ideas is probably the largest challenge of our generation- I certainly don't have any good answers for how we can prevent PR efforts from shaping our personal opinions. That said, there are lots of good insights to be had by studying economists with a libertarian bent, and I frankly have a hard time finding any economic writing based on a different economic tradition that is very compelling - Some of the writing of Jaron Lanier is pretty good, but he's not an economist. (I guess lots of folks like Thomas Piketty, but I have a hard time personally getting much insight out of his work, for whatever reason.)
    - davidw 8y ago
      > there are lots of good insights to be had by studying economists with a libertarian bent I actually get a lot of insight when economists go against their political 'tribe'. Paul Krugman on cheap labor, for instance: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/1997/03/in_praise_of_cheap_labor.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/19... Or Greg Mankiw writing in favor of a carbon tax. That's not to say they're wrong when, say, the libertarian economist argues against some regulation, or someone like Krugman argues for it, just that it's more 'the usual'.
  - icebraining 8y ago
    Can you provide some examples of what you consider to be Cowen pushing the ideas of the Koch brothers?
    - frgtpsswrdlame 8y ago
      What would count as proof to you?
      - icebraining 8y ago
        I didn't write proof...?
    - 8y ago
jeffreyrogers 8y ago
Can you point to a policy advocated by organizations funded by the Koch family that would increase corporate power?
- dv_dt 8y ago
  There is too much for a simple list. But the basics are wide spread anti-regulation and anti-union funding via academic, legislative, and judicial directions. https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Legislative_E... Analysis: Koch brothers a force in anti-union effort https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wisconsin-koch-idUSTRE71P28W20110226 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wisconsin-koch-idUSTR... Who's Behind Friedrichs? http://prospect.org/article/whos-behind-friedrichs http://prospect.org/article/whos-behind-friedrichs
  - CryptoPunk 8y ago
    Anti-union is not always pro-corporation. The most powerful unions are in the public sector now. And anti-regulations is by no meams pro-corporation. Many large corporations derive wealth from regulations and other forms of government intervention (e.g. a central bank designating large banks as primary dealers, and all of the other interventions that make that a valuable position).
    - dv_dt 8y ago
      While I agree with you that exceptions exist in both of those cases, I also believe that in the vast majority of the time anti-union and anti-regulation is pro-corporation - in particular when you look at Koch Industries predominantly natural resource extraction activities.
      - CryptoPunk 8y ago
        With respect to natural resource extraction and producing globally traded commodities, yes I think corporations generally benefit from fewer regulations, but much of the economy doesn't operate like these industries. Regulations generally limit competition to regulated firms, and increase economies of scale advantages, by imposing fixed costs like lobbying and regulatory compliance.

by dv_dt 8y ago

davidw 8y ago

If people want to write libertarian stuff, I can choose to read it, or not, or disagree with it - like Tabarrok. Cowen, OTOH, seems to relish the contrarianism a lot. For example, a hot issue right now is housing, and the deleterious effects of local government regulations (zoning) are something that many on both left and right agree on. But on more than one occasion, Cowen seems to take some other tack that maybe all that regulation is good, somehow. It's like he's just going against the grain in order to be seen as a 'thinker' or something. I can't quite put my finger on it. He's a bright guy, and I've bought and enjoyed some of his books, and I used to read the blog, but I've started skipping it lately.

dv_dt 8y ago
You can consider his intellectual contributions as if it were an independent sample of ideas, but I think of Cowan, and the Mercatus center more like giant corporate PR centers. There is basically massive funding making the ideas of Koch seem reasonable and commonplace. This by both repetition from seeming independent sources as well as control of academic sources of information. There isn't nearly the kind of vast funding, and certainty not focused as the Koch funding is to generate ideas and support for more social constructs and support of ideas in the direction of maybe the market really shouldn't determine everything - or at least markets where there is massive asymmetry between participants.
- drcode 8y ago
  I agree that disentangling personal financial incentives in the intellectual space of ideas is probably the largest challenge of our generation- I certainly don't have any good answers for how we can prevent PR efforts from shaping our personal opinions. That said, there are lots of good insights to be had by studying economists with a libertarian bent, and I frankly have a hard time finding any economic writing based on a different economic tradition that is very compelling - Some of the writing of Jaron Lanier is pretty good, but he's not an economist. (I guess lots of folks like Thomas Piketty, but I have a hard time personally getting much insight out of his work, for whatever reason.)
  - davidw 8y ago
    > there are lots of good insights to be had by studying economists with a libertarian bent I actually get a lot of insight when economists go against their political 'tribe'. Paul Krugman on cheap labor, for instance: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/1997/03/in_praise_of_cheap_labor.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/19... Or Greg Mankiw writing in favor of a carbon tax. That's not to say they're wrong when, say, the libertarian economist argues against some regulation, or someone like Krugman argues for it, just that it's more 'the usual'.
- icebraining 8y ago
  Can you provide some examples of what you consider to be Cowen pushing the ideas of the Koch brothers?
  - frgtpsswrdlame 8y ago
    What would count as proof to you?
    - icebraining 8y ago
      I didn't write proof...?
  - 8y ago

jeffreyrogers 8y ago

Can you point to a policy advocated by organizations funded by the Koch family that would increase corporate power?

dv_dt 8y ago
There is too much for a simple list. But the basics are wide spread anti-regulation and anti-union funding via academic, legislative, and judicial directions. https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Legislative_E... Analysis: Koch brothers a force in anti-union effort https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wisconsin-koch-idUSTRE71P28W20110226 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wisconsin-koch-idUSTR... Who's Behind Friedrichs? http://prospect.org/article/whos-behind-friedrichs http://prospect.org/article/whos-behind-friedrichs
- CryptoPunk 8y ago
  Anti-union is not always pro-corporation. The most powerful unions are in the public sector now. And anti-regulations is by no meams pro-corporation. Many large corporations derive wealth from regulations and other forms of government intervention (e.g. a central bank designating large banks as primary dealers, and all of the other interventions that make that a valuable position).
  - dv_dt 8y ago
    While I agree with you that exceptions exist in both of those cases, I also believe that in the vast majority of the time anti-union and anti-regulation is pro-corporation - in particular when you look at Koch Industries predominantly natural resource extraction activities.
    - CryptoPunk 8y ago
      With respect to natural resource extraction and producing globally traded commodities, yes I think corporations generally benefit from fewer regulations, but much of the economy doesn't operate like these industries. Regulations generally limit competition to regulated firms, and increase economies of scale advantages, by imposing fixed costs like lobbying and regulatory compliance.