Great Quote from Sowell

Thomas Sowell thinks those who claim they want social justice really want "cosmic" justice - trying to correct for something from the cosmos.  Here's a great quote, from his book "The Quest for Cosmic Justice" (p 43):

"The only clear-cut winners in the quest for cosmic justice are those who believe in the vision it projects - a vision in which those believers are so morally and/or intellectually superior to others that their own relentless pursuit of this vision is seen as all that offers some modicum of hope to those who would otherwise be victims of the lesser people who make up the rest of society.  It is a very self-flattering vision-and hence not one easily given up."

If you haven't read "The Quest for Cosmic Justice", I highly recommend it.

One-hour radio appearance on Wednesday

I'll be joining the "On the Mark" show on WKOK radio from 9:00-10:00 AM Eastern time on Wednesday.  

I've been on the show several times, and have always enjoyed it.  They have advertised it as "Then at 9am: Susquehanna University Economics Professor Matt Rousu, on ‘Right to Work’ laws, the economic impact of new gun restrictions, and economic diversity."  For the last point, I told them I would mention my thoughts on a few law changes in honor of MLK Day.  These won't be the standard recommendations you hear ... but I think they're the right ones!

You can listen live here.

Union related writings in PA

One from Nathan Benefield the Commonwealth Foundation.

One op-ed by Jerry Shenk that was recently published in the Patriot News.  One part I really liked:
"Similarly, the legislature should require unions to face their constituent members every two years, to prove their value to the workers whose dues Pennsylvania currently confiscates on the unions’ behalf, and, using secret ballots, guarantee workers the freedom to re-certify their bargaining units – or to decertify them without lengthy, expensive court challenges."

Also, I was recently pointed to this website, which has collections of articles on right-to-work and other timely topics.  

A New Semester Begins ...

Technically, the new semester began yesterday.  However, since I'm on a Tuesday/Thursday teaching schedule this term, it starts for me today.  

I always get excited for a new semester.  I'm lucky to have a job I love and I love the classes I get to teach.  This semester I teach principles of microeconomics and political economic thought.  Both are fun in different ways.  The principles class is where many students will find out that economic reasoning can be used to explain many different phenomena in our world.  Principles of microeconomics was the first class where everything "clicked" for me.  I couldn't believe there were analytical tools that explained the world so well.  The political economic thought course is fun as it is restricted to upper-level students and we are reading economic analysis from many intelligent economists from the left and right.  Further, after all the bitter political talk you see in the news, it's nice to see a class where students are debating with civility. 

I demand a lot from my students - more than many professors, in my opinion.  At the start of every semester, I always think of the song "Whipped Into Shape" from Legally Blonde the Musical and what I expect from my students.  The goal is to help them think better, but it won't always be easy ...  

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Environmentalist converts and now supports GM foods

This is about a week old, but as I was on vacation, I'm just finding it now as I was looking through Jayson Lusk's blog.  A former fierce opponent of GM foods is now a supporter.  This is a good read.

If/when I am loudly supporting one side of an issue but later determine I was wrong, I hope I have the courage to be so open in admitting I was making a mistake.

The comments are stunning, yet unfortunately predictable (death threats, illogical arguments, etc.).

Great Speaker Coming to Susquehanna ...

Timothy Sandefur will be giving a lecture (tentatively) titled “The Right to Earn a Living” on Wednesday, April 17^th.  His speech is sponsored by the Arlin M. Adams Center.

Timothy Sandefur is a Principal Attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation in Sacramento, CA. As the lead attorney in the Foundation’s Economic Liberty Project, he has undertaken several projects designed to limit government regulation. He also has worked to prevent the expansion of eminent domain laws, having litigated important eminent domain cases in California, Missouri, and elsewhere, and having filed briefs in many significant eminent domain cases, including Kelo v. New London.

Sandefur is the author of two books, Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st Century America and The Right to Earn A Living: Economic Freedom And The Law, as well as some 40 scholarly articles on subjects ranging from eminent domain and economic liberty to copyright, evolution and creationism, and the legal issues of slavery and the Civil War. His articles have appeared in Liberty, National Review Online, The Claremont Review of Books, Forbes Online, The San Francisco Chronicle, Regulation, and The Washington Times, among other places. He is an adjunct professor of law at the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. In February, 2006, he became one of the youngest attorneys ever featured on the cover of California Lawyer magazine. He is a frequent guest on radio and television programs, including The Armstrong and Getty Show, the Jim Lehrer News Hour, and NPR’s This American Life.  Sandefur is a graduate of Chapman University School of Law and Hillsdale College.

If you have questions, please contact Matthew Rousu at rousu@susqu.edu. 

Back from Disney World

Our family just returned from a trip to Walt Disney World.  I tried to avoid reading articles about politicians, and instead had visits with Mickey, Goofy, and the rest of the characters.  (Insert joke here ...)

Our kids love Disney World, and my wife and I have fun too, which is why we've gone a few times and will go back.  The rides are fun, but the entire atmosphere is amazing.  In econ-speak, I get large amounts of consumer surplus from my visits to Disney World.

It was a great trip.  Some links:

Touring Plans uses queueing theory to figure out the best way to tour the parks to minimize waiting times.  I use it to minimize the time we spend waiting in lines for rides/attractions, but as an academic I love this product.  Operations researchers determine the average length of the lines at all points of the day for each ride, then determine a plan that will minimize the time you spend in line for the list of rides you want.  I strongly recommend using their services if you plan a trip to Walt Disney World.

Here are articles on Disney by the Economist.

Finally ... the video below was from the trip.  This is Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.  His character is cocky, arrogant, etc.  The person playing Gaston here did a great job and had us all laughing.