tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60714252011-07-30T13:35:40.623-06:00How can we live together in peace, prosperity, and harmony, while retaining our liberties as autonomous individuals who can, and must, create our own values? -- <i>J.M. Buchanan</i>Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.comBlogger551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-60096305120326928692010-05-05T19:39:00.006-06:002010-05-05T19:56:04.765-06:00

In 1940, Frank Knight wrote a response to Mortimer Adler's "God and the Professors" (in which Adler charged that secular professors were more of a threat to America than the Nazis) that appeared in a special issue (Nov. 14) of the Daily Maroon - the University of Chicago's student newspaper. The image below is the text of the article run through the "tag" cloud generated Tagxedo (tagxedo.com).

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-85790382695457133052008-04-12T07:13:00.002-06:002008-04-12T07:14:09.198-06:00

See story about the Inventors Day that students in my "Michigan Futures in the Global Economy" applied public policy seminar ran on April 11, 2008 at Michigan State University.

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-14268232998028515602008-02-07T09:01:00.000-07:002008-02-07T09:06:41.046-07:00

A great two-part lecture on basic concepts in social economic organization, reminiscent of Knight's The Economic Organization, but incorporating concepts of complexity, institutions, and spontaneous order. "Complex orders arise from simple rules."Part I Part II

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-76406147720331104282007-12-06T14:48:00.000-07:002007-12-06T14:52:18.101-07:00

Igor Vojnovic has provided an extended response to my criticism of his article:"Battling the rhetoric that broke Michigan’s competitive advantage: A response to Ross Emmett"

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-47923044206512819062007-11-18T09:52:00.000-07:002007-11-18T10:06:13.098-07:00

The headline caught my attention: “MSU researcher says high taxes can spur growth.”The source—MSU’s bulletin of events and news—went on to say that the researcher found that “cities with high taxes and spending on public infrastructure and welfare … tend to experience more commercial growth.” On its own, such a statement might be simply a statement of the fact that vibrant cities will see both

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-59774873141943992242007-09-19T07:49:00.000-06:002007-09-19T09:02:48.478-06:00

Second session of "Revisiting the Chicago School," Notre Dame, September 14-15, 2007.The first presentation in this session was by Beatrice Cherrier. Her doctoral research involves a comparison of the ways in which Milton Friedman, Gunnar Myrdal and Jacob Marschak understood the relationship between their scientific work as economists and their involvement in political advocacy. Claims by

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-81607563001305249962007-09-17T17:44:00.000-06:002007-09-17T18:11:33.312-06:00

I promised yesterday to begin posting blogs on the sessions of the "Revisiting the Chicago School [of Economics]" Conference held this past weekend at Notre Dame. I also encouraged other participants to post responses and/or additional comments. I hope they will!The first session of the “Revisiting the Chicago School" was devoted to a discussion of Johan Van Overtveldt’s new book The Chicago

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-6346431880077671582007-09-16T19:58:00.000-06:002007-09-16T20:44:27.067-06:00

On September 14 and 15, I attended the "Revisiting the Chicago School of Economics" conference, sponsored by Phil Mirowski at the University of Notre Dame. The conference website holds a schedule, the list of participants, and abstracts of the papers.The conference gathered a varied group of historians of economics, economic historians, economists, sociologists, historians, and philosophers

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-76805704477514534092007-09-16T07:08:00.000-06:002007-09-16T18:35:17.305-06:00

Craig Torres from Bloomberg.com called me the other day to talk about Knightian uncertainty and Federal Reserve policymaking. He included some of my comments in his article.The point of the article was that Fed Chair Ben Bernacke was taking a different line than former Chair Alan Greenspan. Greenspan tended to use changes in interest rates as a kind of insurance: cut rates when your instincts

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-2082340774044513202007-08-17T14:44:00.001-06:002007-08-17T14:49:26.064-06:00

MSU Today carried a story yesterday (August 17th) indicating that the annual U.S. News & World Report survey of universities mentioned MSU's three residential colleges--first among which is James Madison College--as "stellar examples" of programs linked to student success. The link I've provided goes to the MSU Today story.

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-37943144876039483012007-08-09T12:41:00.000-06:002007-08-09T12:59:05.245-06:00

Back to health care, obviously!David Leonhardt has a good article in today's New York Times, giving an economist's perspective on the cost of preventive care. The campaign rhetoric we hear every day is becoming increasingly strident: we will save money if we prevent future health problems. Problem is: preventive care is costly. For me, it's the time I take to ride as much as 100 miles a week, or

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-27437084209348621962007-08-06T09:04:00.000-06:002007-08-06T09:14:28.697-06:00

The following appeared Sunday, 5 August 2007 in the Lansing State Journal:Michigan’s future hinges on the decisions we make in the next few months regarding … trade. What, you were expecting me to say union contract negotiations?As important as those, and a variety of other issues are, the possibilities of punitive tariff threats against China by the US Congress tops my list. That’s why I

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-37999022439871039592007-08-01T22:32:00.000-06:002007-08-01T23:08:04.610-06:00

Max Sawicky (MaxSpeak! see also Brad DeLong's website) has objected to a claim included with the Club for Growth petition that I posted earlier and acknowledged having signed. Two comments regarding Max’s objection:a. The original form of the petition which I received made no reference to the link that theWSJ ad drew between the current petition to stop punitive protectionist tariffs against

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-90457415837563735802007-08-01T13:48:00.001-06:002007-08-01T13:59:07.407-06:00

Over 1,000 economists put their names to the following petition. A full-page ad ran in today's Wall Street Journal, along with an editorial by Pat Toomey, the president of the Club for Growth (sponsors of the petition). I am one of the signatories. The actual number of signatories was 1,028: the same number that signed a petition asking Hoover to veto the Smoot-Hawley tariff in 1930.We, the

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-88080117953473746322007-07-31T04:36:00.001-06:002007-07-31T04:38:11.674-06:00

Doctors say private health care could co-exist with public health care in Canada, and that it would strengthen the system.Article is from the Globe & Mail.

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-39398854407364399652007-07-05T22:26:00.000-06:002007-07-05T22:37:25.977-06:00

I’ve always enjoyed Michael Moore’s irreverent style and his humor. Canadian Bacon remains one of my favorite films, despite the fact it drags on too long, because of its witty satire and willingness to poke fun at both Americans and Canadians. But I expected to have problems with Sicko, because I don’t share Moore’s view of the private enterprise system, and I knew from earlier reviews that he

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-11079191160316376722007-05-06T19:59:00.000-06:002007-05-06T20:06:51.476-06:00

Peter Klein makes the following reference to my new paper on Knight and the Chicago School. My paper can be accessed at SSRN: Did the Chicago School Reject Frank Knight?Frank Knight is generally regarded, along with Jacob Viner, as the founder of the Chicago school of economics. But Knight’s relationship to the later Chicago school of Friedman, Stigler, and Director is ambiguous. Knight’s

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-85680289040345635822007-03-26T05:40:00.000-06:002007-03-26T05:43:05.709-06:00

From the Blog: 3E IntelligenceProfessor Ross B. Emmett of Michigan State University has written an excellent essay on the population theories of Thomas Robert Malthus. “Malthus did not believe in a population apocalypse, as many of his followers today believe” is the thesis of Mr Emmett, who even tries to reconcile Malthus with natural resource optimist Julian Simon’s ideas.

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-65775806937732987012007-03-18T08:36:00.000-06:002007-03-18T08:44:34.525-06:00

The link provides access to an article in MSU's News Bulletin about the "Michigan Futures in the Global Economy" undergraduate applied public policy research seminar that Professor Bryan Ritchie and I are running this semester. More information about the seminar can be found at the seminar's web site.

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-67345947362714483432007-03-18T08:15:00.000-06:002007-03-18T08:30:07.074-06:00

A shortened version of the following appeared in the Lansing State Journal on Sunday, March 18, 2007 (see the link for the short version).Comerica’s decision to move its headquarters from Detroit to Dallas is one more piece of bad news for the state. But what does it mean? Are we to surmise that the tax environment remains too onerous for business, despite the elimination of the Single Business

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-80658194727092587212007-03-16T04:24:00.000-06:002007-03-18T08:34:26.367-06:00

The following is a response to an editorial in the New York Times by Thomas Homer-Dixon on November 28, 2006. Homer-Dixon's editorial was entitled "The End of Ingenuity."T. Robert Malthus was onto something, but it wasn’t what Mr. Homer-Dixon thinks it was.In his recent editorial Thomas Homer-Dixon argued that Paul Ehrlich and the limits to growth crowd are proving Malthus right: we will run out

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-88693586982407491292007-03-04T10:23:00.000-07:002007-03-04T10:29:47.992-07:00

Nothing special: just work as usual!I'll spend the week writing a paper for a conference at Duke in April. The conference is entitled "Keeping Faith: Religious Belief and Political Economy" and is sponsored by the journal History of Political Economy, which is hosted at Duke University's Economics department. My paper is on Knight's seemingly strange, active religious affliation in the 1920s and

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-16118990222494116962007-02-19T05:18:00.000-07:002007-02-19T05:26:56.449-07:00

The following was posted as a Current Comment on the Mackinac Center for Public Policy website on February 14, 2007.Valentine’s Day is the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Robert Malthus. Some would view this as ironic: The day we celebrate "eros" is the birthday of the man who argued that the power of the passion between the sexes is "indefinitely greater" than our productive capacity to feed

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1141936068319003672006-03-09T12:48:00.000-07:002006-03-09T13:27:48.383-07:00

Spring Break! I must be on break because I have some time to blog.Kevin Brancato over at the blog Truck and Barter recently made a classic exercise in the application of price theory available online. The essay was written in 1946 by George J. Stigler and Milton Friedman with the title Roofs or Ceilings?: The Current Housing Problem. Th article is classic "Chicago": simple price theory tools

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1131568951465630822005-11-09T13:41:00.000-07:002005-11-09T13:45:26.580-07:00

Prof. studies economics at Mont. research instituteResources, growth of population part of theory analysisBy LAURA COLLINSThe State NewsOne might wonder what Bozeman, Mont., has to offer.But for Ross Emmett, the town, placed at the "doorstep to Yellowstone," has more than good bike-riding terrain, the James Madison College associate professor said.Bozeman is the headquarters of the Property and

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1125620664375988872005-09-01T17:57:00.000-06:002005-09-01T18:24:24.383-06:00

The first week of classes are done. That went fast!My classes this term have an odd way of echoing each other. MC 201 always starts with a reading of Federalist 10 (and a few others, of course); my senior seminar on Constitutional Political Economy starts in much the same place, since we begin by reading Buchanan/Tullock's Calculus of Consent. So all week I have been running through political

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1124549675530485482005-08-20T08:51:00.000-06:002005-08-20T08:54:35.536-06:00

We had a good trip across the northern US, and a nice stay in Marquette, MI for a couple of days. We're now back in East Lansing, and the routine starts on Monday.For students who are arriving and might check the blog: I'm around most of the week, but it is best to email me to see if I'm in my office. The ANGEL course site holds most of the syllabi and would answer questions about the course.I'll

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1123905257028750392005-08-12T21:48:00.000-06:002005-08-12T21:54:17.033-06:00

We leave Bozeman Saturday morning.It's been a great summer. I'm almost finished with my Malthus piece for the PERC Policy Series, and the students are finishing up their projects as well.

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1123389572283389772005-08-06T22:19:00.000-06:002005-08-06T22:43:01.610-06:00

A few people have asked for pictures of where I am in Montana, so today's blog is just pictures. A list of what's below:1) The Montana State "M" from the parking lot.2) Part of the path up to the "M" (this is where the new "intermediate" path departs from the "popular" route up)3) Me standing beside the "M" (the whitewashed rocks form the "M"")4) The parking lot and fish hatchery from to "M"5)

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1123303496744426962005-08-05T22:32:00.000-06:002005-08-05T22:47:45.946-06:00

Never thought you'd see those two words in the same title, eh!We arrived back in Bozeman yesterday. Today I biked 14 miles in the morning, worked at PERC (finalized the publication version of the paper on the Simon-Ehrlich bet referred to in an earlier blog posting), went swimming, attended a seminar at PERC on noise pollution for orcas (killer whales) in the straits between Washington state and

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1122995379894973292005-08-02T08:57:00.000-06:002005-08-02T09:09:39.900-06:00

We're moving today from our friends' house to one of the dorms at Augustana because our friends are coming back from a vacation in Europe. Last night we walked around Mirror Lake and I took a couple pictures. One is included below. The second picture is the Augustana campus. We're staying in the brick dorm on the right hand side of the picture.I've been editing my Malthus piece for the PERC

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1122755431916361222005-07-30T14:09:00.000-06:002005-07-30T14:30:31.953-06:00

We drove to Camrose, Alberta from Bozeman on Wednesday. Uneventful drive, although the drive on MT Hwy 86 from Bozeman over to Hwy 89 was beautiful, as was the drive up Hwy 89 through White Sulphur Springs, Niehart, and Monarch (the Lewis and Clark National Forest) was beautiful. Then we drove the long, lonely and straight Hwy 36 in Alberta.Before leaving Bozeman, I experienced my first

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1122331602631232092005-07-25T16:41:00.000-06:002005-07-25T17:03:49.740-06:00

An article appeared today in the NCPA Daily Policy Digest entitled “Malthus was Wrong.” Based on an essay about globalization and the environment by FREE’s John Downen, the article challenges the conventional “Malthusian” wisdom by arguing that rising incomes across the world are restraining population growth, natural resources are not in fixed and limited supply because we are finding better

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1122229307075661192005-07-24T11:40:00.000-06:002005-07-24T12:40:18.936-06:00

I know the title of the blog includes the word "skeptical," but today I'll offer a toast to Lance. Raise your glasses!I fell in love with Le Tour de France in 1996, on the day when the torch was passed from Bjarne Riis to his younger teammate Jan Ullrich. Jan came in second that year, and won Le Tour in 1997. At that point, Lance was recuperating from cancer, and no one knew that the Armstrong -

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1121805978233794042005-07-19T14:33:00.000-06:002005-07-19T14:46:18.240-06:00

While continuing to work on my Malthus paper, I am also taking some time in these last couple of weeks at PERC to interview a few of the PERC fellows who did their graduate education in economics at the University of Chicago. These interviews will become part of my Chicago Economics Oral History Project. Today, I am also giving a seminar on a recent paper that is related to Chicago economics. The

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1121210316055027172005-07-12T17:03:00.000-06:002005-07-12T17:18:36.060-06:00

Busy couple of days. I'm working on my PERC Policy Series paper on Malthus, but took time yesterday to finish my course syllabus for "Constitutional Political Economy," MC 497, which I teach in Fall 2005. In the process I created a blog for the course, to which all the students can be contributors. It will be my first experiment with a team blog. We'll see how it works. You'll find the blog here

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1120867756761338012005-07-08T17:49:00.000-06:002005-07-08T18:09:16.766-06:00

I finally hiked up to the "M" (see picture) this morning. I biked up to the parking lot at the base of the trails (about 5 miles) and hiked from there (one-and-a-half miles). At the base of the trails, one is faced with the choice between the "rigorous" path and the "popular" path. I took the path more often taken. But half way up that path, I was presented with another choice: continue on the

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1120578397170372682005-07-05T09:05:00.000-06:002005-07-05T09:46:37.213-06:00

Bruce's comments (see comments below) came on the heels of an email from Fernando Leon regarding China - Africa relations, giving me a chance to respond to both.Bruce is right that stable property regimes aren't enough to solve Africa's problems. All I wanted to argue was that they are a better place to start today than what Live 8 is doing. Let's assume that we can't, or won't, adopt the "change

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1120518549535399612005-07-04T16:47:00.000-06:002005-07-04T17:09:09.540-06:00

Africa holds a special place in my heart. When I heard about the Live 8 concerts, I was glad to see a global voice being raised on behalf of Africa's poor. And when I looked further into what the Live 8 organizers wanted to promote -- more and better aid, truly freer trade, and debt reduction -- I was generally pleased. And any chance to hear U2 should be taken.But . . .Altogether too much focus

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1120147006908124152005-06-30T09:33:00.000-06:002005-06-30T10:00:48.006-06:00

On Tuesday, June 28, the Canadian Parliament passed a law that makes same-sex marriage federal law. Provinces are supposed to bring their provincial laws into compliance. Alberta, which separated civil jurisdiction over property and children from the act of marriage awhile ago in an effort to forestall such a change in the definition of marriage, now has to decide what to do. One option being

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1119977205485904412005-06-28T10:40:00.000-06:002005-06-28T10:46:45.486-06:00

The wedding is over: bride and groom (Keri and Trevor) are now in Rome for their honeymoon. Lucky sods -- a week in Rome and a week in Florence.I spent most of Sunday with kids in Edmonton. Good to see them. Thomas finishes high school today (Tuesday); he is in his last final exam this morning as I'm writing. I'll see him today in the afternoon.Monday I visited with friends at Augustana (

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1119976769879984392005-06-24T10:37:00.000-06:002005-06-28T10:39:29.883-06:00

I’m sitting in the Mill Woods Evangelical Missionary Church in Edmonton, AB, during the rehearsal for Trevor and Keri’s wedding tomorrow. They’re getting instructions about standing and walking, and all that stuff.The drive from Bozeman to Camrose, AB went fine yesterday. Made 630 miles in 11 hours. My route was as follows: I-90W from Bozeman to Montana Hwy 287 to Helena, where Hwy 287 intersects

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1119478865128860172005-06-22T16:20:00.000-06:002005-06-22T16:31:44.330-06:00

During the past academic year, one of my professorial assistants (Dave McClintick) did some background research for me on Julian Simon's understanding of Robert Malthus' work. The research was for the paper I'm currently working on her at PERC. In the process, he decided to do some independent research on the famous wager that Simon made with Paul Ehrlich (the neo-Malthusian and author of The

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1119133343068677052005-06-18T16:30:00.000-06:002005-06-18T22:51:07.616-06:00

When I arrived at PERC in early May, I meet many of the PERC staff and fellows. It took awhile, however, for me to learn that one of my new associates was also a Canadian. In fact, he is from Alberta! H.A. Vore, who goes by "Herb" or, affectionately, as "Herbie," occupies a prominent position at PERC and watches over most of the organization's activities. Most PERCies will tell you that he keeps

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1119132747622699742005-06-18T16:12:00.000-06:002005-06-18T16:12:27.626-06:00

Herb A. Vore 

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1118944708304137682005-06-16T11:42:00.000-06:002005-06-16T11:58:28.310-06:00

We arrived back in Bozeman on Tuesday. A brief synopsis of the past week's events follows.I co-lead the discussions at a small conference for graduate students, sponsored by ISI and Liberty Fund, at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in Mecosta, Michigan from June 9 - 12 (Our lodgings were at The Inn at St. Ives). The conference was on free trade and globalization, and the students were

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1118091017999377222005-06-06T14:03:00.000-06:002005-06-06T14:50:18.006-06:00

H.G. Wells is reputed to have said “Adapt or die, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” Wells, of course, is echoing Darwin, who got that idea, he claimed, from Robert Malthus. Natural selection, Darwin said, “is the doctrine of Malthus applied with manifold force to the whole animal and vegetable kingdom; for in this case there can be no artificial increase of food, and no prudential

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1117334341281991692005-05-28T20:18:00.000-06:002005-05-31T10:15:46.213-06:00

Haven't blogged the last several days because I'm deep into sorting out a good way to present my thinking on the project I'm writing this summer: "Is there a Malthus that Julian Simon could like?" The basic answer is yes, and I know what the outcome is, but I've been working on finding a good way to present it. For now, I'm happy with what I'm doing, but have to get the preliminary draft of the

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1116949531756585962005-05-24T09:32:00.000-06:002005-05-24T09:47:41.300-06:00

I watched Episode 3 of the Star Wars saga on Saturday with Thomas and Kristine. The mixed reviews have it about right: it's not the worst of the series, nor is it anywhere near the best. Here's my ranking of the episodes, now that they're all out:Episode I: The Phantom Menace (weak)Episode II: Attack of the Clones (weakest)Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (moderate)Episode IV: A New Hope (good)

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1116711061769006802005-05-21T15:28:00.000-06:002005-05-21T15:32:36.026-06:00

Thanks to my friends over at Knowledge Problem for this!Cheapgas combines Google maps with information provided by volunteers on Gasbuddy to give you a map of where gas is cheapest in your town. Check it out!

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1116515347792209192005-05-19T08:41:00.000-06:002005-05-19T09:09:07.810-06:00

Commencement ceremonies for Thomas' high school occur today. I'm amazed to think that he is finishing high school. I still remember bringing him home from the hospital, playing soccer with him, travelling with him across country by car or plane, taking him sailing on the Chesapeake, going with him to the Smithsonian, etc. And always talking and arguing. Not arguing as in angry disagreement; but

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1116390682111505202005-05-17T22:05:00.000-06:002005-05-17T22:31:22.116-06:00

Wednesday morning I depart for Edmonton to attend Thomas’ graduation from Victoria School. I’m very proud of him, of course, and looking forward to seeing what he does over the next couple of years. I’ll also get to see Lydia and my grandson, Sebastian. Should be a lot of fun together, since I haven’t seen them for six months.Monday and Tuesday were spent working on Malthus and Simon. Took out

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1116203178323790162005-05-15T16:30:00.000-06:002005-05-15T18:27:44.913-06:00

Before I talk about the title, a summary of the weekend. Saturday was spent cycling on the bike and nature trails around Bozeman, watching Kingdom of Heaven (best quote: “Mohammed says submit; Jesus says decide.” Is that the key difference between Islam and Christianity?), and working on the syllabus for my fall 2005 senior seminar on Constitutional Political Economy (CPE). Sunday, I visited St.

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1116022306346628242005-05-13T14:08:00.000-06:002005-05-13T16:17:11.970-06:00

Arrived Sunday afternoon, settled in and promptly started grading final exams! Had a brief visit to PERC on Monday morning, picked up my bicycle, which had been shipped to Bangtail Bikes and assembled for me, and then graded finals until midnight. Finished grading, but spent the next day recovering from being sick. Final grades were turned in on time Tuesday, but that’s about all that happened!

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6071425.post-1116005027537076052005-05-10T10:00:00.000-06:002005-05-13T11:23:47.546-06:00

The notion of intelligent design (ID) has been kicking around the back of my mind the past couple of weeks, ever since I learned that a couple of Michigan school teachers were suing for the right to teach ID in their classrooms. My flight from San Francisco to Bozeman (via Seattle) gave me this chance to write out some thoughts.First, I have long argued that evolution is a theory of change, not a

Ross B. Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03550527832702665221noreply@blogger.com0