CARPE DIEM
Professor Mark J. Perry's Blog for Economics and Finance
Monday, September 28, 2009
About Me
- Name: Mark J. Perry
- Location: Washington, D.C., United States
Dr. Mark J. Perry is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan. Perry holds two graduate degrees in economics (M.A. and Ph.D.) from George Mason University near Washington, D.C. In addition, he holds an MBA degree in finance from the Curtis L. Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. In addition to a faculty appointment at the University of Michigan-Flint, Perry is also a visiting scholar at The American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
Previous Posts
- There's Hope: Even Michigan Economy Rebounds!
- Health Care PSA Smackdown
- Chicago Fed Index Increases for 7th Straight Month
- Cuba's Farms: From State-Run to Private
- Markets In Everything: Drive-Through Flu Shots
- One Reason European Health Care Works: America
- An Inconvenient Question: Did You Fly to the NYC P...
- Yes, Income Inequality *IS* Increasing Significantly
- CA Real Estate Recovery: Home Sales Increase for 1...
- Florida Real Estate Market Recovery: 12th Consecut...
13 Comments:
bad link
Here's the correct link:
http://www.bcaplan.com/cgi-bin/purity.cgi
Mark just pasted the correct link on top of some garbage. But it's there.
It's all fixed now, thanks Mike!
This quiz is for libertarian wimps. It features "Do we spend too much on Medicare?" when the question should be, "Should Medicare be abolished?" It asks "Do we spend too much on Social Security?" which it should ask, "Should Social Security be privatized?" There are other questions in a similarly milksop vein. It fails my libertarian purity test. It represents the candy-ass libertarianism of the Libertarian Party.
Oddly enough, little or no mention of the huge subsidy for rural lifestyles by urbanites. Roads, water systems, phone systems, rail stops, airports, rural postal service, medical services--all subsidized. Crops subsidized too. Military spending often a rural sop. Some sacred cows are very sacred.
Actually, in a real free market system, expect America's rural areas to empty out. Most small towns would just die.
Much, much more efficient to live in big cities.
You are a medium-core libertarian, probably self-consciously so. Your friends probably encourage you to quit talking about your views so much.
Medium core... does that mean I am a moderate libertarian?
Nicolas: The test gets more hard core as you go down to Part II and Part III.
Considering that there is no hard & fast definition of what a libertarian is I'm thinking Bryan Caplan and his test is seriously lame but entertaining none the less...
Benny:
"Military spending often a rural sop."
I worked in the defense industry. I don't think that you can characterize military spending as "often" a rural sop.
I am assuming that Nicolas didnt get to the end of the test...
But I found the results to be wrong. Libertarianism does not equate to anarchy. It requires a small government that exists purely to protect people's property. Without property rights a society couldn't really be "libertarian." I think the correct word for what the test is looking for is a rational anarchist.
Bob Wright-
You ever hear of Sam Nunn?
If you go to the Tax Foundation website, you will find many studies pertaining to federal outlays andtax collections by state. RTural states make out like bandits.
There is one chart showing defense outlays heavily skewed to the South.
My feeling that the US military has become an ossified and unecessary bureaucracy, usually self-serving and doing the bidding of a corrupt Congress, is distinct from my positive feelings for men in uniform, the vast majority of whom are excellent individuals.
This should have been labeled "Anarchist Purity Test." The only way to get a top score is to prefer total elimination of government and no national defense. That's the anarchist position, not the libertarian position.
Dr. T, Murray Rothbard wasn't a libertarian? Give an example of your ideal libertarian.
Consistent libertarianism leads inexorably to anarchism.
Where in the quiz is the long time standard libertarian litmus test AKA the Non-Agression Principle/Axiom?
http://common-law.net/nap.html
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