Economics is Counter-Emotional, Not Counter-Intuitive

A few months ago, a high school econ student asked me to zoom with his class. I’m working against a tight deadline for Blockade, so I was inclined to decline. But the student’s list of questions was so ambitious that I decided to make the time. See for yourself:

Here is the plan:

- 5 minutes -

WELCOME / INTRODUCTION

“Professor Caplan, thank you very much for joining us. Could you begin by introducing yourself and telling us how you became interested in public choice and libertarian political economy?”

- 6 minutes Each -

1) TRADE, PRICE CONTROLS, AND THE POLITICAL APPEAL OF BAD ECONOMICS

“You have consistently defended free trade and opposed policies such as tariffs, minimum wages, rent control, and other price controls even when they are extremely popular with students and voters. Why do these interventions remain so intuitively appealing despite the economic arguments against them, and what trade-offs do you think are most systematically overlooked when people evaluate them?”

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2) PRIVATIZATION, INFRASTRUCTURE, MONOPOLY, AND THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

“Libertarian arguments for markets are often easiest to see in competitive industries but much more controversial in areas such as roads, transit, utilities, and other large-scale infrastructure, where economies of scale and network effects are significant. How far do you think privatization should go in these sectors, how would such systems realistically be financed and governed in practice, and what institutional framework—if any—remains for the state beyond enforcing property rights and contracts? In that context, how do you evaluate concerns about monopoly and predatory pricing in a free market, and under what conditions, if any, is government intervention actually justified?”

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3) WELFARE, REDISTRIBUTION, SCANDINAVIA, AND THE MORAL STATUS OF INEQUALITY

“In discussions of poverty and social policy, many students point to the Scandinavian countries as evidence that large welfare states, free or heavily subsidized healthcare, and free college can work well. From a libertarian perspective, how should we interpret those cases, and do you think the goal of policy should be to reduce wealth inequality itself or primarily to expand opportunity? In that context, should existing welfare programs be eliminated, replaced with something like a Negative Income Tax, converted into vouchers, or maintained in some limited form, and how do you weigh the economic and moral trade-offs involved?”

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4) EDUCATION, SIGNALING, SCHOOL CHOICE, AND THE FUTURE OF K–12

“Your work argues that much of formal education functions more as signaling than as human-capital formation. What does that imply for current education policy and for government involvement in higher education? More broadly, do you think a fully market-based K–12 system—potentially replacing traditional public schools with universal school choice or government-funded vouchers directed to families—would produce better outcomes, and how should students think about their own education in light of the signaling model?”

- 3 minutes -

ADVICE TO STUDENTS

“For students who are seriously interested in economics and public policy but are encountering these arguments for the first time, what is the most important habit of thinking they should develop early?”

- 3 minutes -

Open To Q&A

I’m pleased to report that we covered the whole agenda. Again, see for yourself!