[gborrego1991]

Brion Mcclanahan provides links in his PowerPoints’ to a lot of primary sources throughout different lectures. Although, I haven’t seen some of the later lectures.

[gborrego1991]

Here is the article in case you want to read it – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Liberty

[gborrego1991]

I think the economic freedom index could be one way – how much the government intervenes in the economy of each country. The more a government intervenes, the more people’s preferences are distorted.

It just seems weird to me using GDP as a way to explain economic growth – when as you pointed out; prices falling as a result of productivity gains would lead to a decrease in GDP.

[gborrego1991]

Yes, I didn’t find his answer satisfying. Figured I would see professor Herbener’s take on it.

It would appear to me that the only way to measure how healthy an economy is would be to study if its capital stock is aligned with consumer preferences. I don’t see how GDP does that.

[gborrego1991]

Sterling,

Are you enrolled in LearnLiberty Academy? I asked the same question on there and someone by the name of sterling responded to me.

[gborrego1991]

Yes, but I believe private GDP removes government spending from the equation. However, I’m still skeptical on whether GDP is still a useful measure since it doesn’t distinguish between profitable and non-profitable investments.

[gborrego1991]

Russ Roberts had an Econtalk espisode where he discussed these issues with Bryan Caplan – http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2010/10/caplan_on_immig.html

Regarding welfare, Caplan claims that increased immigration could actually reduce our current welfare state. I suggest you listen to the talk because he can explain the details more eloquently than I can.

[gborrego1991]

Thank you, Mr. Herbener. I did some research and found this interview with George Selgin on the Federal Reserve (http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2010/12/selgin_on_the_f.html)

He mentions the Great Moderation around the 45:00 mark. He uses your argument as a probable cause, along with others.

There is also this article by Selgin, and Lawrence White which also mentions the “Great Moderation”. http://www.cato.org/pubs/researchnotes/WorkingPaper-2.pdf

[gborrego1991]

I would also like to know what Kevin Gutzman’s opinion on Murray Rothbard’s “Ronald Reagan: An Autopsy” is. Was Rothbard right on or was Reagan more principled than libertarians give him credit for?

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